Being a Momma !

Just writing about being a mom is a emotional thing for me.  its a honor that i take real serious.  becoming a mom was not as easy for me, so i really try and not take for granted the gifts God has given me.  

i remember knowing from a very young age, that being a mom looked so cool.  i remember young couples at church bringing in new babies and i wanted to be them.   i also though young couples holding hands was very sweet and cute.  

 i was blessed enough to come from a long line of momma's that know how to love.  my granny harris died when i was real little, i don't have a memory of her however to this day, my nana crys every time she talks about her.  she loved her SO much and her love reflects through my nana.
Nana is the most selfless person in all the land.  she gives 100% of herself to her family.  she is most happy when she is taking care of someone she loves.
she is the picture of what the word "momma" means.  we are so blessed that her health allows her to love her kids, grand-kids, and great-grand-kids.
Nana your so special to me and i am so excited to let you love Houston, the way you love us.  i hope you always know how much we appreciate and love you.

 Then there is my momma, my biggest fan, best support, constant companion, and the person i am most like.   i watched her my whole life and the older i get the more i mimmic her.  We think, act, and have so many of the same traits.  she is the one i call in the middle of the night, the one i want sympathy from, the one that showed me how to be a mom.
We have endless amounts of memories together, we work like a well oiled machine most of the time.
mom- thank u for loving me when i was a hard pill to swallow, thank u for helping me when No one else would, thank u for molding me, setting a firm foundation for me.  your love and dedication to us girls has never wavered.  we are so blessed to have you as OUR mom.  your a constant support, and we are the girls we are bc of you.
Emrie and Houston are so lucky to have you as their granna.  i am excited to let you love our baby boy, FINALLY.   its been a long journey but you have been there for every shot, appointment, and procedure.  then every morning in the gym, and the whole pregnancy and now almost to the finish line.  i couldn't of made it without you.  nor can i make this next step into being a mom of two without ya.  i love you and want you to know that every day is mother's day to me bc i have you.

 My mother in law made the man i love into a perfect man.   she loves him with a endless amount of love.  she has been his constant through out life.  i don't think DIL and MIL relationships area always  the easiest but i have lots of respect for betty bc she did not have the best of circumstances but she never stopped being a good mom to Len.  i know she adores him, and i know that i will adore Houston the same way.  i pray that the girl Houston chooses will still share him with me.

Happy mother's Day to the three ladies that helped us become a family of 4 !!!!!

whats your name? one more time.

well we have been making a few changes lately.  like.... we decided to change our baby boy's name.   i was watching "house hunters" a few weeks ago and they were in Houston.  i really liked the idea of Houston Hays.  i asked Len and he "pondered/thought" about it for the next two weeks.  
Saturday we were in the truck for a hour and i said we must name him today.  so we ended up with 
HOUSTON TATE HAYS 

we had lots of things we liked.  
Houston Rigg 
Tate Pryor
Lincoln Rigg
Dawson
Pate

but in the end we settled on our little strong cowboy name.  i pray that he will give the name honor and character as he grows into his own.  
Houston -  Be true to the name you bear sweet boy.   we will always love and support you, we are already praying that you will honor Jesus with your life.  your a very special guy that we have waited and longed for, you have been a special gift from the very begging.   
love- mom, dad, and sister lue 

Nesting and knowing our cowboy

Time for a little update.  this was 22 weeks prego.  i am not very good at prego pics, turns out i really don't think a prego cass is that cute.  but who cares about cute when your growing a little busy guy inside you.  at times i remind myself how bad i wanted this, and how honored i am.  its still totally crazy to me that God chose me to carry Emrie and now Tate.  

I am feeling really good, i am still walking for exercise but that has been slowing down lots the last few weeks.  i am lucky though bc tate dose not like to be sitting for a long period of time, so standing at work is not to bad.  i have noticed that driving is not so fun right now.  other then those few complaints, i am good to go.  He is so very busy and moves most of his life.  it worries me a touch bc Em was never so busy on the inside.  i tell him all the time "he better get all that energy out while he is in there."    its so funny that i feel like i know him, i know his likes and dislikes.  i think God gives us these precious months so that we can get to know each other.   

his room is almost done, just missing one more thing but it turned out cute.  i would say his theme is "Oklahoma Cowboy"   one bc i want him to really love OK, like love it so much that he never moves out of this great state.  and two a cowboy bc lets face it cowboys make the best men.  

Emrie is getting excited and is very aware of Tate these days.   she loves on him and likes to feel him move.  she has been trying to get me back in shape, she says she can't fit her arms around my belly anymore.  so that has been pretty sweet to see.  her main concern right now is --- if she gets to stay at the hospital with us when he is born.  she still calls him "lobsty" pretty often.  i am so excited to see her love her baby brother.  

our family is ready and excited to meet him to.   We all feel like we have been through this really LONG waiting period.   his big cousins and aunt Mac hooked him up with a great wardrobe, which i think will keep happening through the years.  
Popper is excited to have another little cowboy.  We played a april fools joke on him, and told him it was a girl and he just got all bent out of shape.  I guess emrie will have to be our only cowgirl in with a bunch of crazy fellas.  Maybe Chels and Jared can bring her a pal someday, although i think she likes Penny (the dog) just as much as she would a baby, so no pressure.  

all in all we are just real excited and blessed beyond what we could of dreamed.  i will end with this quote that i say at least 6xs a day.  
"i am not good at getting pregnant but i am good once i am pregnant." 

i am 25 weeks, which means i have about 12-13 weeks left !!!!!

Loving our languages.

When i was a kid, my mom always reaffirmed anything i ever did.  she would always make me feel like i was the best at showing cows, school, hair, and whatever else i set out to do.  she was always giving me words of affirmation.  i really think that is part of who i am.  i am always 100% sure that i will do whatever i set my mind to.  my dad however was not to good with words, if he was proud of us girls he would buy us something or pay for dinner.  he always made sure we were provided for financially.  

When len was young his mom was showed him love by affirming him and acts of service.  she worked a lot and did not have the means to buy things or spend loads of time with him.  

all that being said, these this is what made us into a perfect match.  

 There are 5 love languages..... the book saved our marriage and i HIGHLY suggest it.
1.) acts of service
2.) quality time
3.) touch
4.) words of affirmation
5.) gifts

now mine are in this order
QT, Touch, acts of service, gifts, affirmation

Len are
affirmation, acts of service, QT, Touch, Gifts.

 10 years ago we met, dated for 3 months, got married, we were young, dumb, broke, and had lots to learn.  it has NOT been fun all the time, or easy at all.
matter of fact year 5 and 6 we were very close to loosing our marriage all together.  until the book and GOD alone saved us from disaster.  it finally clicked in my very hard head that i had his order of love languages all messed up.  We worked hard on starting fresh and making "us" new.

 it honestly took both of us working and being 100% devoted to the cause.  i will be the first to say that loving your kids is easy, it flows out with ZERO effort.  its a whole new kind of love when you choose to love a man.  my choice to love Len was so much harder then i ever thought it would be, yet it has been the most rewarding choice i have ever made.  

 He is the man God chose for me, He is my best friend, my rock that i fall apart on, he is all i hope our son becomes.

 i look back over the last 10 years and see how different my life would be now if we had not worked it out.  i can tell you there were times he hated me and times that i was so very hurt, but i look at us now and can't mustard up one bad thought.  i never even knew marriage could be this good.

 Len - i love you bc i choose to, i love you bc your worth it, i love you bc without you i would never know what it means to be a "soulmate", i love you bc your everthing i could of dreamed you would be.  thank you for loving me and stickin it out with me, we all know i am not alwasy fun to live with but you never gave up on "us."

i hope the next 10, 20, 60, 70 years are spent loving you the way i do today.   happy 10th babe !!

Here's to the next happy years.........

What is your name?

So my whole adult life i am always mistaken for Cathy. now i know and love lots of ladies named cathy, however my name is Cassie.  so when you pick up a to-go order or call to get insurance quote, i always have to spell it otherwise a nice lady named cathy will be eating my pizza for dinner.  
all that being said we really like the name RIGG, however i think it sounds like rick when you say it.  now i also know some guys named rick, they are nice but that is not a #1 choice for our little guys name.  
so we struggled to find a name that fits this little fella.  
at the end of the day we have come to a very talked about conclusion.  

Emrie Meyer Hays 
is proud to announce her baby brother 
Mr. Tate Pryer Hays !!!! 

its been fun identifying this little guy.  he is very busy these days growing and moving almost all the time.  he really enjoys a nice rest upon my bladder and loves to stand on it and jump up and down.  so that part is not my fav but i am not complaining one tiny bit. (ok maybe a tiny amount) 

i have officially started nesting in my head and lots of changes are happening all around.  We cannot wait to meet this little "tater tot" as Em calls him.  He is already very loved and so very anticipated.  

Tate- We pray for you every day, we pray that you are growing strong and brave in the belly.  We all 3 are so in love with you already.  hope you feel us touching you and know our voices.  we love you bubby. 

Snakes, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails.

So it's a Boy!  i am not going to lie i was a little shocked and not 100% sure a boy was a great idea, however i have gotten used to the fact.  and now after buying a few outfits, picking a name, and seeing this rowdy boy, i havin fallen in love.  i still have lots more concerns then i ever have had with em.  
like.......
- will he grow up and leave his family
- will he marry a girl that i love
- puberty 
- man hair
- what my roll will be in teaching him how to be a man. 
- where he will make his home
- car insurance rates
- un-clean smells
- if he will leave purcell

can you sense my common theme.  i just have been around the gals my whole life, idk what to even do with a boy.  when my nephews do dumb things like bang their own head against the floor or wall, i really question it.  i mean boys just have a way about them.  
however if i could go out into the deep blue ocean and pick the very perfect fish.  the one with lots of layers and colors, the one that hunts, leads, and fights for his lady fish.  i would pick my LEN.  He will be the very best example of what a real man is.  i am already praying over my belly that this boy of ours is strong in character, hard-working, dependable, laid-back, smart, kind, loving, generous, and that he follows after God's heart.  all just like his daddy.  

God designed and gave us this precious baby boy that we already love and cherish.  what a huge blessings it is to have the honor of raising a little tiny boy into a man that God intended him to be.  

so out with tubs and tubs of pink girly stuff, bring on the blue and green. 

How Ya feeling ?

i think the most popular question in my life right now is "How ya Feeling?"  next is "do u know what your having ?" 
well i am feeling great, i went through a rough patch but that is all behind me now, and i feel really strong and good.   so no complaints from me.  
now about the gender of this baby.... well its all that i think about most of the time.  every time i feel "Lobster" move i question who is inside of me.  its a over-whelming scene of pure joy that i cannot really explain.  i want to know and identify who its going to be. 

in many ways i would love another GIRL.  
i have lots of cloths and stuff a baby girl would need. 
i want em to have a sister relationship bc i know how great those are.  
i know that i can teach and shape her into a lady.
i love the thought of us being old and our girls taking care of us. 

i want a BOY to .
i know that if He can become anything like his daddy that some lucky girl will thank me.  
i want len to be able to teach him what a real man is.  
i want to see him lead his family.
i want to be the first girl in all the land that wins his heart.  

lets put it this way.  i am so excited either way.  all i know is that God designed and planned this baby when i could not muster up the thought of having a baby.  He knows and made a perfect piece to complete our family.  
So lets count down the days till JAN. 30TH together.  when the question is answered and we get to know just a little more of HIS amazing plan.