The Isham's

Disobedience

2012-01-26T09:42:00.000-05:00

This past week has been one like any other. Our sweet little 2 1/2 year old has mastered the term disobedience. He has had other times where he would get in trouble for things, but nothing like this week. Literally EVERYTHING I tell him to do, he does the exact opposite. Very uncharacteristic of his usual self by throwing things, screaming at me, hitting his brother and doing everything he can to push the limit. I know that he is learning to test who is boss and just what he can get away with. We have spent more time disciplining him this week than all his other days combined. Every time he disobeys I bring him in front of me and ask him what he just did and he already knows; "Disobey, he will say. We talk about making the right choices and doing things that please Jesus. After his spanking I pray with him and we ask Jesus to help his heart.

Though this process has been EXHAUSTING to say the least, it has also been pretty humbling to me. In wanting to show him grace, just as I have been shown, it truly hearts my heart every time he does it. All of that to say, imagine how much I disappoint God every single day too. As my Father in heaven, he wants whats best for me and loves me more than anything. There are many times during the day that I deliberately choose to disobey what He has asked of me. I let me own desires or selfishness get the best of me... and yet He continually gives me grace.

I have been taken back by the book, The Gospel, that I have been reading for the past few weeks. The author spends several chapters engraining in us that, "there is nothing we can do to make God loves us more, and there is nothing we can do to make Him loves us less." That is really a hard thing to realize. So often as Christians we think, well if I go to church this week or if I choose to love my neighbor today then God will love me more and I will find favor with Him. That is true that He will love us... but He already does. He loved us first.

I am incredibly grateful to have a Father who loves me more than I can comprehend, no matter what. And I only hope I can be the kind of mother who extends that same grace.

Happy 30th birthday my love!

2012-01-25T09:38:00.000-05:00

JR, Wishing you a Happy 30th birthday today and so blessed by your life in so many ways. I would have never imagined when I met you over 16 years ago that God would give us so many incredible blessings in our life together. Even when we were dating or when I said, "I do," I truly had NO idea! God has used your life in a powerful way these last 30 years. To watch you follow Him with all that you are and now dedicating your life to see others know the truth of His gospel is such a beautiful thing. To see the way that you love me as your bride, with all my blemishes, with a love that is greater than I have ever known on this earth. To look at the way you look at your two boys and make the comment, "I LOVE being a Daddy... its my hobby!" To see how determined you are to make your life count for Jesus, no matter the cost. To watch you wake up before any of us to have time to be intentional for our family as the leader of our home. To see you comfortable in your own skin, all of your Papaw ways and all! To hear you say you truly want to be my best friend. To watch you wrestle in the floor with our boys and in the same second give them more hugs and kisses than they can handle. To see the way you love your friends and minister in whatever way you can to those around you because you simple want them to love Jesus. To hear your determination to make your next 30 years count for Jesus. To be able to be your partner through this incredible life on earth. To know without a doubt that you will finish well. For all of these things and so much more... I am truly blessed to be your bride!

Happy birthday to the most incredibly awesome man I know... I love you :)

To continue the theme of 30... here are 30 of my favorite pictures of your life through the last 30 years:

Happy birthday Daddy!

2012-01-25T00:30:00.000-05:00

Just for fun

2012-01-04T20:02:00.005-05:00

I saw this on Pinterest via http://studerteam.blogspot.com and had to share!

25 Rules for Moms with Sons

Source: pre-schoolplay.blogspot.com via Tabitha on Pinterest

1. Teach him the words for how he feels.
Your son will scream out of frustration and hide out of embarrassment. He'll cry from fear and bite out of excitement. Let his body move by the emotion, but also explain to him what the emotion is and the appropriate response to that emotion for future reference. Point out other people who are feeling the same thing and compare how they are showing that emotion. Talk him through your emotions so that someday when he is grown, he will know the difference between angry and embarrassed; between disappointment and grief.

2. Be a cheerleader for his life
There is no doubt that you are the loudest person in the stands at his t-ball games. There is no doubt that he will tell you to "stop, mom" when you sing along to his garage band's lyrics. There is no doubt that he will get red-faced when you show his prom date his pictures from boy scouts. There is no doubt that he is not telling his prom date about your blog where you've been bragging about his life from his first time on the potty to the citizenship award he won in ninth grade. He will tell you to stop. He will say he's embarrassed. But he will know that there is at least one person that is always rooting for him.

3. Teach him how to do laundry
..and load the dishwasher, and iron a shirt. He may not always choose to do it. He may not ever have to do it. But someday his wife will thank you.

Source: offbeatmama.com via offbeatmama on Pinterest

4. Read to him and read with him.
Emilie Buchwald said, "Children become readers on the laps of their parents." Offer your son the opportunity to learn new things, believe in pretend places, and imagine bigger possibilities through books. Let him see you reading...reading the paper, reading novels, reading magazine articles. Help him understand that writing words down is a way to be present forever. Writers are the transcribers of history and memories. They keep a record of how we lived at that time; what we thought was interesting; how we spoke to each other; what was important. And Readers help preserve and pass along those memories.

5. Encourage him to dance.
Dance, rhythm, and music are cultural universals. No matter where you go, no matter who you meet - they have some form of the three. It doesn't have to be good. Just encourage your son that when he feels it, it's perfectly fine to go ahead and bust a move.

6. Make sure he has examples of good men who are powerful because of their brains, their determination, and their integrity.
The examples of men with big muscles and a uniform (like Batman and LaMarr Woodley) will surround your son from birth. But make sure he also knows about men who kick a$s because of their brains (Albert Einstein), and their pen (Mark Twain), and their words (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), and their determination (Team Hoyt), and their ideas (The Wright Brothers), and their integrity (Officer Frank Shankwitz), and fearlessness (Neil Armstrong), and their ability to keep their mouths closed when everyone else is screaming (Jackie Robinson).

7. Make sure he has examples of women who are beautiful because of their brains, their determination, and their integrity
The examples of traditionally beautiful women (like Daphne Blake, Princess Jasmine, and Britney Spears) will surround your son from birth. But make sure he knows about women who are beautiful from the inside out because of their brains (Madame Marie Curie), and their pen (Harper Lee), and their words (Eleanor Roosevelt), and their determination (Anne Sullivan), and their ideas (Oprah Winfrey), and their integrity (Miep Gies), and fearlessness (Ameila Earhart), and their ability to open their mouths and take a stand when everyone else is silent (Aung San Suu Kyi).

8. Be an example of a beautiful woman with brains, determination, and integrity.
You already are all of those things. If you ever fear that you are somehow incapable of doing anything - remember this: If you have done any of the following: a) grew life b) impossibly and inconceivably got it out of your body c) taken care of a newborn d) made a pain go away with a kiss e) taught someone to read f) taught a toddler to eat with a utensil g) cleaned up diarrhea without gagging h) loved a child enough to be willing to give your life for them (regardless if they are your own) or i) found a way to be strong when that child is suffering...you are a superhero. do not doubt yourself for one second. Seriously.

Source: simplymontessori.blogspot.com via Terry-Anne on Pinterest

9. Teach him to have manners
because its nice. and it will make the world a little better of a place.

Source: swagbucks.com via Adriana on Pinterest

10. Give him something to believe in
Because someday he will be afraid, or nervous, or heartbroken, or lost, or just need you, and you won't be able to be there. Give him something to turn to when it feels like he is alone, so that he knows that he will never be alone; never, never, never.

Source: theberry.com via Chris on Pinterest

11. Teach him that there are times when you need to be gentle
like with babies, and flowers, and animals, and other people's feelings.

Source: heatherbeadles.com via Heather on Pinterest

12. Let him ruin his clothes
Resolve to be cool about dirty and ruined clothes. You'll be fighting a losing battle if you get upset every time he ruins another piece of clothing. Don't waste your energy being angry about something inevitable. Boys tend to learn by destroying, jumping, spilling, falling, and making impossible messes. Dirty, ruined clothes are just par for the course.

13. Learn how to throw a football
or how to use a hockey stick, or read music, or draw panda bears (or in my case alpacas), or the names of different train engines, or learn to speak Elvish, or recognize the difference between Gryffindor and Slytherin, or the lyrics to his favorite song. Be in his life, not as an observer but as an active participant.

Source: shanna-kaye.com via Shanna-Kaye on Pinterest

14. Go outside with him
turn off the television, unplug the video games, put your cellphone on the charger, even put your camera away. Just go outside and follow him around. Watch his face, explore his world, and let him ask questions. It's like magic.

15. Let him lose
Losing sucks. Everybody isn't always a winner. Even if you want to say, "You're a winner because you tried," don't. He doesn't feel like a winner, he feels sad and crappy and disappointed. And that's a good thing, because sometimes life also sucks, no matter how hard (as moms) we try to make it not suck for our kids. This practice will do him good later when he loses again (and again, and again, and again, and again.....) Instead make sure he understands that - sometimes you win - sometimes you lose. But that doesn't mean you ever give up.

Source: None via Emma on Pinterest

16. Give him opportunities to help others
There is a big difference in giving someone the opportunity to help and forcing someone to help. Giving the opportunity lights a flame in the heart and once the help is done the flame shines brighter and asks for more opportunities. Be an example of helping others in your own actions and the way your family helps each other and helps others together.

Source: data.whicdn.com via Meagan on Pinterest

17. Remind him that practice makes perfect.
This doesn't just apply to performance-based activities (like sports and music) but also applies to everything in life. You become a better writer by writing. You become a better listener by listening. You become better speaker by speaking. Show your son this when he is just young enough to understand (that means from birth, folks - they are making sense of the world as soon as they arrive), practice trick-or-treating at your own front door before the real thing. Practice how you will walk through airport security before a trip. Practice how you order your own food from the fast food cashier. Practice, practice, practice.

18. Answer him when he asks, "Why?"
Answer him, or search for the answer together. Show him the places to look for the answers (like his dad, or grandparents, or his aunts/uncles, or his books, or valid internet searches). Pose the question to him so he can begin thinking about answers himself. Someday, when he needs to ask questions he's too embarrassed to ask you - he'll know where to go to find the right answers.

Source: 1.bp.blogspot.com via Maegan on Pinterest

19. Always carry band-aids and wipes on you.
especially the wipes.

Source: babyhold.com via Katie on Pinterest

20. Let his dad teach him how to do things
...without interrupting about how to do it the 'right way.' If you let his dad show and teach and discover with your son while he is growing up, some day down the road (after a short period of your son believing his dad knows nothing), he will come to the realization that his dad knows everything. You will always be his mother, but in his grown-up man heart and mind, his dad will know the answers. And this will be how, when your son is too busy with life to call and chat with his mom, you will stay connected to what is happening in his life. Because he will call his dad for answers, and his dad will secretly come and ask you.

Source: familyfun.go.com via Kate on Pinterest

21. Give him something to release his energy
drums, a pen, a punching bag, wide open space, water, a dog. Give him something to go crazy with - or he will use your stuff. and then you'll sorry.

Source: bleubirdvintage.typepad.com via Marybess on Pinterest

22. Build him forts
Forts have the ability to make everyday normal stuff into magic. Throw the couch cushions, a couple blankets, and some clothespins and you can transform your living room into the cave of wonders. For the rest of his life, he'll be grateful to know that everyday normal stuff has the potential to be magical.

Source: None via Tabitha on Pinterest

23. Take him to new places
Because it will make his brain and his heart open up wider, and the ideas and questions and memories will rush in.

Source: None via Anne on Pinterest

24. Kiss him
Any mother of sons will tell you that little boys are so loving and sweet. They can be harsh and wild and destructive during most of the day. But there are these moments when they are so kind and sensitive and tender. So much so that it can cause you to look around at the inward, reserved grown men in your life and think, 'what happens in between that made you lose that?' Let's try to stop the cycle by kissing them when they're loving and kissing them even more when they're wild. Kissing them when they're 2 months and kissing them when they're 16 years old. You're the mom - you can go ahead and kiss him no matter how big he gets - and make sure he knows it. p.s. (this one is just as important for dad's too).

Source: smallesthings.blogspot.com via Sherry on Pinterest

25. Be home base
You are home to him. When he learns to walk, he will wobble a few feet away from you and then come back, then wobble away a little farther and then come back. When he tries something new, he will look for your proud smile. When he learns to read, he will repeat the same book to you twenty times in a row, because you're the only one who will listen that many times. When he plays his sport, he will search for your face in the stands. When he is sick, he will call you. When he really messes up, he will call you. When he is grown and strong and tough and big and he feels like crying, he will come to you; because a man can cry in front of his mother without feeling self-conscious. Even when he grows up and has a new woman in his life and gets a new home, you are still his mother; home base, the ever constant, like the sun. Know that in your heart and everything else will fall into place.

What made 2011 so special?

2011-12-31T09:35:00.000-05:00

welcoming our 2nd son

becoming a family of 4

celebrating Diddy's 50th birthday

Griffin turning 2

taking the boys to the beach

being in Jacob and Stacey's wedding

buying a minivan

Griffin became a fisherman

4th of July at White Lake

seeing all my best college friends!

moving to Durham

throwing Mimi and Potts a 50th anniversary party

10 year high school reunion

our 5th anniversary in Pigeon Forge

dressing up these two cuties for Halloween

Thanksgiving at the Wilderness Lodge

watching my best friends become Moms too!

church league softball with our friends

being in Tennessee for Christmas

watching the boys get spoiled by their grandparents

having these two precious boys in our life!!!

Thank you Jesus for blessing us so much this year!!

Snapshots of Christmas in Tennessee

2011-12-29T20:32:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to US!

2011-12-27T20:09:00.000-05:00

Instead of buying each other just to say we did and not even remember what it was by this time next year... JR and I decided to have a Christmas getaway as our present to each other! We yearn for time alone together so with grandparents always willing to have some extra time with the boys we took advantage! We found a great deal on priceline.com and headed to Pigeon Forge! We didnt have a "schedule" which was awesome! The first day we went and saw a movie and then shopped around the outlets. We both needed new watches and found a GREAT deal at Fossil! We ended the day walking around Gatlinburg and using the money a church member blessed us with for dinner!

Our 2nd day we were blessed with FREE tickets to Dollywood!!! We hadnt been since high school and neither of us had ever been for Christmas. It was beautiful with lights on every building and they also had some wonderful Christmas shows too! It was so awesome to just walk around, holding hands and enjoying adult conversation ALL day :)

SO thankful for a husband who makes it a priority to spend time with his bride!!! It was the PERFECT gift!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T00:30:00.000-05:00

Managing 3 blogs!

2011-12-15T23:09:00.005-05:00

Trying to manage 3 blogs has been a bit crazy! So although this one has been neglected lately, I have done a pretty good job at keeping our boys' updated. In case you didnt know they had their own, here they are so you can check them out!

www.griffinjonah.blogspot.com
www.carterisham.blogspot.com

Christmas pictures

2011-12-15T23:06:00.002-05:00

I am so blessed to be the Mommy of these two handsome boys!!

Prayer Requests

2011-12-12T13:04:00.002-05:00

There seems to be an outpouring of prayers needed and I am asking that you please join me in praying for these families:

-Dr. McKinion, who was one of JR's closest professors in seminary, just learned that his 10 year old son, Harrison has leukemia. You can read his candid story about it here. Please pray for Harrison as he has beginning his treatments for cancer this week. (his picture is above)
-Another friend that has been affected by leukemia who I have asked you to pray for in the past, Jonathan and Lauren Chandlar's little 2 year old, Rebekah. She has a praise report as she will soon enter her next phase of treatments, the Maintenance phase, which will last for 2 years. You can read her update here.
-The Harrisons who lost their little girl Evie just came to the year mark of her death last Friday. I cant even begin to fathom the grieving process and I know that this anniversary has brought about all new sadness. Please continue to pray for them, Evie's precious twin sister Ramsey, and the baby their family is expecting in April. Alicia is incredibly strong and shows her unwavering faith on her blog.

Refreshing..

2011-12-02T09:11:00.001-05:00

I was encouraged, challenged, convicted and refreshed this morning and wanted to share it with anyone I could so that you too might be refreshed.

"I first put faith in Christ when I was in high school. My conversion, as far as I can tell, was sincere. I understood that Christ paid the full penalty for my sin and I surrendered to whatever God wanted me to do. I got a big list of stuff to start and stop doing for God..... I learned that real Christians tell other people about Jesus, so I set goals for how many people I would tell about Him. In college I learned that real Christians love missions so I went on mission trips. I later learned that real Christians love the poor so I sponsored a Compassion child.

By the time I was living in a way that would have met just about anybody's standard as a "real" Christian. But this religion of so-called grace often felt more to me like drudgery than delight. No matter how many rules I keps and how disciplined my life was, I wasled around with an ever-present guilt. In the deepest part of my heart, I knew-knew- God was not really pleased with me because there was always something I could do better.

I was tired, and while I never wanted to admit it, I was starting to hate God. He was the merciless taskmaster always standing over me yelling, "NOT ENOUGH! I want MORE!" His constant demands were driving me insane. The more I strived to walk in His ways, the less love I felt for Him. The more closely my feet followed Him, the more my heart ran away. Oh I had the facts down. Iknew He had taken the penalty for my sin. I also knew that He was the universe's most satisfying possession. But if my heard knew that truth, my heart didnt feel it. I was motivated to walk with God primarily by my desire to stay out of hell.

Recently, however, I discovered something that hhas changed everything. The gospel. It's not that I didnt understand or believe the gospel before, I did. But the truth of the gospel hadnt moved from my mind to my heart. There was a huge gap between my intellect and my emotions. The Puritan Jonathan Edwards likened his reawakening to the gospel to a man who had known, in his head, that honey was sweet, but for the first time had the sweetness burst alive in his mouth.

"Rediscovering" the gospel has given me a joy in God I never experienced in all my years of fervent religion. Now I sense, almost daily, a love for God growin in my heart, displacing a love for myself. I still have a long way to go but I am making "progress" in the gospel. The gospel has done in my heart what religion never could. "

All of this taken from the Introduction section of, "Gospel: Rediscovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary" by JD Greear. He, by the way, is an evangelical pastor of one of the fastest growing churched in America.

Like I said earlier, encouraging, challenging, convicting and refreshing. More on this to come!

Fall Family Photos 2011

2011-11-13T23:27:00.000-05:00

Birth Stats Art!

2011-11-11T21:27:00.001-05:00

Here are some recent birth stats art that I have done for friends. Personalized to match their rooms. Loving these!!!

You can email me @ lgriffi2@gmail.com if interested! These will make great gifts or add that special touch to your own child's room :)

Birth Stats Print

2011-11-02T21:26:00.002-04:00

It is no surprise in our house that I am officially obsessed wtih PINTEREST! If you have never heard of it then you wouldnt understand or I'm sure think I'm speaking jibberish. BUT... its so awesome and I have had so many ideas bloom from it. I would never say that I am artistic, however I do like to be crafty. This site gives you 1,000s of ideas on how to be just that and DIY (do it yourself) projects to complete.

I recently stumbled across this pin with a super cute birth stats print and thought... well I can do that! I'll admit, I always run to my sweet friend Jen who is a genius at these things and get her to put her special touch on what I come up with and here is what we came up with.....

I plan to print and frame these and put them in their new rooms when we move! AND I am so obsessed with this idea that I have made it my new thing to gift to babies of my friends that have recently been born. I think its the perfect personalized and rather unique gift for any baby!

I do plan to use them as some Christmas gifts as well, as we have been blessed with new babies in our family as well. And then it hit me... well its Christmas time. Maybe my fellow blogger friends would like to gift something like this too. So.. would you? I would love to customize this for you or someone you know as a very special baby room item they will always cherish. I used all the colors in my boys' rooms and so can also of course make this whatever color(s) you wish! Please send me an email at lgriffi2@gmail.com if you are interested!!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:40:00.000-04:00

This was the first year Griffin really understood what trick or treating was, or at least supposed to be. He was thrilled to be able to dress up like a puppy dog because he is very obsessed with them these days. He had been practicing his bark and ask for at least 3 days beforehand when he got to go and get candy.

I mean look.. he even has a cute tail! Well.... about 4pm it began to rain. And rain, and rain more. It didnt stop or look as if it was going to let up and I just didnt have the heart to tell Griffin that we were just staying home. PLUS its Carter's FIRST Halloween!

SO we drove for about an hour in traffic to go to the mall because we heard they were giving out candy and knew we wouldnt get wet there.

Unfortunately every one else in Durham got the same memo. IT. Was. a. MADHOUSE! I'm talking lines for 10 minutes between the stores to get the candy, if they even had any left.

Tigger remained all smiles though and we were thankful of course he had no idea anything was not going as well as it could ha!

These two cuties were great sports and we were so thankful if it had to rain any year it was this one.

Griff got about 10 whole pieces of candy after all the madness!

He was too precious when we were leaving and said, "Trick or treating was so fun! I've got enough candy now, we can go home!"

I, however, was bummed because I knew in my heart it was a big FLOP! We were so thankful to be invited over to the Green's house to celebrate some more. Griffin got to see his friend Isaac.

Carter smiled and cooed with one of his girlfriends, Jayden!

Carter thought, "This Halloween thing is fun! I get to stay up past my bedtime!!"

me and the sweet Tigger boy

G and his "gurlfrieeeend!"

We are so incredibly grateful for our adopted family here in NC! I told JR driving home that spending time with those you love really makes any holiday. Love our sweet memories with our boys!

Mamaw and Frank visit!

2011-10-18T14:24:00.001-04:00

We were so excited to have Mamaw and Frank come and spend a few days with us! The boys love having them here and the first thing Griffin said every morning is, "I want to see MEMAW and FRANK!" They were so sweet to take us to lunch Sunday after church and we enjoyed a beautiful day!

Mommy and Carter

Silly G and Daddy

My sweet family

Griffin wanted to give them a tour of his classroom when we went back to church that night. I was thankful to have someone help tote along my chubby one!

We also went to visit the pumpkin patch together and had yet another beautiful day!!

I have quickly learned how difficult it is to get TWO to look at the camera ha!

This was the summary of our time in the cornpit... Griffin relaxing while Carter tried to eat it!!

Griffin the tractor driver

Hayride!

Carter enjoying the bumpy ride

We had a great time... thank you for spoiling us!!!

The Isham's take on the fair

2011-10-18T14:00:00.002-04:00

This was our first year to take on the NC State fair as a family of FOUR and we had a blast. We went on a Friday to be able to spend the majority of the day there and we savored all 6 hours we were there!

Griffin LOVED it this year and was squealing with excitement from the moment we parked the car. Of course all he talked about was riding rides and enjoyed the monster trucks with Mommy first.

Carter could have cared less about anything, as long as he was getting fed! Big brother gave him a snack of puffs as we were strolling along.

Another favorite ride for G was the swings!

And a FIRST for Griffin... riding his first ride ALL by himself. He did so well on the choo choo!

Carter again just enjoyed the ride in the stroller and did very well despite all the noise and smells.

As I said, as long as he is fed he is usually happy

Another FIRST.... Griffin's first ROLLERCOASTER! He did awesome and was so brave, holding up his hands and squealing with delight!

Thumbs up for a fun first rollercoaster and a brave little boy!

Griffin did remember feeding the animals from last year and it was another request this year!

Food is always a major deal at the fair for everyone. This year I could NOT decide what to eat. With the 100's of smells everywhere and it all seeming to mix together I finally settled on a Philly Steak and Cheese... and it did NOT disappoint!

Griffin asked for some, "MEAT!"

After a demonstration from Daddy he got himself a big ole bite!

Carter happy to be in Mommy's arms

For dessert and to end the night we had some delicious NC state homemade ice cream that we all shared.

I love making sweet memories with our family.. another fun year at the FAIR!

Wordless Wednesday: Our fun these days through video!

2011-10-05T16:14:00.002-04:00

Rockwood High School Class of 2001

2011-09-30T15:20:00.000-04:00

I am officially O-L-D and had my 10 year high school reunion a few weeks ago. After months of planning and trying to hunt down all 72 of our classmates, we had a great little weekend together catching up. It first started with a little tour of the high school before our football game.

Not all that much had changed but there was a new cafeteria and it was very interesting to be back in our all of 3 halls :)

Then we headed to the homecoming football game to cheer on our Tigers!

The crew at the game

And just like old times, we ended our night with a trip to Ruby Tuesdays! It was so fun to be with my girls again!

Then on Saturday morning we brought all of our kiddos together to have a little picnic at the park. Carter met his friend Patrick who is just one week younger than him!

Beautiful Bella and Kyerah

My firstborn and I wearing our gameday gear!

Saturday evening we gathered at our Rockwood Country Club, aka Ratchets and enjoyed some finger foods and catching up with everyone.

JD, Elena and I

Katie and Missy did a fun superlative game

Casey played DJ

We had some fun singing karaoke!

I was very happy to see Adrian Bates who came all the way from Michigan! She always kept me laughing in school.. and nothing has changed!

One of my favorite things to do was try and recreate some old picture memories... our "seven" then and now :)

Class of 2001

It was fun to see everyone and hear where they are now. 10 years sure does bring about a lot of change and yet some things never do change. Good times were had by all... and our 10 year high school reunion was for sure a success!

Celebrating Potts and Mimi's 50th anniversary!

2011-09-29T15:39:00.003-04:00

On September 2, 1961 my grandparents got married. They were 18 years old and without a clue as to what they were getting themselves into, but deeply in love. Now 50 years later, and by God's grace they celebrate their golden anniversary! This is definitely something worth celebrating and so with the help of my family, we threw them an anniversary party on September 10th.

We planned this party for them as a surprise so when Mimi walked through the church fellowship hall doors she was quite surprised to see over 120 of their friends and family there to celebrate!

And I think Mimi was even more surprised that her sweet friends could keep a secret :)
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Meadows (aka Mimi and Potts!)

The lovely couple and the generations that have come all because two people fell in love

some of the decor

It was such a blessing to get to celebrate two of the very most special people to me!!

5 blissful years!

2011-09-23T07:17:00.001-04:00

JR,

Today we celebrate our 5 year anniversary and this year has no doubt brought the most change and a bit of chaos in our life together. I would have never guessed back when we took that picture above that we would go through our first year being on staff at a church, start doing marriage counseling for other couples, welcome our 2nd child, buy a minivan AND move in just 10 days, along with the gazillion other things life brings us everyday. Yes it was a crazy ride and we learned a lot.. but we made it through! Looking back on everything I see that much has changed since we began the journey with just the two of us. Our house is always busy, we are always running around everywhere and have very little time to ourselves. I was so grateful to get to whisk you away last weekend for a one night getaway to the mountains as an early celebration. It was wonderful to get to just relax with you and concentrate on each other... and as I told you when we did our hike, just the simple thing of holding your hand! You are great about "reminding me" about when we first fell in love and although our roles have changed and the stage of life we are in right now pulls us in so many directions we are still able to create a spark even in the everyday moments of life. In the beginning our love was instant and now it continues to bring on much new meaning every year we grow together.

Thank you for your leadership, your sacrifice and for loving me unconditionally. Here is to another year in our journey together... cant wait to see what it will bring!

Only yours,

Your Bride

Our 5th year in pictures

LONG overdue!

2011-09-20T11:06:00.003-04:00

Wow its been OVER a month now since I have posted and I hope you know that is just not like me! I am alive though ha... and can explain. We have had a crazy past few weeks AND my computer is on its last leg and has not been working for me either. We have moved since I last posted too. I am doing my best to catch up on here as well as the boys' blogs so please stay tuned! SOON.. I hope :)

** Several updates have now been made but you have to scroll down because I backdated in order to keep everything in order. Sorry OCD ha!

An early anniversary getaway

2011-09-08T15:24:00.000-04:00

We had the chance to have an overnight getaway for an early anniversary present while visiting Tennessee. We always try to take advantage of the grandparents wanting to watch the boys and it couldnt have been better timing! With all the stress of the move and such, we needed some time to just R.E.L.A.X!!! I knew I wanted to get the hubby to the mountains because he had been longing to be there ALL year! We began our trip with another visit to Cades Cove. We used to visit this place often in our high school dating days and it is so refreshing to see all the green and be in the middle of the mountains.

JR also really enjoys hiking and so I planned for us to do Abram Falls. It is an "easy" hike which I picked on purpose because I also wanted to be able to enjoy it and not hate myself aftewards! It was so peaceful to walk the 6 miles and it took about 3 hours. I loved getting to be alone with JR and simply hold his hand! When the boys are with us we are holding onto them and dont ever get to enjoy that little thing that really is missed.... and the turnaround point of the hike had a beautoful waterfall!

We packed our lunch and enjoyed the beautiful view on "our hill." We always stop at the same spot on the circle and enjoy this hill, so special to revisit!

We checked into our hotel and got ready for a very nice dinner at the Peddler. It was amazing food and a very relaxing environment. We chatted about what all this year had brought us... WOW a lot :)

The next morning we had breakfast at JR's VERY favorite.. THE Cracker Barrel and then shopped around at the outlets.

We are grateful for our times away from the boys but are always eager to get back to them!! It was a fabulous trip :)

Season opener: Go Duke!

2011-09-03T14:53:00.000-04:00

We took Griffin on his own little adventure without baby brother to watch Duke play their season opener. We are so grateful to have been given tickets by our good friends Wes and Ashley and took advantage to make our boy feel extra special.

He was so happy to be at the game and kept his eye constantly on the "Blue Debil."

We also invited our good friends from church, the Jones family to join us.

It is great to live life together with our church family!

Jacob and Anna's wedding

2011-08-28T21:43:00.005-04:00

Our church has been blessed to have several couples get married in the past year. We attended another beautiful wedding of Mr. Jacob and Mrs. Anna Coyne.

It is always fun to get dressed up and spend time with our friends!

All the dudes

It was also a delight to get to hang out with my hubby... with NO kids! Ah its refreshing to have adult conversation, not worry about sleeping and feeding times and just enjoy ourselves as a couple!

Ashley is such an awesome babysitter... the boys LOVE her!

Go Bulls!

2011-08-24T14:16:00.000-04:00

Our first outing as a family as Durham residents was to watch a Durham Bulls baseball game! It was fun to have the boys at the ballpark. Griffin is very into the game and Carter just looks around at all the new things to see.

Lots of our church family joined us because....

our choir sang the National Anthem!

Sweet Griffin just knew he was going to catch a ball

I thought he looked like such a big boy in his matching hat with Daddy!

Showering Ike with some Phi Mu love!

2011-08-15T14:27:00.024-04:00

Last weekend I had a fabulous weekend with my Phi Mu girls! It had been 3 years since ALL of us had been together and at least 2 since I had seen a few so it was definitely overdue. The beautiful lady in green is expecting her first baby next month and it was a great excuse to get us all together!

Jenn was our fabulous hostess for the weekend! Her and her boyfriend Rogers have a great place in downtown Nashville known as "the flat" and it was the perfect spot for us all!

We had a shower for baby Ike on Saturday afternoon and it was such a fun time. I loved getting to celebrate with Katie as I am OH so excited she is joining the mom club :)

I had so much fun making Ike his diaper cake!

I also gave my first try at cupcake toppers to match the decor and i was pleased with the way they came out!

I am so thankful Jenn was in charge of the menu.... gracious day it was DELICIOUS!

Since I love playing games and enjoying a good laugh too we played the "guess whats in the dirty diaper game" where they had to figure out which candy bar was inside. The faces as they checked them out were CLASSIC! Mom to be is not so sure she is ready for the dirty part.

JWade says EWW!

Adrienne sniffing things out

Crystal is not so sure about it....

and asked for help from Momma Jessie

New moms Meg and Amy

We also played Mommy 101 where we learned some things about the fun world of Mommyhood.

What are these called? Scratch Mittens!

What is the football hold?

Jenn's answer was simply hilarious. Right, but different kind friend :)

Now for the fun gifts. The parents to be had asked Aunt Lindsey to make a Bible verse canvas to match Ike's room... and the polka dot queen couldnt resist some good manly coordinating ones!

Ike also received some love from the Vols and Sir Fidel himself (our mascot for Phi Mu, the lion)

Aunt Jenn decked him out in some "business time" attire. So adorable!

One of the most creative gifts I've ever seen came from Melissa.... being that both parents were Greek, Ike received a burp cloth that said

1 Phi Mu

+ 1 Lambda Chi Alpha

= IKE

All in Greek letters of course....

Adorable personalized things from Aunt Natalie!

I love this group of girls SO much and it was a wonderful blessing to get to see all of them again and catch up. I wanted to point out that in just this group of friends we have Jessie (whose son Thatcher just had the liver transplant), Amy (whose son Max had the pacemaker put in before he was a week old) as well as Meg who just adopted her baby girl Lilly! All who have been on my prayer list for some time and have been so blessed! The other amazing thing is that we can all get together and pick up right where we left off 5 years ago, though each of us have our own lives now we still have the common bond :)

Ike definitely got some Phi Mu love this weekend....

and will always have Aunties that love him so much!

Max Thomas Muesch

2011-07-11T13:53:00.002-04:00

Praising the Lord! Max arrived last Tuesday, July 5th via c-section and he is doing even better than they expected! He will be having a pacemaker put in today, at just 6 days old, so I ask that you join me in praying for this precious little one and his Mommy and Daddy, Amy and Tyler. If all goes well they expect him to go home Wednesday, isnt that incredible?!?

You can read their updates here if you wish.

Its so hard to say goodbye!

2011-06-22T15:51:00.008-04:00

We have been blessed with an amazing family as our closest friends these past 5 years and we are so sad to say goodbye! Jay, Christina, Maisy, Lily and Isaac will be heading to Missouri next week where Jay will begin his job as a professor in the Fall. We are so happy for them, as Jay worked so hard to get many degrees for this kind of job but are so sad to see them go!

The Todds were the family we shared our first Thanksgiving with.... and we didnt even know them ha! I would have never dreamed after that day that we would continue to share so many others memories together.

These two werent even thought of when we first met and now they are bestest buddies! Griffin asks all the time where Isaac is... he loves playing with him! And rightfully so.. he is the one who teaches him how to play like a boy- guns, running and jumping, playing ball and getting in the dirt :)

These two girls hold a very special place in my heart too! Lily was not even 1 when we met and Maisy 2... and now look how big they are! They are as sweet as they can be and I have loved going to every birthday party and watching them grow up!

I can always count on a big hug, a smile and a sweet compliment out of the most well-mannered sisters I know. Maisy, the little mom, and Lily, the sweetest little girl ever!

I've loved having our kids grow up together!

and be silly together too of course :)

Sadly enough, I erased the one picture I got of Christina and I but I cant go without saying what an amazing friend she has been to me! The one I called for advice on following Christ, marriage, pregnancy, family, babies, cooking, cleaning, nursing and so much more. She was my mentor and biggest encourager in my walk with Jesus, and most of the time by not even saying a word. I have a laughed with her more times than I can count. We have traded off keeping each other's kids for time away for date nights. Heck I have even stayed at her house for 3 days with her kids while she went away ha! We have had some great trips to the mall and Mimi's cafe. And most of all we have become "family."

I love you Christina!!! And thank God for your friendship. You have taught me so much of what it means to be a follower of Christ, wife, mother and friend. I am grateful for facebook and cell phones because I know this isnt the end to our friendship but its so hard knowing I cant just come have a play date next week! We will for sure be vacationing in MO soon :)

Celebrating Father's Day

2011-06-20T15:05:00.000-04:00

We had a pretty low key Father's Day weekend, but were thankful to get to celebrate ALL weekend! Friday we took the boys to the Marbles Museum in downtown Raleigh. We had heard a lot about it and it was a lot of fun!

Uncle Phil joined us and helped keep Carter company! I am so thankful Carter is doing better in the stroller and didnt have to be held the whole time :)

Griffin got to do a lot of pretend play. He made Daddy some dinner!

learned how to play hockey

being the goalie

surfing with Uncle Phil

being silly with Daddy

working in the workshop

and on a pirate ship!

We came back and had naps and then let Daddy open his presents. A card and coffee mug (his request) from the boys and a new outfit from his better half :)

We had 2 showings on Saturday to get the house ready for so it was nice to relax at a cookout with friends that night.

Sunday after church we did more napping (hey we like our sleep around here) and enjoyed doing nothing the rest of the day. Daddy just wanted to "hangout" with his boys.. and thats what we did! Carter gave him lots of smiles.

Watching golf with G. He looks up to his Daddy SO much and hangs on every word that he says.

Happy Fathers Day Daddy! You are our hero and we love you so so so much!

I honestly couldnt ask for a better partner to go down this journey of parenting with. To say that Griffin looks up to his Daddy is an understatement! He wants to do anything his Daddy does, asks about him every morning as soon as he wakes up and his favorite part of the day is when Daddy walks through the door. I love watching how much he loves his Daddy and I can only hope they both grow up to be just like him! I am most thankful that JR points them both to their heavenly Father in all things and Griffin already talks about Jesus all the time simply because his Daddy does.

So grateful for a wonderful husband, teammate and friend!!

Delaney

2011-06-18T16:29:00.001-04:00

I am so happy for my cousin Jessica! She had her daughter, Delaney Anne Livesay on Saturday, June 18th. She weighed 6 lb 6 oz and has red hair just like her Mommy!

Yay for more sweet babies adding to our family :)

Growing boys

2011-06-14T20:28:00.006-04:00

How funny is this picture?!? Holy cow.. JR and I couldnt stop laughing. This was taken last Sunday in JR's office between church services. We were just killing time and Griffin always loves to play with the VBS hats from last year. Well he decided this time that little brother needed to wear one too. And yes he was naked because I was in the process of changing his clothes.

I.will.laugh.at.this.picture.for.a.long.time.

Mr. Carter is now 4 months old. What?!? Well I must admit... it has actually been a LONG 4 months ha. I wouldnt change it for the world, however having 2 kids is the REAL deal :)

Carter is now getting more settled in to this world. Laughing and cooing. And still eating like a champ! Crazy to me how much he has changed since his first month.

And because big bro Griffin couldnt stand not having the camera on him, he decided to go and get his "Sojo" and take a picture with Carter :)

Mr. Griffin is now 26 months old and I look at him every day and ask, "How did you get so big?!?"

I will admit that trying to keep 3 different blogs updated is rather challenging with 2 crazy kiddos... so please go and check out their personal blogs because I do so much better for them :)

Griffin Jonah's blog

Carter James' blog

A break for vacation!

2011-06-06T14:44:00.002-04:00

We just got back from a very spontaneous trip to TN for our family vacation. Never thought we would be going back to our hometown to vacation but with views like this, I am SO glad we did!

More to come :)

Good news all around!

2011-05-26T22:00:00.006-04:00

I am BEYOND thrilled to update that sweet Thatcher is now home! If you remember, he had a liver transplant back in March and has been in Pittsburg for the last 2 months. He is doing remarkably well and I just love his little smile! I talked to his Mommy yesterday and she said they are so glad to be home and now just trying to get back in the groove of being a family of 4 since they have been away from each other for so long. Please continue to pray for this family!

Miss Rebekah who was diagnosed with leukemia just over a month ago found out yesterday that there is only .01% of leukemia cells in her body now! The chemo treatments have worked and we are praising God! Continue to pray for positive reports for the Chandlar's and you can follow them at http://jchandler.org/

More good news for Mr. Max Muesch, who was diagnosed with heart block at 28 weeks. Amy had her 32 week check up today and he is doing very well! There has not been any further damage, his heart rate has increased and the doctors are very positive! They are looking to delivery him at 36 weeks which will be here soon! Our great friends just had a shower for Amy and Max this past weekend and I am sad I couldnt attend! Doesnt Amy (she is in black) look great? Their blog is http://maxmuesch.blogspot.com/ if you want more updates.

And last but not least.. this adorable little one is Mr. Briggs Tuten! He was born last Thursday to my friend Jessica and they are both doing well! Cant wait to hug this sweet boy and squeeze those cheeks :)

I thank those of you who have been praying for each of these friends that are very dear to me. God listens and we are so thankful!!!

A thorough Mimi and Potts spoiling

2011-05-25T08:57:00.009-04:00

Mimi and Potts got to spend 5 days with us and to say that they spoiled us all is an UNDERSTATEMENT! First up was a trip to Chuck E Cheese.... I'm not sure who had more fun playing games, Griffin or Mimi and JR ha!

We were so grateful to have them watch the boys for us while we had lots to do for the Green wedding. Griffin didnt skip a beat and enjoyed playing with Potts. They played ball outside, rocked in the rocking chairs, got out every toy in his room and had lots of laugh time too!

Griffin reading Potts a book

Carter enjoyed what he does best... LOTS of eating! And there were some coos and giggles too :)

Mimi held him pratically the entire time and gave him so much attention that it took Mommy 2 days to get him unspoiled haha... JK! Well not really but I know thats what great grandmothers are for :)

They took us out to lunch after church Sunday and I was finally able to snap a shot of all 4 of them.

There is NO doubt that this weekend couldnt have happened if they werent here to help us. We were busy Thursday-Saturday until very late each night so we were thankful to know the boys were well taken care of!

Now they are continuing their anniverary vacation and headed to the beach! Happy early 50 years to the greatest couple I know. We love you and are so glad you let Wake Forest be your 1st stop on your trip!

Mr. and Mrs. Green!

2011-05-23T13:02:00.018-04:00

We were honored to be a part of a VERY special wedding this weekend. Our Pastor, but more importantly great friend Jacob, was marrying my sweet friend Stacey! The fun began with a bridal luncheon on Friday morning. Girl time was a great way to kick off the fun!

I had the awesome priviledge of helping the groom with the rehearsal dinner. I love party planning and jumped at the opportunity when Jacob said he needed some assistance. He wanted a luau theme and although I was a bit of a crazy woman for a week getting it together I think it turned out well!

Stacey and her bridesmaids

The engaged couple enjoying their last night of being single!

Of course Griffin would DROP my camera the day before a very important event that I wanted to take a TON of pictures at.. so my focus is way off on these. It was also hard to take a bunch being in the wedding... and I helped the bride out and took pictures with her camera too!

Here is the best shot of the bridal party I have... looking forward to seeing the photographers!

They had a beautiful ceremony and needless to say Will and Kate didnt have ANYTHING on this couple... they were stunning!

Can I just say how much fun it was for BOTH JR and I to be in the wedding? Not only did we both get to go to everything together but it was so fun to be dressed up and take pictures too!

We were extremely grateful that Mimi and Potts came up to help us by watching the boys all weekend. It was fun to have them all at the reception with us! Here is our oldest cutie... sporting his seersucker and bowtie :)

And the little chunky monkey looking too precious sleeping in his smocked jumper.

Somebody found him an older woman and asked to "dance dance" the whole time!

The newlyweds at their reception

Look what happened to their poor getaway car. The guys wrapped it... and THEM!

We had an awesome dance party!!! And yes Baptist do know how to dance and have fun too! It was incredible to see pratically our entire church their having a BLAST!

Last dance for the happy couple

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Green! Thank you for letting us be a part of your special day....We love you!!!

Our new RIDE!

2011-05-16T10:39:00.002-04:00

We are thrilled to welcome this new ride to our family! Its a 2008 Honda Odyssey and we feel so blessed that it worked out for us to get it. We always knew that we would welcome a van to our family one day but it worked out to come now and I'm THRILLED! We had been saving for awhile and then JR also decided it was time to sell Big Red, which was really hard! He is such a good Daddy though and knew that the truck was not practical with our family and therefore we shouldnt just keep it around. It broke my heart to see him have to part ways with him and Griffi is still asking where Big Red is :( So we sold Big Red last Sunday and just decided to go and "shop around," but not planning to buy anything for about a month. This was actually the first van we found and I had told myself I couldnt fall in love with it just yet.... but after some major negotiating we went back on Thursday and decided we couldnt pass up the offer they gave us! The van as I said before is almost 4 years old but it honestly looks brand new on the inside. The relief of having a dependable ride is the most wonderful thing because we have been having serious trouble out of our Civic for 3 months now.

With all of that to say... I am ONE HAPPY MOMMA :)

Celebrating being a Mommy!

2011-05-10T15:55:00.013-04:00

As if these 3 alone werent enough of a blessing to me as a mommy! We had a family day around the house Friday filled with doing some cleaning both inside and outside. Like I have said before, if I'm doing something with these 3.. I am happy!

My sweet big boy was loaned some beautiful flowers by the neighbors and gave them to me!

Saturday Carter turned 3 months old! What joy this little boy has brought our family!

AND JR let me sleep in!!! Ahh... just what Mommy needed, and obviously so as I laid down with no alarm and woke up 4 HOURS LATER!!! Daddy and the boys went for a stroll around town and hung out with Uncle Phil.

Saturday night we took our first trip of the season to see the Mudcats play! We went last year for Mother's Day as well. There is just something about seeing your boy's face light up when he gets so excited to see some baseball.

Plus it was Carter's first game too!

Griffin was given a ball and had Muddy sign it.

Sunday at church we were able to celebrate with our church family and it was extra special because we had Carter dedicated to the church!

another family shot

We were invited to have lunch with our church family and we were so grateful! Then we went to see Jacob and Stacey's new house! We were so blessed to eat their first meal in their home with them :)

The frame my Mom got me for my birthday and pictures JR had printed to complete it for me for Mother's Day!

and the sweet card my boys made me!

I am SOOOO incredibly thankful to be these 2 boys Momma!

Being a Mom

2011-05-07T15:29:00.003-04:00

Now that I have been a mom for 2 years now, celebrating Mother's Day has taken a whole new meaning. I always loved celebrating the special women in my life and thanking my mom for all that she has done and will do for me... but now I understand so much more how thankful I really am!

I have wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember. Having 2 siblings born when I was 1o and 12 really sparked the maternal instinct in me and so much that even through college with my friends I became a "mom" to them. I think back now that I actually am a mom and realize I had no clue ha! I never realized what a high calling being a mother is. I didnt have any idea the amount of selflessness, sacrifice, patience, endurance, and engery it would take. Nor did I understand how I could love 2 little people so much or they joy that they could bring me. Being a mom is the greatest thing I have ever done, apart from accepting Christ as my Savior and marrying JR. And those 3 things alone affect each other in major ways.

Making the decision to not only be a mom, but quit working and be a stay at home mom seemed to be a somewhat easy decision in the beginning. Yes I knew we would be sacrificing financially but we knew God would provide. I laughed when I saw on Good Morning America the other day, "the salary of a stay at home mom" they had calculated. $60K they said, providing 40 hrs a week of childcare (which is funny bc I know there are more hours in a day than that! Moms are never "off" ha), chaffeuring, tutoring, disciplining, cooking, cleaning, etc. Pretty funny to put a value on it but of course thats what you do when you think about it being a job, however I dont think there is enough money you could pay me to be AWAY from my boys. Yes eventually when they are in school I want to go back to work but my time at home with them is truly precious. I often have to remind myself of that when I have changed the 6th diaper, fed Carter 3 times, been up since 6am, Griffin is whining... AND its only 8am :)

I just recently was talking to a friend who is pregnant and about to experience motherhood for herself. "It is just hard to explain," I said, knowing that I could tell her so many things but until she actually experiences it for herself she wont truly know. Then I think to myself... and you have only done it for 2 years, imagine when the boys are in college how you will feel!

It is true, a mother's love is unmeasurable, never ends and is worth more than all the money in the world. I am so honored and blessed to be a Mom and will consider my life a success if one day when I go to be with Jesus that my boys say, "Our Mommy loved us SO much!"

To my mom- thank you for the love you have shown me for 28 years now, the sacrifices you have had to make along the way and for letting me know how proud you are that I am yours :)

And to the many other mothers out there who also have shown me so much love and what it means to be a mom, thank you as well!

Happy Mother's Day!

Brand new woman!

2011-05-04T13:49:00.006-04:00

I am so thankful that lately we have gotten mostly all smiles out of this little man! Goodness for this past month or so JR and I would look at each other ALL the time and say, "Does he ever stop crying?!?" He literally was fussing if he wasnt being held, HATES the car seat and was fighting naps like crazy. Well now....

We not only have a boy who naps BUT also HE IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! Ah I could scream its so glorious haha. The last 4 out of 5 nights he has slept from 8:00pm-6:30am and I cant believe it! With Griffin it took until he was 5 months old before he conquered this and I know it has a lot to do with us getting him good and full before bed! I had learned with Griffin to make sure he took a bottle his last feeding so he would get good and full without falling asleep first. So with Carter we did the same and because he is such a piggie he also started eating extra before bedtime. He eats at 5:00, 6:30 and 8:00 before going to bed and this has worked to get him good and FULL!!!

It is crazy how much uninterrupted sleep will change your life :)

Griffin and I were so thrilled that we took a trip to Chickfila to celebrate while some people were looking at our house. He had his first ice cream cone and LOVED every lick! Check out this adorable video of how it made him giggle :)

I have also been taught something simple and yet profound by our little 2 year old this week. Listen to the song he literally sings 100 times a day.....

UPDATES:

Max Muesch now has his very own blog that you can keep updated with him at http://www.maxmuesch.blogspot.com/ AND as an update, they had their first OB appointment since bad news streak of last Tuesday and Friday. Max's heart rate was 73 and scored an 8 out of 8 on the BPP (he studied). At this point, we consider that a win and a good visit...next appointment is Friday!

Also Miss Rebekah IS HOME!!! She has been home a week now and is responding really well to her chemo treatments. She also has updates posted on her Daddy's blog at http://jchandler.org/

Could you please also pray for my Dad's church! The organ sparked a fire and it destroyed their entire sanctuary. It was a beautiful place.... and the church where JR and I got married!

Please Pray for Max

2011-04-30T19:28:00.005-04:00

Another very close friend of mine from college needs our prayers! Amy was a sorority sister of mine and we have remained close the last 5 years since we graduated. Her and her husband Tyler are pregnant with their first son Max and live in Franklin, TN. Here is whats going on in her own words:

I went to my OB for a routine, 28 week appt this week and found out that my Sjogren's Syndrome is causing problems in the baby. Sjogren's syndrome is an autoimmune disorder that I was diagnosed with at the same time as the Rheumatoid Arthritis. There is about a 2% chance of women with Sjogren's Syndrome passing antibodies to the baby that can cause congenital heart block. Well, unfortunately, this has happened. Structurally, his heart looks ok, but the electrical system of the heart has been damaged by these antibodies.

On Tuesday, Max was diagnosed with 2nd degree heart block. This means that the top part of his heart is not communicating with the bottom part of his heart effectively. They set us up with a Cardiologist appt on Friday and we just hoped for the best.

Tyler and I met with a Pediatric Cardiologist at Vanderbilt on Friday and we found out a lot more information. It's actually worse than we thought. She diagnosed Max with 3rd degree to complete heart block. This means the top part of his heart has completely stopped effectively communicating with the bottom part. His heart rate is in the 60's and 70's when it should be in the 140's. Also, the heart's rhythm is not normal.

So, the plan is... They put me on steroids to hopefully help prevent any more damage. I will be monitored closely by a high risk OBGYN once to twice per week and I will see the Cardiologist every 2 weeks. I will have frequent ultrasounds and echocardiograms in order to see if the baby's disease is progressing or if other problems are occurring. The goal is to get me to 36 weeks and then deliver by C-section. If at any time between now and then, if Max looks like he is doing worse, he will be delivered then.

I will deliver at Vanderbilt and the baby will immediately go to the NICU for care. He will most likely need a pacemaker and they will evaluate at that time when would be the best time to do the surgery. We probably won't really know until that time. He will be in the NICU for at least a few weeks, but that also depends on a lot of factors.Because of the damage that's already been done, if more damage occurs, there is a small chance that Max may need a heart transplant. Right now that's not the focus.

If all goes well, Max's quality of life should be good. He will always have a Cardiologist and will most likely have a pacemaker. He will have to be careful not to do anything to get his heart rate too high. This probably includes playing contact sports. We are hoping he will be a heck of a golfer though!

So, Tyler and I would really appreciate if everyone would pray for us and for baby Max. Please pray specifically for...

1. A better than expected outcome. Miracles do happen and we certainly do believe that.

2. That the steroids will help prevent further damage to Max's heart instead of causing more complications.

3. That complications, in general, will be minimized.

4. That I will be able to carry him to as close to term as possible. (at least 36 weeks).

5. That when he is born, Max will be strong and recover well.

6. That God will give Tyler and me strength and peace because we are going to need it.

Now, I want to be sure and point out a lot of positive things that we are very thankful for...

1. God is giving us a baby boy and we love him so much already.

2. We have a lot of wonderful friends and family to support us.

3. We discovered this problem when we did and we were able to see a Pediatric Cardiologist within 3 days. 3 days was long enough to wait. I cannot imagine having to wait longer, which is usually the case.

4. I don't have to be admitted to a high risk OB unit.

5. We live within a few miles of Vanderbilt Medical Center and we have easy accessibility to it. I cannot imagine how much more complicated things would be if we did not live in an area with such wonderful healthcare.

6. Although this problem is extremely rare, our Pediatric Cardiologist, seemed very competent and clearly gave us a plan. We really liked her.

7. Our bosses are being very understanding and flexible with our schedules.

8. We are hopeful that Max will have good quality of life.

9. God has given us faith and we know He will not give us more than we can handle.

10. We have such faithful friends and family.

11. Tyler and I have each other to lean on; we are not doing this alone.

Here is a picture of Amy and I back in December when we had our girls' weekend so that you can put a face with the name. I thank you on their behalf for your prayers!!

I did want to update on the other friend that I had recently asked prayers for, Jessie and her baby boy Thatcher. His liver transplant went well and although he is still having to stay at the Ronald McDonald house in Pittsburg, they are only having to go in once a week to the clinic for checkups. They are hoping to come home this next month!!! Praise the Lord! She also got to see her sweet older girl Amelia who recently got to visit. Thatcher is now 9 months old and cuter than ever! Check them out at: http://bjandjessielink.blogspot.com/

Celebrating our Risen Savior!

2011-04-29T12:11:00.008-04:00

We had a wonderful Easter! We do our best to celebrate that Jesus has risen every single day because that reason alone is why we now have life... oh how wonderful! It is great to have a "holiday" to celebrate it as well and make us all take the time to reflect on the sacrifice Jesus made for us.

We also celebrated our 1 year anniversary of being on staff at Bethesda today! I remember this time last Easter I was so nervous for "the vote!" Oh what a year it has been :)

Easter also marks the start of Spring in my eyes... and a GREAT excuse to dress up for church. My mom found the MOST adorable outfit for Griffin... I couldnt get over how cute he looked! And I really hate that I didnt get more pictures of him in it in the rush to get to church and then the chaos of the rest of the day... BUT we will be taking him to get pictures made in it for sure. This outfit is in my eyes the best thing he has ever worn... hands down :)

And our other adorable cutie in another sweet outfit Cici got!

Carter in his casual Easter outfit... still looking handsome on his first Easter!

God continued to show favor to us on this Easter, allowing us to have our first family vacation. A couple at our church that we are very close to allowed us to go and stay in their beach house for a few days.. FOR FREE! AND on top of that gave us their car to drive down because ours is still being worked on. An absolute blessing and the most generous act of kindness ever shown to us!

We loved having our toes in the sand... more on that in another post to come :)

Griffin's Allstar 2nd birthday party!

2011-04-29T10:50:00.011-04:00

Our little man had an Allstar 2nd birthday party last weekend and it was a BLAST! Being that he LOVES balls and sports of all kinds, I thought this would be the perfect way to celebrate with his friends. Balls were EVERYWHERE! Decorations, bowls, cupcakes, hanging from the ceiling, hunted as Easter eggs AND set up with games for all the kids to play. Griffin, aka Mr. All I think about is balls, was THRILLED!

Mommy and Daddy with the birthday boy. Dont you love his shirt? I got it off etsy from flyduds

and it was perfect!

Being that it was Easter weekend we had an egg hunt too! I found ball eggs and the kids loved it!

I went with the multicolor decor and it worked out awesome because everything matched! Target had the Allstar party plates and goodie bags and everything else I found random places.

I was so grateful for Mrs. Debra who made his cupcakes and found the toppers at Hobby Lobby! My Cricut sure came in handy too... I made additional toppers and banners :)

Griffin was able to actually blow out his candle this year :)

We were so thankful that Cici and Mimi could be in town to celebrate with us. And they were a HUGE help! Couldnt have done it without them no doubt!!

Enjoy this montage of all the pictures from the party.....

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy birthday Griffin!

2011-04-26T02:59:00.000-04:00

We are celebrating 2 wonderful years with our sweet boy today! This year has been so much fun to watch him grow, develop a personality and become a little boy!!! We are so blessed by Griffin and he continues to bring us joy, make us laugh and above all praise God for entrusting us with him! We love you Griffin.. and Happy Birthday!!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here is a video to recap his last year of pictures and videos. Enjoy!!

Celebrating 2!!!

2011-04-23T12:42:00.000-04:00

Today we are having Griffin's SECOND birthday! Being the ball lover that he is we are having a ball with his friends and playing all sorts of "ball games"!

Stay tuned for pictures to come!

Sweet Rebekah

2011-04-21T08:45:00.004-04:00

I had the priviledge of taking the pictures of the Chandlar family back in September. Jonathan was the pastor of our former church and Lauren and I were instant mom friends too! Miss Rebekah had just turned ONE in these pictures and is such a delight!

On Tuesday, Rebekah went in to the doctor for what they thought was a typical sick visit however they were quickly sent to Duke for further testing to find out that she had leukemia. She is beginning her chemo treatments today at 19 months old.... will you please join me in praying for them?

Jonathan has a blog that you can read more on at http://jchandler.org/

Brother love

2011-04-15T10:18:00.002-04:00

Life with 2!

2011-04-12T20:58:00.003-04:00

Now that I am 2 months in to having 2 kiddos, I thought it was probably time to start talking about it. First of all, I couldnt believe how my heart instantly grew the moment my eyes met Carter's. After 21 months of loving one child, I was worried that I couldnt love someone else like that. WRONG! I have loved even more now seeing our two boys together and watching Griffin's instant love of Carter as well. To be blessed with another healthy child, having God entrust his life with us and just simply being grateful that our family had so much joy added to it... so many wonderful things! This next section is for all of you other moms (or moms to be) out there. I had heard all of the above things before and granted it is WAY more incredible to experience them for yourself... I had been enlightened about what it would be like. However, no one shared with me how hard it would be to add to our family. I mean I didnt ask the direct question to anyone that I recall, but still.. NO ONE WARNED me ha! So now thats why I want to open up and just be real. Again, everything I said in the first paragraph is more than true and sharing these realities and not so glamorous day to day things does not change that. Having 2 kids is tough.. and two kids under two I would say is even tougher. It was a new way of life when I first had Griffin and difficult in some similar ways but overall was a pretty smooth transition for me into motherhood. Now having not only another newborn but ALSO an almost 2 year old running around is not only physically exhausting, but mentally as well. 2 schedules, 2 very different stages and needs that they have and my head just feels like its constantly spinning. Once we brought Carter home, and even after I had my Mimi here with me for a week, I was honestly scared to death to be at home alone with the 2 kids. With Griffin I was like, "Oh I got this!" but with both now I'm more like, "Man, how am I gonna survive?!?" Granted it has gotten much better over the last 2 months, there are definitely times where I still feel this way. This also explains why I havent gotten out much yet, or attempted the things that were fairly easy with just one baby (ie. going to the store, mall, church, etc). There are circumstances that didnt help me out with the difficulty either. I was sick with the flu the week before Carter was born and that continued to linger for at least 2 weeks after. It was also very cold weather and therefore I was too worried to take Carter out. AND my little man Carter is an EATER! During his first month, and he even has occasional days like this now, he wanted to nurse every 1.5/2 hrs AND he nursed each time for an hour. So yes that means if I was nursing 6 of the 12 hours! That doesnt give much time to do anything else, let along catch up on my sleep deprivation ha! So, not every newborn is like this.. I know Griffin was not, but it can happen! On top of all that we have had car trouble and I have literally been stuck inside which made it seem like the walls were closing in! It seems that as soon as I get one diaper changed, the other one needs it to. AND if one is sleeping then of course the other is screaming crying. Sweet Griffin is going through the whiny stage and it as increased as he feels that he isnt getting enough attention.. and well Carter is a newborn and newborns cry, simple as that! Being a mom involves sacrifice. Being a mom of 2 involves even more sacrifice. I have missed the days where I could just sit and stare at the baby all day long, like I did the first time. Or of course the old saying, "sleep when the baby sleeps," ha yea well I am lucky to get 1 full hour when they are both sleeping :) I also feel like at times I am cheating on Griffin or not loving him as much because I cant play with him like I used to or get him what he needs when he asks. I know this isnt true, but your mind just instantly goes there. For those who dont know me, but have somehow found your way to this blog, PLEASE know I'm in NO way complaining! I consider it my greatest blessing to be the mommy of my boys! I am however just very adament about being honest haha! And if you do know me, then I have probably been all to honest to you before so you understand. I am being transparent to hopefully set just one "mom of 2"s expectation correctly so you wont think you are going crazy like I did... I've started asking those questions to other moms now and always hear, "Yes I know exactly how you feel!" Oh and its okay to wonder, "What have I gotten myself into??" because God truly knows I did/do! And so maybe reading this you now know that you arent crazy for thinking the same thing! Either way.. I hope my honesty helps!! And if you are a husband, family member or friend of a mom... dont think she is crazy when she cries at the drop of a hat or doesnt seem herself. Being a mom is a full-time job and takes multi-tasking to a WHOLE new level! Do me a favor and let her get out of the house. Even if its just for an hour. Even if its just to walk around Target. I promise the moment of piece and quiet will do her good.... there is only so much crying you can hear before you just hear it constantly ringing in your ear :)

Mini Vacation to DC!

2011-04-05T15:45:00.010-04:00

Ever just needed to get away? Even if its just for a day? Well our family thought so and we took the opportunity to visit my bestest friend from high school, Missy, who with her husband Clint moved to DC area a few months ago. We found out that the Braves were playing against the Nationals this weekend so we figured why not go?!? Griffin was too cute with "MISH!" This is the nickname I called her in high school and he overheard me call her that on the phone the day before so all I heard was, "Where is MISH?" Friday we took a trip to the mall and Griffin took Aunt Missy on the train ride.

Carter's idea of fun was sleeping on Mommy, while Griffin played The little brother

Uncle Clint enjoying Carter.. well until he started to cry ha!

And here are the Braves smallest fans all decked out for the game!

Sadly we got rained on HARD on the way into the stadium, it dried up long enough to play 3 innings and for us to eat and the POURED again. This was the only picture I was able to take the whole time we are there and it really does explain the game all to well. Stuck under shelter out of the rain, FREEZING and sad that we couldnt watch baseball :(

Oh well! We still enjoyed our visit with the Davis family! Thanks for having us... and our crazy family of FOUR. We joked with them and said they would probably delay having kids after our visit hahah :)

Slow dancing

2011-03-31T14:37:00.002-04:00

I was so happy to find out the photographer at our friends' wedding last month caught our first slow dance as a family of four :) Love my boys!!

Join me in praying for the Links!

2011-03-22T06:16:00.001-04:00

Meet Mr. Benjiman “Thatcher” Link. He is the adorable son of my precious friend Jessie. Born July 28, 2010 to join his big sister Amelia who was 18 months old at the time, this precious boy was diagnosed with biliary atresia at 2 months old. Today he will have a liver transplant at 8 months old and his mom is his living donor. I have been praying on their behalf since September when Jessie called me with the news that changed their life forever and am thankful that today he is able to have the surgery that will save his life! They are at Childrens Hospital of Pittsburg for the surgery, which is a very long way from their precious daughter in Nashville. Will you please join me in praying for this sweet family?

-Pray for Jessie as she has part of her liver removed and the recovery that will take place the next 3 months.
-Pray for Thatcher's little body, that it will accept this new liver with no problems and in the days and weeks to come that he will recovery quickly.
-Pray for BJ who will be taking care of his wife and son as they recover
-Pray for all the doctors and nurses involved, as doing a transplant on an 8 month old is rarely done and therefore more difficult
-Pray for Amelia who will be without her Mommy, Daddy and brother for 3 months and the family that is taking care of her
-Pray that God would be glorified no matter the outcome and that this family would have His peace through it all

Love you Jessie!!! You are such a strong woman and I have been inspired by your faith and perseverance through this entire situation! I promise to be one of your biggest prayer partners!!!

(This was us back in November 08 when she was pregnant with Amelia and I was pregnant with Griffin)

Read more about Thatcher's story here and feel free to visit their blog, http://bjandjessielink.blogspot.com/ for updates as well!

Refreshing visit to TN!

2011-03-21T10:57:00.015-04:00

When the first thing I see is this when I pull into town, I know its going to be a refreshing weekend! I have said it before but it continues to amaze me every time we go back to TN and I see how beautiful our hometown is... you dont realize it as much when you see it every day!!

As you could see from the previous posts, we had a very busy weekend with my Dad's birthday party and Vance's shower, however we were also able to squeeze in some down time to be outside and enjoy the beautiful weather we had... in the 80s! Griffin has officially embraced his Mommy and Daddy's love for the lake. If he wasn't outside, he was asking to go outside and "throw rocks," into the lake. We are so blessed that the lake is all around us there, in both my mom and dad's backyards..... it. is. AMAZING!

Every time I am with family it is refreshing but there was something about this weekend and seeing my boys with them that was extra special. Griffin is old enough now to truly enjoy spending time with each of them... and Carter got to meet ALL the family, some for the first time!

I live for little moments like these.......

snuggles with Susu

enjoying swinging at the park

throwing sticks with Cici

coos for Mimi

throwing rocks with Ty

meeting Mamaw and Frank

meeting Uncle Moose

meeting Uncle TyTy

being silly with Aunt Cara

they warm my soul and make my heart smile!!! Thank you family for all of our memories we made. Living so far away, we do NOT take them for granted!

Showering Baby Briggs

2011-03-21T10:38:00.005-04:00

Jessica, JD and I have been friends for a LONG time! Elementary school is where it all started and we have experienced middle school weirdness, high school drama, college, weddings and now babies together! Jessica is due with her first baby May 25th and so JD and I, along with some other lovely ladies in Jessica's life, threw her a shower this weekend!

I was excited that Jessica was able to meet Carter and see Griffin as well. We talk at least once a week on the phone and stay in touch really well but hardly ever get to see each other in person!

SO excited for Baby Briggs to arrive soon!

Love you Vancerelli :)

Happy 50th to VDiddy!

2011-03-21T10:33:00.003-04:00

My Dad celebrated the BIG 5-0 this weekend and we were thrilled to be able to go to TN to surprise him for his party! Carter was able to meet Uncle Moose, Uncle Tyty and all the extended family as well. Special memories for sure :)

Happy birthday Diddy! We are so thankful for a wonderful Dado and Grandpa Diddy too!! Love you so much

Bulldog puppies for sale!

2011-03-21T09:59:00.003-04:00

If you or anyone you know is interested, call 865-394-9054. They are available April 1st!

Our smart boy!

2011-03-14T11:29:00.002-04:00

We are so very proud of Griffin.This past month has been one of incredible developmental growth for him. He can say his ABCs and 123s and sing Rocky Top, Twinkle twinkle little star, Jesus loves me and the itsy bitsy spider. He is also talking up a storm! I recorded some of his recent quotes on his blog so we can always look back and remember this stage for him. He is a little sponge right now and repeats anything we say, as well as enjoying learning ANYTHING we teach him. We are trying to take full advantage!!!

*Click on any of the links above to go to his blog and see videos of him doing them!

Comparing Pictures

2011-03-03T11:00:00.011-05:00

I know its only natural to compare the pictures of your kids so here is the first of many comparisons. Can you tell which one is Carter and which one is Griffin??

I do think they look similar in many ways, especially as Carter gets older, but they also have their own distinctions as well. What do YOU think???

Celebrating 28!

2011-02-26T09:51:00.001-05:00

I was spoiled by my boys ALL weekend long! JR surprised me when he came home Thursday night with an icecream cake... YUMMY!! We had a fun night just with the family and it was a great start to the weekend.

Friday we went to the mall to see if I could spend some birthday money. I had requested to be able to buy new clothes since things dont quite fit the same just yet ha! Sadly I didnt find very much (YET!) but I sure loved seeing the joy on Griffin's face when he rode the choo choo :)

Saturday morning I woke up to this sweet boy's voice saying "Happy birfday Mommy!" and then he and Daddy made me a birthday waffle for breakfast.

Carter also gave me the gift of 5 hours of sleep!!

I share my special birthday with sweet Isaac Todd and we headed to his birthday party in the afternoon. The Todd family is like our family so we wouldnt have missed it!!

Griffin was thrilled to go to "Isaac's birfday party" as he had been talking about it since I told him we were going the day before. I love seeing these sweet boys together!!

And my precious friend Christina (Isaac's mom) totally surprised me by baking ME a birthday cake too! At her son's bday party.. I mean who does that?!? Well she is pretty special :)

I had my first "Mommy alonetime" that afternoon and went shopping at Target. Oh it was nice! Then we met the Grahams and Messersmiths for dinner at Twisted Fork. I am so blessed by these two ladies and I love raising our kids together!

I am truly blessed and not on just my birthday. To have these 3 special boys in my life is the greatest blessing to me! I love my sweet family :)

And it being my first birthday as the mom of TWO was pretty special too!

The fact that I heard this ALL day long made my heart SO very happy :)

Thank you everyone for the phone calls, cards, facebook messages, texts, etc! It has been a WONDERFUL day!!!

lessons as a mom of 2

2011-02-21T17:37:00.001-05:00

lessons learned on my first day home with 2 kids:

1. its all about small victories
2. always give myself an extra 30minutes when getting ready just in case both kids blow out their diapers and need baths... today they did it at same time!
3. dont be surprised by the remarks such as "wow you have your hands full!' when out with 2 small kids
4. I can do it... best realization for an overwhelmed mommy :)

One proud Mommy!

2011-02-17T22:47:00.001-05:00

Read here to see why :)

Project 52: Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T17:13:00.001-05:00

We braved it and ventured out with a one week old for a family dinner on Valentines Day. It felt so good to just get out of the house with all the craziness going on!

My littles Valentine

Mimi and her buddy

bright eyes

My big boy excited about his Valentine sucker from Mommy and Daddy

and Carter did so well! Sleeping the entire time we were eating and made it home before he wanted to eat. Miracle with his crazy schedule for sure... he usually wants to eat every 1 1/2-2 hours. :)

I love these 2 little boys more than anything! They make any Valentines Day special!

Family of Four!

2011-02-13T18:16:00.008-05:00

We are now officially a family of four and I am not even sure it has truly sunk in yet! It is so overwhelming to bring a new baby to the family and I am so blessed to now be a mom of 2 wonderful boys! The delivery went amazing and seamless, recovery has been good except my crazy cough that wont seem to go away and now we are doing our best to transition into a family of four. I'll be honest.. I am A LOT more intimidated this time around! With Griffin, I could just concentrate on him and his every need but now there are TWO :) It should be interesting once I am on my own with them both during the days but for now I am blessed to have my Mimi staying with us, who is Griffin's favorite playmate!

It has been incredibly sweet to watch Griffin with his little brother. He is so proud and hasnt shown any jealousy, as of yet. He is very interested in him, often asks to hold him and gets really worried anytime he cries. "Its okay, Carter," he will say... how sweet!

Carter has been a great baby this first week. He is definitely an eater, man I forgot how crazy it is to nurse every 2 hours or sometimes 1! He loves to be held of course but is doing just as well when he is all swaddled up. Last night he went 5 hours between feedings... OOPS! I hadnt had to worry about setting an alarm bc he would always wake me up plenty before the 4 hour mark, however last night I think JR swaddled him in so well he was comfy enough to just keep sleeping. I am sure it was a fluke, but I can hope not!

Its amazing how the love is just so instant. I want to hold and kiss on him all the time....

And I love the most seeing my 3 boys together. I can forsee so many more fun times in our family's future :)

Bringing Carter home has DEFINITELY made me realize how big Griffin is. He has had some outings with Daddy this week to get them both out of the house and I just love this picture I snapped before they left one day. He will always be my baby but I cant deny how grown up he is now!

And I leave you with this.. which makes me laugh so much. We had someone come over to take pictures of Carter yesterday and of course Griffin, the cheeser himself, couldnt let the camera be out without him posing in front of it! He wanted to wear his "helmet" and so here is what we captured!

Birth Story

2011-02-11T11:31:00.003-05:00

I am slowly but surely getting Carter's blog updated with his first few days. Just posted his birth story so check it out!

We are so in love with our new little man :)

Project 52: Week 6

2011-02-10T18:58:00.000-05:00

I purposely planned a Redbox night for this week, knowing that we would have a newborn that we just brought home... make that a THREE DAY OLD! JR was sweet to get a chick flick and we enjoyed snuggling on the couch. It was as good as it gets considering :)

Welcome Carter!

2011-02-09T20:41:00.000-05:00

I have been eager to share the pictures from Mr. Carter's arrival! I'll be back to post more but for now just enjoy the pictures and videos :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

FLU!

2011-02-04T22:28:00.002-05:00

Today proved to be another surprisingly crazy day for us. Griffin had been rather lethargic and started getting a snotty nose yesterday so I knew in my mind that if he woke up worse I would take him to the doctor. Not because I really thought he had something more than a cold, but more because I wanted to make sure knowing all the changes we were about to have. So sure enough, he woke up worse and we headed to the sick walk-in at the peds office. Doctor comes in, "I think we should do a flu test." I was caught off guard but said okay and sure enough less than 5 minutes later he was back in to tell me YES HE HAS THE FLU! What?!?! We dont have time for the flu right now, you dont understand I am about to have a baby Monday... is all I could think. Then I got really sad for Griffin and mad at myself knowing that I gave it to him.

Off to the pharmacy we go only to find out all the tamiflu in Wake Forest is out so I would have to call around to try and find some. Joy. Finally 1 1/2 later we are home with the medicine and he is begging to take a nap. I get ready and then head to the hospital for my pre-admission testing. Did I mention Carter is coming Monday? Nurse starts asking me questions and I answer "No," to them all EXCEPT, "Have you been exposed to the flu?" Yes as a matter of fact, my son has it and we found out this morning. Her response had me worried, "Oh no!"

THANKFULLY they decided it wasnt necessary to reschedule my c-section, although they did talk about it. Finally gave me some medicine that I have been begging for all week since they finally realized I probably was the one who gave it to him and said we really need to make sure the flu is OUT of our house before Carter comes home next week. Whew... nothing is ever easy around here :)

Griffin is doing better even after 2 doses and we are hopeful that we caught it quick enough that it wont get too bad. Can I just say I will be the first in line next year for our entire family to get the flu shot?!?!

Family is on their way in tomorrow. Church and JR is getting ordained on Sunday and we check into the hospital at 10:30am on Monday. Surgery is scheduled for 12:30pm Monday, give or take an hour they said. We covet your prayers :)

Project 52: Week 5

2011-02-04T22:12:00.004-05:00

Tonight we had a little Wii Mario Kart Challenge for our date night. We originally were going to finish Carter's nursery, however somehow I managed to get all of that done already. So... knowing that it was our last night of the two of us for awhile, we just played like kids! And I'll be even more honest, we got bored with it after about 45 minutes and then decided to each do our own thing as one last VEG OUT before a newborn rocks our free time ha! JR is now playing Madden football on the Wii and I am catching up on blogs and stalking people on facebook. Oh... arent we so crazy :)

I do love to just do nothing "with" JR though... and am thankful he too wanted to take advantage of this last night to just do nothing! We had a rather crazy day today, you can read about it the next post, so I am off to bed! Going to pray Griffin sleeps and I can have a decent nights rest... while I can!

sweet friends

2011-02-02T15:51:00.003-05:00

After being in the bed for 2 days.. there is nothing like a great surprise! I received a package from my sweet friend Tabitha today and it just made my day!!! Thank you friend :)

Griffin had to try on Carter's new bib

personalized bucket just like his brother's!

Carter's blog

2011-02-01T00:11:00.000-05:00

I think its time to debut Mr. Carter's blog! Check frequently for updates on him, in fact every day if you wish! I have a lofty goal of doing the same thing I did with Griffin and blogging every day of the first year of his life. Wish me luck :)

http://carterisham.blogspot.com/

38 weeks

2011-01-31T14:49:00.001-05:00

This proved to be the most eventful 2 weeks of pregnancy BY FAR! First we had a trip to the hospital that caught us all off guard. After taking medicine to stop the contractions we were sent home and from that point on its been crazy!! I continued to have contractions just about every night after but they were never the real deal, only enough to drive me crazy. THEN right after this picture was taken I came down with a terrible sinus infection. Sadly I can only take over the counter medicines at this point and therefore recovery has been slow. Feeling like my throat is shutting, as if an elephant is sitting on my forehead and the flood gates in my nose were WIDE open... all not fun at all, AND especially when I am a week away from delivery. BUT... my sweet husband has taken very good care of me and I am very hopeful that I will be 100% by Monday to meet Carter.

WHAT?!?! We really get to meet our son on MONDAY? Man I cannot wait! SO many emotions and the day that felt like it would NEVER get here... will soon come. Oh I am so so so so excited :)

Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and he's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). He has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time! His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.
Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If he's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If he's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time he's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after he's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Project 52: Week 4- The Lion King

2011-01-28T12:53:00.009-05:00

I have SO been looking forward to this date night since we booked our tickets back in November. We were completely blessed by an anonymous donation from a church member and decided to use it as a time out for the 2 of us since we hardly ever get to have them! JR had never been to a Broadway play before and my all-time favorite Disney movie is the Lion King- therefore it wasnt a hard decision to go and see it at the DPAC!

It was a lot of fun to get dressed up and have a night out of the house... especially knowing it would be our last before we became a family of 4. Griffin wanted in on the picture taking and I am glad he did because this just might be our last picture of our family of 3!

The show was EXCELLENT! We were both amazed at how cool the costumes were and all the details that went into it. I had to make myself not burst into song the whole way through... love the music :)

Another huge blessing was that Griffin got to hang out with Uncle Phil while we were gone. They have become BIG buddies these days and Griffin didnt even care that we were gone. I love seeing them together... Griffin just laughs at EVERYTHING Phillip does ha!

At intermission, I decided to check and see how he was doing and this was the response I got. FUN TIMES no doubt :)

This will definitely be one of the most memorable date nights this year!

Celebrating Daddy's bday

2011-01-26T12:34:00.000-05:00

We had a great time celebrating Daddy on Tuesday! The day started with his favorite... waffles and coffee with his family!

I found this shirt for Griffin to sport in honor of Daddy's day... he looks handsome showing off the brownie on his face from where he licked the spoon, huh? :)

The birthday brownie sundae... he doesnt do cake so I have to get creative!

Griffin was thrilled about one of Daddy's gifts, flashlights! It entertained them for hours ha!

First time playing with a flashlight... its the little things :)

Little Slugger

2011-01-26T11:33:00.002-05:00

My bad!

2011-01-25T14:58:00.002-05:00

Evidently I have caused some confusion with my last post.. sorry about that! No... Carter isnt coming on Thursday.. or at least not that I know of ha! When I said "We get to celebrate more for his brithday with one last date out before Carter comes on Thursday... more on that to come!... I really meant, "We get to celebrate more for his brithday on Thursday with one last date out before Carter comes (which is in 2 weeks)... more on that to come!"

My bad choice of wording ha.. I can totally see the misunderstanding. I needed to clarify though because I already had people asking AND someone told my Dad that Carter was coming Thursday and he got concerned that he didnt know that!

God knows Carter's bday and we will just wait patiently to see when that is, but all I know right now is that he has a c-section scheduled for Monday, February 7th if he doesnt decide to come before then :)

Hope that clarifies... sorry again for the extra excitement!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy

2011-01-25T09:07:00.004-05:00

Today is JR's 29th birthday! Griffin, Carter and I are completely blessed to have the most amazing husband and daddy in the world and we are so thankful to celebrate him today!!!

You are the love of my life and I continue to be blown away with how God continues to bless me being your wife. I couldnt imagine going through this life with anyone but you and I cant wait to celebrate many more years of YOU! I could have never imagined that when you became my 16 year old boyfriend that we would be here now... I am so thankful! Your love for Christ and passion to share Him with others carries over into every area of your life. You are truly a "family man" and I couldnt be more grateful for the love you show me and our boys. I simply cant thank God enough for you... and I love you more and more every day :) Love, Your Bride

Daddy- Thank you for being my hero. I wuv you Daddy, Griffin

We get to celebrate more for his brithday on Thursday with one last date out before Carter comes in 2 weeks... more on that to come! Until then, we hope you have an incredible day sweetie! We love you so much and HAPPY BIRTHDAY :) :) :)

Carter update

2011-01-24T09:18:00.002-05:00

We went to the doctor today and there was no change since when we left the hospital Saturday night. I am still 1cm and having contractions at random but not in labor. He said that I could carry on with activity as usual and Carter will simply come when he is ready. At this point he is full-term and therefore OKAY to come!!

I am feeling okay. Lots of pressure still and more and more contractions, especially at night, that are just enough to annoy me. I have finally caught up from the exhaustion from our late night and have found a new burst of energy which I am thankful for so that I can get all of those things crossed off the "to do" list!!

For now we will just wait patiently and see when his birthday is supposed to be! Daddy is shooting for tomorrow so they can be birthday twins :)

A bit of excitement

2011-01-23T15:29:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was an eventful day to say the least. My sweet friend Amy surprised me by coming in town and took me to get a pedicure! On our way home at about 4pm, I started feeling not so well. Carter was EXTREMELY active and was causing me to be nauseous. I came home and kept having tons of pressure and so I just stayed seated. After dinner by 8:00pm, I started to realize that my uncomfort might actually be contractions and decided to start timing them since they were getting worse. Sure enough, they were coming every 5 minutes and I decided to call my doctor at 9pm. He said I needed to come in and be checked so we RUSHED to get our bags packed, something that was on my to do list for this week but wasnt done yet! I was SO thankful to have Amy here to not only help us get ready to leave but also stay with Griffin while we were at the hospital. I continued the contractions the 30 minute drive there and by the time they had me hooked up to the monitors they were 3-4 min apart and measuring between 70-100 (100 being the highest I could see... at least on the charts). Anyways, after being checked I was only 1 cm dialated and they decided that since I was not quite full-term yet (2 days shy of 37 weeks) that they needed to see if they could stop the labor. They gave me a shot and hooked me to an IV for fluids and proceeded to watch us until 2:30am. My contractions finally stopped after 2 1/2 hrs and they discharged me.

I wasnt sure whether to be bummed or excited ha! I definitely was in denial that anything could really be happening that soon, and of course the planner in me said, "Its not Feb 7th yet, and I have too much to do!" Once we got in the car and was on the way there though, I got excited about the thought of getting to meet Carter and was a little sad I had to continue to wait. I am so thankful though that he gets to finish being crafted a little longer, as I would have hated for him to have any complications because of being born too early.

Now the hard part is just literally MAKING myself not do anything. I finally caught up on my rest after staying home from church today but am already finding it hard not to be up and doing things around the house... not to mention chasing around Mr. G. I appreciate your prayers during this time as I really hope nothing else crazy happens until February 7th... and that I can be resting until then. Praying for no more surprises and that he and I both safely arrive at the hospital in 2 weeks.

Celebrating Carter with sweet friends!

2011-01-22T09:22:00.001-05:00

I was so grateful for my sweet friends here in Wake Forest who honored Carter and I today! I have truly been blessed by friends who are more like family here over the last 4 years. It was fun to just sit around and have girl chat time with my dearest girls...

refreshing to just share mom stories and laugh together!!

My lovely hostesses, Christina and Haley

And this little stinker surprised me and came in from TN! Love you Ames... even though you are still in big trouble :)

the adorably decorated cupcakes

My favorite sisters- Maisy and Lily

Carter's nursery

2011-01-20T16:01:00.004-05:00

I have been working hard all week to turn Griffin's old room into Carter's nursery! I couldnt quite justify buying all new bedding AND totally changing everything (1. b/c of $ and 2. b/c I honestly dont like anything out there better!). I did however make a few changes, as you will remember this was Griffin's nursery when he was born.

I was so excited to add an end table beside the rocker so that I could have a place for things during the late night feedings. Susu also made a fabulous blanket for his carseat so he can stay extra warm! And as you can tell he isnt hurting for clothes either... thanks to big brother and a few new additions as well!

Some personalized things too that I love! The bottom right picture is hard to see but its a frame I made that I will put his newborn picture in and there is a spot for his birth stats as well.

I sure hope he likes everything!!! :)

Project 52: Week 3

2011-01-20T09:38:00.000-05:00

Week 3 was our game night! We both love to play games and are pretty competitive so it makes nights like tonight very interesting. Luckily we have come a long way since the days when we were both SO competitive and HATED to lose that we couldnt play anything together without fighting ha!

The night started off good for me... I beat him in checkers for the FIRST time! He loves checkers, especially the table set at Cracker Barrel. We found this set today actually at the consignment sale for $2!

Part of our date night was to play a new game together. I had played Phase 10 once before, but he had never so that was the game we chose. It started off slow since it is harder to play with just 2 players but someone got the luck of playing for the first time and just BARELY beat me ha!

We ended the night with Yahtzee.. one of our all-time favorites. As you can see from the picture, he got lucky again. Ha jk... but he really beat me bad and I was very mad at the die :(

We had great laughs nonetheless and enjoyed another date night together!! Next week we actually leave the house and head somewhere I have been waiting to go since back in November. Stay tuned!!

Shower with Tennessee family and friends

2011-01-19T10:03:00.006-05:00

We were blessed again this past weekend by our sweet family and friends! We took a short, but also wonderful trip to Tennessee to celebrate Carter and it was SO good to see everyone!

Its always hard to have events like this because there are so many people that mean so much to me ALL in the same room for a limited amount of time... ah its so great yet so aggravating because I just want to freeze time. SO thankful for everyone who came!

Cici out did herself yet again with the decor

Baby Briggs and Baby Carter... and the crazy Aunts making fun of us :)

36 weeks

2011-01-17T08:56:00.003-05:00

36 weeks today and Carter is gaining an ounce per day now. WOW, I guess that explains my weight gain as well... now up to 22 pounds! The doctor says I am right on and no worries, however since I only gained 21 with Griffin I am feeling even more huge ha. We had a doctor's appointment yesterday, as they come every week now. Dr. Henderson said both Carter and I are boringly healthy, praise the Lord! He always asks if Carter is moving around and I just laugh because that is a constant thing with him and he saw for himself this time. As soon as he put the monitor on my belly to check his heart rate, Carter kicked him.. TWICE "Enough said," he said, "that kid is fine" :)

Your baby is gaining about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy hair that covered his body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath. Next week, your baby will be considered full-term. Most likely he's in a head-down position, but if he isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an external cephalic version, where she'll try to turn your baby by manipulating him from the outside of your belly.

Project 52: Week 2

2011-01-13T15:11:00.002-05:00

Week 2 was pretty low key for us. Our planned date was for JR to pick a movie at Redbox and us enjoy it on the couch together.. and that we did, with our candy, in our pjs and it was great! We ended up watching Despicable Me which was actually pretty cute.

The movie wasnt that long so once it was over we werent tired enough for bed and decided to extend our date night by watching the UT men's team play Florida in basketball and played Yatzee at the same time. It was very good to just laugh together and have fun :)

I sadly forgot to take our picture this week... oops!

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy's Mini Me

2011-01-12T10:02:00.001-05:00

I peed and pooped in the potty!

2011-01-11T23:54:00.002-05:00

So tonight after dinner, Griffin went running into the bathroom saying, "Potty!" JR followed him in and decided to take off his pants and diaper since he was trying to pull them down. Next thing I know I hear JR say, "Good job buddy!" I couldnt believe it... he ACTUALLY peed and pooped in the potty!!! ALL ON HIS OWN!

Griffin has often amazed us but this has to top them all. It was if he was saying, I'm ready to use the big boy potty so why dont I just do it :)

Now if only the whole training process would continue to be this easy..... we shall see!!!

Blessed by our Bethesda family!

2011-01-09T22:35:00.010-05:00

We were completely blown away by the generosity of our amazing church family! They had a shower for us this past Saturday and with it being our 2nd boy, we know it was not at all something they had to do. Although, I'll be honest, they have been the sweetest to us since we joined their family a year ago, so I shouldnt think this would be any different. We are so so so thankful for them!

Griffin and I with all of the sweet hostesses

A few of my sweet mom friends: Paula, Laura and Janice

JR with some of the sweetest ladies who are more like adopted grandmothers to us: Shirley, Joan and Betty

More of my friends.. man am I blessed! Meredith, Caroline, Stacey and Ashley

Uncle Jake, big brother Griffin and Daddy

showing off their muscles.. he has so much fun with Uncle Jake :)

Stacey loving on Carter

The mom-to-be and sweet baby boy Carter

Project 52: Week 1

2011-01-07T21:27:00.005-05:00

For Christmas this year, I decided to do something for JR that would last ALL year... and best of all it was FREE! I follow this blog where she has done a project for the last 52 weeks of the year, deeming it Project 52. Each week she has planned out a date with her husband so that the two of them can guarantee some concentrated one on one time at least once a week. What was so appealing to me was the fact that most of her dates were held in their home once the kids went down for bed. This is key for us since we will soon have a newborn again and thus have 2 small kids making it very difficult to get a babysitter and go out often.

So.. my present was a copy of the pledge that we both must sign, saying that we agree to complete the project for 2011 AND a list of the potential dates we will have each week. This took a lot of planning for sure, but anyone that knows me knows that planning should be my middle name :)

Here we are at week 1. (Another rule is that we have to document each week so that we can look back and remember our times together.) This week's date wasnt all that exciting, but nonetheless essential as we look to the new year: Goals for 2011! We purposely stayed in normal clothes (another rule is you cant be in your pjs), had some coffee and cookies to enjoy and talked about what we wanted to accomplish this next year.

These are some of the ones we came up with for our family:
-complete our dates each week for Project 52 :)
-sell our house
-establish a budget and meet it
-have family devotion after dinner
-2 couple devotions a week
-take a day trip to the beach
-take a day trip to DC
-save for a car
-community outreach once a quarter
-send Gift (our Compassion International adopted girl) a letter once a month

We also made personal goals as well as some for Griffin: be potty trained by 2, learn his ABCs, 123s, shapes and colors!

We now can say we have officially started the project, but both agreed that these serious goal setting ones arent too fun ha!

Looking forward to this special time with my sweetie each week!

Praising God for His faithfulness!

2011-01-05T10:56:00.002-05:00

I just received a phone call from the hospital that we will be delivering Carter at and they proceeded to tell me that we have been approved for 100% assistance. This means they are covering our ENTIRE hospital bill and typically with a csection its around $6-8K!

I'm simply speechless. I broke down on the phone with the woman and then again when I called JR to tell him. My sweet husband just responded, "God is good to us sweetie." Man is He ever!

With me staying home and JR just started out at the church we are by no means rolling in the dough and in fact our savings would have pretty much been depleted after the delivery. It was okay though because the blessing of a child has no price tag and we were fully prepared for it. It just amazes me though that when we are faithful with the money He has given us, He blesses us 10 fold. Just last week we gave sacrificially to our Christmas missions offering, as in gave so much it made me gulp. But isnt that what our money is for? Ultimately our mission is to share His love with ALL peoples and ALL nations. So again, didnt think about it anymore once the check was written and then less than a week later this is His response to us.

He takes care of us and is truly faithful. I do not say any of this to say, "Hey look what we did, " but instead hope to point you to Jesus. May our lives be a testimony to Him....for He is the faithful, constant Provider, and loving Father!

34 weeks

2011-01-03T13:09:00.007-05:00

35 days and counting! We have been busy setting up the nursery and it has officially become Carter's room! His clothes are in the closet and all of Griffin's stuff has been moved to his big boy room. This was a big relief for Mommy, however it started some intense nesting too. I am cleaning out everything these days ha. Still feeling great but am started to get tired again. My body is definitely telling me to slow down. I started walking again after taking off the month of December (not on purpose it was just COLD!) and hope that it will give me some energy back. I'm also already at the 20 pounds gained mark.. YIKES!

Marking lots off the to do list and just cant wait for him to get here :)

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

A little sewing

2011-01-02T11:51:00.001-05:00

I finally am getting around to sewing Carter some burp cloths. I have had very good intentions but just no time lately.. imagine that! BUT of course he had to have some and with the 5 week countdown quickly approaching, here are some of my favs!

too sweet :)

Ringing in 2011

2011-01-01T07:11:00.001-05:00

I was lucky enough to have these two handsome men take me to dinner last night. We had a productive day of taking down all the Christmas decorations, changing out the closets, finishing more of Griffin's big boy room, AND getting out everything we need for Carter.

And although we didnt do anything out of the ordinary to bring in the new year, I was happy as I have ever been in my pjs on the couch, sitting with the love of my life and knowing how much God has blessed me this year.

The greatest blessing of this year no doubt has been Griffin. He is honestly the best boy in the world and I am so thankful to be his Mommy. Last night he proved yet again how blessed we are. He slept in his big boy bed for the first time, without a fuss or peep! Awesome way to start being a "BIG brother" in 2011 :)

Happy New Year everyone! Praying that God would reveal Himself to you in new ways in 2011!

2010 year end review

2010-12-31T22:44:00.003-05:00

As I think back on what this year has brought to us, I am reminded how God has truly blessed us. It has honestly been a really big year when I sit down and type it all out. Here is the run down: (you can click on the links to read more if you wish)

We celebrated JR's 28th birthday, said goodbye to my sweet Poppa, I turned 27, JR became the Family Pastor at Bethesda, celebrated Griffin's FIRST birthday, ran the Music City Half Marathon, I finished blogging Griffin's entire first year, we put our house up for sale, we found out Griffin was going to be a big brother, took a vacation to Kitty Hawk with my dad, had to say goodbye to our Poppy, celebrated our 4th anniversary with a trip to TN and took Griffin to his first UT game, celebrated Thanksgiving in TN with family, went on the primetime Christmas trip to Myrtle Beach, AND had our first Christmas in our own home! Whew.. thats A LOT and just the highlights!

No doubt this will be a year to remember! Looking forward to welcoming Carter to our family in 2011 :)