A crazy few weeks

The last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. We finished up IGNITE at church and my life just went into crazy land. School begins on Monday!

This past Tuesday my princess turned 5. That is F I V E! I remember when I was having the ultrasound during her pregnancy where we found out she was a she. I had such a flood of emotions. I was scared to have a girl on so many levels. I had two boys and boys and boy things were all we had in our house. I knew how to parent boys. I knew what they liked and I knew what made them tick. Now, we were going to take my blue world and throw in a splash of pink ... threw me for a loop. I remember the next day after I dropped the boys off at pre-school, I walked through carters and actually cried. I know, crazy pregnancy hormones. I didn't even know how to SHOP for a girl. For the boys I could grab things and mix  and match them. Didn't need a different pair of shoes for each outfit. Didn't need accessories and I didn't have to do much when it came to HAIR! Now, I was having to re think my whole parenting world. :)

She had been so worth it! I wouldn't trade a day of the splash of pink in our lives. Kennedy is all girl but she can throw down with the boys while she is all made up in her princess attire. She loves to wear dresses and loves bows in her hair. I don't know what I did to deserve a daughter but man am I a blessed momma! So thankful for the past 5 years with this little lady. I pray that I can continue to be the momma she needs me to be!

Pace is about the same. The eating plan didn't change the way he was feeling or the abdominal distention so he was able to come off of it. The doctor is now looking to see if he has a motility issue. So yesterday we had two tests run. One was a gastric emptying study and one was a contrast enema. He is such a champ! He teaches me so much as I walk through this journey with him. Hopefully, we will know the results today of those tests and can move forward from here. I'm tired of going to GI dr's and tired of going to the hospital. I KNOW that he is too.

School begins on Monday and there is so much to do between now and then. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

9 Years together ...

9 Years ago two incredibly naive people walked into a church filled with family and friends eager to get married. Marriage, marriage is what brought us together that day! ;) (two points if you get the reference) However, we had NO clue what the road ahead would bring us. None!

As a single girl you dream your whole life possibly, of the day you will put on a white gown and have your father or someone walk you down an aisle so that you can meet your handsome groom at the end and be joined together in a union that will last until death do you part ...

That is the way it is supposed to be at least ... the death you do part statement. A lot of us look at marriages around us and we project that they are happy as they appear to be and some are, but I'd be willing to bet that many, sadly many are just faking it hoping they will make it. They aren't sure if they will make it to the end of the week much less the ends of their lives. Marriage takes hard work. Hard work by two messed up people whose lives have been joined by a vow and a mutual love for the other.

What is a vow? To me, the vow I made 9 years ago is what I leaned on when times got tough in our marriage. I won't bore you with the gory details of our "stuff" but there was a day when we could have thrown in the towel and said "I quit, I'm done". Honestly that day was more real and scary that I'd like to admit. However, the Lord kept reminding me of the fact that I made a vow not only to Jeremy, but to HIM. I stood before my family and my friends and I said that for better or WORSE I would honor, love and respect my husband. I hadn't done a very good job at that during the "worse" moments of my marriage. The Lord reminded me of so much that I felt walking out would be so dishonoring of Him and my vow to both my Lord and my husband. So you know what, we dug in our heals and we did some hard fighting. We had some amazing friends who stood in the trenches with us and were on their knees praying for us during that time.

So here we are 9 years later, a stronger couple than we could have ever imagined walking into that church in GA that hot Saturday in August. Our union is stronger than I ever dreamed it would be during our "worse" moments. I'm thankful for those who stood by us, fought with us, loved us and prayed with us through our hard times.

Jeremy, I love you more than I can express. The man you are today is a strong man. One who loves the Lord and his wife and family. One who puts his God first, wife second and family next. One who I'm proud to say wears my ring on his left hand. I'm proud of the family that God gave us. I look forward to many, many more years ahead. I look forward to wherever God will lead us together ... It's going to be amazing babe! I'm thankful I get to do this journey WITH you! Thanks for asking me to walk beside you through life! I'm thankful for the lessons we have learned since that hot day in August 2003! I LOVE YOU!

The grass is not greener on the other side of the street ... the grass is greener where it is water and fertilized. How are you watering and fertilizing your marriage?

And my heart broke ...

This morning on the way to school, I had to fight off the tears. Our neighbor across the street asked if his daughter could ride with us this morning because he had an early morning appointment.

Two years ago his wife slipped and fell and has been in bed ever since with her injuries. She sleeps most of the day because of the pain meds she is on. She has very little interaction with her husband or her kids.

This morning as we were driving to school I overheard the kids in the backseat talking. As they were talking the friend kept telling the boys how much she loved their mommy. Then what brought me to tears is she asked them if she could live with us because she wanted a mommy that wouldn't sleep all day.

I just felt so sorry for her ... my heart just ached for her and the missing role of mom in her life right now. I pray that God will heal her mom and that she will be able to be back to being a daily part of her daughters life soon.

I also drove away after dropping them off and thanked God that I have not had to work outside the home. I was just crying out to God and thanking him for allowing me to be available to my kids 24/7 .... what a blessing I have taken for granted!!!

If you think about it please pray for my neighbor and their family ... please pray for this mom and that she will be able to be more a part of her families life. That God will take away her pain and that she can be more present in her daughters life because she definitely needs her.

8 Years

8 Years ago we said "I do" to each other. It's crazy to think that it's been 8 years. In some ways it seems like a blink of an eye and in other ways it seems so much more than 8 years.

In 8 years we have .... lived in 5 different houses in 3 different states. We had 3 children, experienced 2 miscarriages, and now have one on the way. We have experienced some high highs and low lows. We have traveled together and learned to make our marriage a priority. We have fought through some hard times in our marriage and we have come out on the other side and look forward to how God will use this story for His good. We have learned a lot and have a lot to be thankful for. 8 Years! I look forward to all that lies ahead of us.

Jeremy, I love you and I'm thankful for you in our lives. I'm proud of you and all that you have accomplished and the man you are today. I look forward to how God will continue to work in our lives and use our life together to further His kingdom. Thank you for being you and for loving us the way you do! Thank you for being the husband you are, the father you are and the friend to all of us that you are!

I love you!

Welcome Home mom!

We had an amazing welcome home from our children! When we drove into the driveway on Sunday the boys were outside holding welcome home signs that they had made, complete with notes telling us that they loved us and missed us. They were talking miles a minute as they told us about their days and many hugs and kisses were received. Kennedy was sleeping when we got home so when she woke up from her nap I was standing by her bed. She looked up and said "Hi mom" and then the biggest smile swept over her face as she realized that we were home! It was too sweet!

It didn't take long for reality to set in though. Back to life, back to reality couldn't be more true. Sunday night we had a sleep walking child so momma got no sleep wondering what might happen to him. It was hilarious afterward but scary still for me. Monday morning was the kicker of all kickers. Lunches to make, breakfast to serve and as we were walking out the door Kennedy had a HUGE accident - BIG TIME. So much so that I had to give her a bath and really didn't think either boy would make it to school on time. Jeremy was actually walking out the door as well so he's trying to help me call someone to see if they can pick up Ryan while I'm upstairs cleaning up the messy child. It required a bath at 8:20 in the morning! I think maybe that describes how bad it was.

So welcome home mom! We didn't want you to forget what it was like to be a mom since you had the past 8 days to lie around and be pampered and waited on .... get back to it!

I love it and wouldn't trade it for the world. Though it was nice to have a bit of a break :)

Happy 2011!

Merry Christmas and Happy new Year! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have a wonderful 2011 as well! I'm not doing great at keeping up this blog lately. Life has just been so insanely busy! So much is going on and I feel like I have so much going on to write about ... just not enough time to do it all in!

We have had a wonderful Christmas break and I cannot believe that Monday my boys have to go back to school. It's been so fun having them home. Although, it has been exhausting as well. Those three have more energy than I know what to do with sometimes!! We are incredibly blessed to be able to parent these 3! I love every crazy minute of it!

I hope that you have had a wonderful time with your family and friends over the past few weeks as we took time to pause and celebrate the gift given to us so many years ago!!

Have a blessed 2011 peeps!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and yours! We have had a busy few weeks that began with thanksgiving and will end sometime after the new year. So, the blog may be a bit quiet but I can assure you that it is NOT quiet around our home. :-)

We are preparing to celebrate Jesus birthday around here. Don't shoot me e-mails I know that it's not his actual birthday, but it is a time we have set aside and we celebrate it. Our culture has made it so hard to remember the "reason for the season" (in my head I'm singing the old song - he is the reason ... sing with me won't you).

A few years ago at a moms group I attended, the leader brought this statue above and I fell in love with it .... I love the idea behind it and the meaning it holds. It's about Jesus!! I love little reminders that help us all remember the true reason that we stop and celebrate on December 25th ... it's not for presents under our tree, those are nice, but really not needed. For the best present we have ever been given, came and was born of lowly stature for you and for me. He left it all for us! Let's celebrate that!

O come, O come Emanuel! REJOICE!

Lessons from a 6 year old

Today at 4:08 am my baby turned 6! The last 6 years have absolutely FLOWN by! In 6 years Ryan has lived in 3 different states, in 5 different houses, he has gone to 4 different schools, and 4 different churches (not counting all the ones we visited trying to find the one) He has the biggest heart and is ALWAYS striving to do his very best at everything he does.

This year in April Ryan decided to give his life to follow Jesus. His heart has been transformed so much over the last year .... I have seen such tremendous growth. We have had our periods of trial and error but he is learning and his heart is being softened. The best thing is that I see his mind working and I see his heart bending towards the things that matter to the heart of God.

Each year at Christmas, our children get 3 gifts, to represent the 3 gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus when they visited him. Its our way to teach them many lessons at Christmas. They also give away 3 of their toys at Christmas ... it makes room for what they will get but it also teaches them to give to others who do not have as much as us - they get to pick what 3 toys are given away. (we also buy new gifts to give away, so don't think we are scrooges)

This year as Christmas has gotten closer and closer we have talked about the various ways as a family we can help those around us who are in need. One of the things that we talked about was Ryan's birthday. We talked to Ryan about how much he has and how blessed he is compared to so many. (God had already been working on his heart) We asked him if he would mind asking others to bring a gift not for him, but a donation for others. He was more than excited about this idea.

Saturday, was his birthday and everyone who attended brought a donation for a local rescue shelter in our area. We had toiletries galore! Soap, razors, deodorant, toothpaste, tooth brushes, etc ... all for a 6 year olds birthday! He was so excited when we got home and looked at everything that had been brought. His brother even commented how he wanted to do the same thing for his birthday!!

Fast forward to today ... his birthday ... we picked him up from school and took him to deliver his donation to the rescue shelter. We had so much stuff that Ryan couldn't carry it in. We walk in and the staff greeted him with such a grateful heart .... the woman who runs the shelter came out and told us that the Lord told her to pray over Ryan and our family. She prayed the sweetest prayer over him. I cried. I was blown away with how she prayed for my son. I have prayed some of the same words but he is MY son, I should pray those prayers. This lady had no clue, zero, who this child was, she didn't know him before he walked in the door and she has no connection to him. But the prayer she prayed ... WOW! She spoke a word over my son and I cannot wait to see how God brings it to fruition! I've known God was doing something special in his life, but to hear a stranger also testify to that ... WOW is all I can say, WOW!

Today we were blessed so much more than we were a blessing! I love how God encouraged us today as parents through this womans prayer over my son! I loved seeing the JOY on my childs face as he received nothing but gave away instead. I loved seeing how it trickles down to the other two. I love how his heart is changing and growing!

Thanksgiving Vacation

Last week we went on Vacation! It was wonderful! We had 7 days of rest and relaxation and 2 days of jammed, packed crazy fun ... all in all 9 days of priceless memories! We finished our photos for our Christmas card and I can't show the pictures until they go out in the mail ... don't want you to see them before you receive them. But the picture to the left was just a fun out take from one of our photo sessions.

We were able to go to the beach, visit with family, swim, see Santa and a few other surprises as well ... it was a MUCH needed week off! We also went to a place on the beach that had dancing lights ... very cool!

It was fun to just hang with the kids and Jeremy! No agendas, no meetings, no schedule to adhere to ... just down time! That's what I call a nice vacation! Hope you all had a wonderful week and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Great-Grandparents

Grandparents are the best! I have such fond memories with both sets of my grandparents. My mom's parents and my dad's parents were best friends and so I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with both together. My grandparents made time with them special and I am so thankful for the time I had with them. I'm still blessed to have one set still alive but their health is failing fast. It's sad watching them fade and knowing that I can't just call the other set on the phone and talk whenever I want. I miss them so!

My kids are blessed to have both set of grandparents and to have 3 grandparents in their lives. I LOVE seeing my kids with my grandparents and Jeremy's grandmother. There's just something special about it. I love how much they love them and no matter how much time is passed between seeing them .... they never shy away from them. It melts my heart!

We are so blessed!

It's Not you It's ME

I've been neglecting the blog! I'm very sorry. It's not you ... it's totally me! I have had SO much going on that getting on here to write it all down has been left off my plate. Some things just get neglected in the busyness of life ... I hope to remedy this soon ... life hopefully, will slow down.

In the mean time I am thankful for my 3 wonderful children who keep me busy and exhausted all the time!

I hope you all are doing well and let's chat again soon! K?

A better place?

Is there a better place in the world to dance than on your grandfathers toes?

Alone

This week I'm alone with my girl! It's just the two of us during the day and daddy at night. The boys are off visiting their grandparents. I began missing them terribly about 5 minutes after they were gone :)

I'm not the only one missing them though! Kennedy misses them like crazy. She doesn't like being the only child at all. Jeremy and I were commenting last night that she doesn't know how to play without her brothers. This morning I tried to take her to the pool before the rain popped in and she threw the biggest fit because the "boyz" were not with us. She kept calling out for Ryan and Pace. We didn't last long because she couldn't handle it without them.

I think it will be a long week with the boys gone. By the time she learns how to cope .... it will be time for them to come home. :)

I'm looking forward to some alone time with her though! Maybe we will go get our toes painted together ... there will definitely be lots of tea parties and dressing up :)

1 Year

1 Year ago we had all our earthly possessions packed into two storage pods. We were moving away from a place we had called home for 2 1/2 years. Here is what my 3 little loves looked like before we moved.

A LOT has happened in our lives in the last year. A LOT. We have moved twice - one temporary and one permanent (we hope) We have walked through some stuff both publicly and privately. It has been a rough year and also a good year. We have said goodbye to some friends, made new friends and re-connected with other friends. We have learned a TON the past year. We have laughed we have cried ... but we have grown. Physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

I look at this picture above and just how little our 3 were .... look how BIG they are now ...

WOW! I look at those contrasting pictures and my heart skips beats ... they are growing faster than I would like. Before long that will be a high school cap and gown on my oldest!

It has been a HARD but a GOOD year. Thank you God for bringing us through all that you have. Continue to protect us and guide us as we go through this next year.

'

life is whizing by!

Last night Ryan graduated from PRE-SCHOOL! Pre-School! I no longer have a pre-schooler. My little boy got all dressed up, mostly by himself with very little help from his momma and we left the house a pre-schooler and he came home itching to go to Kindergarten. How in the world???

I sat in the auditorium last night waiting to hear "Pomp & Circumstance" and see a line of marching little ones. My heart jumped forward about 13 years to all the emotions I will be experiencing as he graduates high School. Then the music plays and all these little humans come walking in so excited to sing to their parents and receive their diploma .... and the emotions just flooded me. I'm sitting there trying to get pictures to document this momentous occasion and I'm crying! Who turned on the waterworks? Where did that come from? I wasn't expecting them. Now, I'm prepared for them come dropping him off for kindergarten but I wasn't prepared for them last night. Oh my!

I made it back to my seat (I sat in the back to get pictures and video of him marching in) and composed myself and waited on my little ones class to sing. The Frogs were on the stage and they began their song ... my little man sang his little heart out ... he had the biggest grin and he sang out so loud and proud the entire time. Hands behind his back, standing up so tall. I was one proud momma.

I am realizing how little time I have left with my little man. I know he has 13 more years left in school but how many of those years will he willingly want to spend time with his momma and daddy? We are doing our best to make the most of this time and enjoy the moments we have while he will allow us to be his best buds.

They are only little for a moment! Don't blink!

Happy 4th Pacer!

4 Years ago today this spirited, animated bundle of joy came into our lives. He is such a blessing and I am one blessed momma to be able to call him MY son! (oh and Jeremy is a blessed daddy to call him HIS son as well :)

Pace cracks us up countless times throughout the day. We just never know what will come spewing out of his little mouth. I love it!

Pace,

Happy 4th Birthday buddy! I love you so much! You are a huge blessing in our our lives and I am so thankful that the Lord chose me to be your momma! How blessed I am! You are such a wonderful little guy and have such a soft heart. I pray that God will use your gentle and soft spirit to do mighty things to advance his kingdom!

I cannot wait to spend this day with you. To celebrate YOU today. You are special, loved and adored here in this household and I cannot wait to shower you with love on this your special day. Right now you are upstairs sleeping. You had a hard time going to sleep last night because you were so excited about all that we have planned for you today. Your daddy and I cannot wait to spend the day with just you! We love you little buddy!

Happy birthday!
I love you to the moon and back!
Mommy

Happy Birthday Pop

Happy Birthday Pop! Hope you have a great day! The video camera is missing so I'm sorry we don't have a great video singing to you! However, you will get a phone call soon. The trio will be singing to you! :)

Hope your day is wonderful! Sorry we missed being there!

No words

All week long I have been "working" on this post. Trying to find words to go with what is going on in my heart. However, the words just are not flowing. Sunday, Ryan, was obedient to his Lord and was baptized. It was an amazing time. You couldn't contain the smile on his face ...

On the way over to the beach for the baptisms, the sky was getting dark and the radio was talking of a tornado and heavy rains. We prayed that God would hold off the rain so the baptisms wouldn't have to be postponed. It was so sweet hearing my boy pray to HIS father in Heaven. My father is also now HIS father as well. AMAZING!

And, God answered our prayer. It was a beautiful day with our church family and our parents who came to be there as well. God held off the rain and my son exclaimed how "sweet it was for Jesus to hold off the rain, because he knew how important it is to be Baptized." I just love his little heart. To see his faith growing is just an amazing thing as a mom to see.

It's something we have prayed for since before he was born. I remember feeding him at the middle of the night feedings and just praying for him and over him. Those prayers are being answered and they are still being prayed. I pray now that his new faith would blossom and grow and that he would always be so eager to be obedient to the things that will be asked of him as he grows.

I don't know how to put words to the things swimming around in my head or heart ... there just aren't words. Watching my Son baptized was such a priceless moment.

Simply Amazing!

Today was a simply amazing day! Today my baby boy was baptized! The weather couldn't have been more beautiful - The Lord made it so! My boy was beaming from ear to ear! Simply Amazing and I'm one proud momma!

Whew!

Spring break was a busy week here. We were busy hanging and playing daily with friends and family. The kids had both sets of grandparents here at different times so they were in heaven! We spent time with friends, at parks, the pool and not much down time ... Spring break was not much of a break but it was definitely fun!!

We are looking forward to the summer and many days being lazy at the park and the pool. It will be my last summer before my little man enters kindergarten. I still cannot believe that this coming fall my baby boy will begin his journey through school. How did he get so big?

Hope you all are enjoying, enjoyed or will enjoy your spring breaks!