Picnic, Safety and Addiction

Thank you all so much for the prayers for Evie. Some have left comments, and many have talked to me about it. Our family appreciates it more than you know! Now it's just a waiting game. A very stressful one at that.

Well, as you can tell by the title, I have a few things to say today. I hope I have enough time while little man is napping!

This weekend was our church picnic at Tannehill! We had so much fun! It was so nice being able to fellowship with our church family and just have a good time! We love our church so much!

When we first got there, we ran into Natalie and Henry! Jacob and Henry play so well together, and they rode in Jacob's wagon for forever!

Jacob played with his ball til no end! And walked about 100 miles! He had a wide open area to just walk around with Mommy and Daddy right behind!

Papa and Grandmollie even joined in on the fun! We were so excited they came!

Jacob even shared his very first rice crispy treat with his Papa! He later had it on his face, and had the hardest time getting it off! (Notice his mama was too concerned with taking a picture than helping the poor guy! Don't worry. It only took about 2.8 seconds for him to get it!)

We also had fun spending most of our day with Bman! I just love the Goodwin family so much! Wayne and I are so thankful for their sweet friendship! I don't know what I would do without them, that's for sure! Poor Angie had to endure many phone calls from a very scared new mommy about a year ago! :)

(Notice Jacob is still chomping on his treat!) Although, they still haven't quite got the sharing thing down pat yet!

Jacob ended his fun with a four wheeler ride (battery powered, and I walked right beside him....v.e.r.y. slow!) and a good ole time of pushing the ladies around in his wagon!

Looking back, I'm reminded once again of three things:

1. I have a wonderful husband, who is an amazing father. I know y'all have heard me say it before, but I couldn't ask for better! He truly loves playing and spending time with our lil buddy!

2. He is also easy on the eyes. :)

3. Jacob has got to be the cutest thing I have ever seen. I love this kid so much, and I am so thankful to be his mommy!

Now, on with my addiction.....I cannot get enough of it! I highly recommend this book. I'm sure as I continue with the others, I will highly recommend them too.

As far as safety, you may remember a while back, Wayne was very concerned with our names being on our blog. I have thought about it ever since then. I came up with two conclusions. To start over and not have our names on the blog, nor the location in where we live, or to make it private where only invited readers can read. Neither sounds appealing, but I know I need to do something. There are too many sickos out there! Deleting the blog is not an option for me. I keep too many memories here that will be made into a book soon!

Hope this finds you with a fantastic day! :)

We Need Prayer!

Most of you remember my post when little Evie was born. Needless to say, she came into this world with obstacles from the get go. She was so tiny, and we were so nervous!

Well, after a few weeks, she was able to go home. She has done well for the most part. She has been a very fussy little thing, but the doctor kept saying it was because she was a preemie. (And I SWORE it was colic. Having been down that road, I knew how hard it was. I also knew there was something not right.)

Well, Christy went for her check up this past week. She is 5 months old, and is still only 10 pounds, 12 ounces. That didn't concern the doctor as much as the size of her head did. Her head has grown at an abnormal rate to the rest of her body. So what does all of this mean? The doctor thinks she has hydrocephalus. (Please take a moment to read this article from WebMD. They can explain it way better than I can. This is the article the doctor printed off for Christy.) To sum it up, it looks as though, she has fluid on the brain. She goes back to the doctor on October 22, and they will then schedule a scan to know for sure. (For insurance reasons, they can't do it yet.) If it is so, we are looking at possible brain surgery on this tiny little girl. This is also something, from what I understand from Christy, that she will have to have done every 5 years or so. She would be dealing with this for the rest of her life.

Christy found this information out Thursday, and she knew my dad was coming into town. She wanted him to pray over Evie. God love her, Christy waited until after 10:00 P.M. for them to finally arrive. James 5:14 says, "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord." This is exactly what Dad did.

I believe our God is a God of miracles. In fact, Psalm 77:14 says, "You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples." God performs miracles every day, just like he did then. I am claiming this verse over little Evie.

Please join our family in praying for this angel. Ultimately, God is in control and we know that. We want His will to be done above all else. And please pray for her parents. I can't imagine the anxiety they must be feeling. For something to be "wrong" with your child is a parent's worst nightmare!

Thank you all! I will be sure to keep you informed with any updates. God Bless! <><

Jacob's First Haircut

It was about that time. The time where baby boys are mistaken for baby girls because of their curls. We couldn't have any of that! So, it was off to see my good friend Ashley!

She was so patient with our lil man! I couldn't have asked for better. Plus, the fact that she loves Jacob helped too! :)

While we were there, Ashley's boyfriend showed up with their new puppy! Of course, Jacob went nuts. So, we had to take a little break from the haircut.

Then, it was back to business.

He did just fine until this part. We had to pull out all the stops, including the passy!

We then made up with a sucker. :)

He looks so much like a little boy now! Oh, how much we love this little guy!

Well, guys, moments ago I heard Wayne say (while in the next room changing Jacob's diaper), "Son, how in the world did you get doo doo on your face?" Lovely! I think I better go.

I Try Really Hard...

to be a FUN mom!!!

So often I feel inadequate and undeserving of this lil guy. There have been many times when I feel like I should have been playing with him instead of whatever I'm doing. Funny how in one short year, the devil can already make you have regrets.

But, there are days when I feel like I got it right. Yesterday was one of those days! We were wore out by the end of the day! :) It started with a visit from this little sweetness.

Ava goes to our church, and she and Jacob have always had a blast together. They are quite cute. I think for the most part, they had a good time!

If they didn't have fun playing together, they surely had fun dragging toys ALL over the house. Oh well, who cares. It's just a mess that can easily be cleaned up. They had fun, and it was worth it.

After Miss Ava left, we headed over to our wonderful neighbor's house. I don't know if I have ever mentioned how much I love the Bates family on here, but I truly do. I hope they can always be our neighbors. Not many people can say because of their husband working so much over, their sweet neighbor CUT THEIR GRASS for them!!!! They are truly amazing. And Jacob LOVES them.

They even let lil man swing with them. What's so sad is, we have a bucket swing that we haven't hung yet. After seeing the smile and laughter on his face, I came home and told Wayne we HAD to get ours up. He agreed. So, soon we will be seeing LOTS of this at our house.

About this time, it was getting late and we knew Dada would be home soon. So, we headed back two doors down. Believe me, this kid LOVES his Daddy. When he hears the key in the door at night, he goes NUTS! Of course, I had to snap a couple more before we went in...

Stay tuned....tomorrow we are getting our very first hair cut! Hopefully. Is it really that time already??? I can't believe it!

Grateful

Man, sometimes God just hits me over the head. And I mean hard. Lately I have had several of those moments, mainly concerning our house. I have been CONSUMED with where we were going to be in two years, five years, ten years, and so on. I think because of the fact I know that we will not be in this house for forever, it makes me want to hurry up the next part of our life. And guess what. God has corrected me many times in the last few days.

I could feel a quiet whisper from the LORD over the last few weeks reminding me to be grateful for what he has given me. I have been on several mission trips (including Mexico and Dominican Republic), and I have seen people who truly have nothing. Yet, here I am complaining that our house isn't big enough! Seriously? Three bedrooms not big enough for three people? I know. Sounds crazy, right?

Then, last night as Wayne and I were laying in bed, I asked him a simple question. If he thought it would be a better idea to one day add on to our house or just get another one. He is against the idea of adding on, and I completely understand where he is coming from (I just HATE moving!). Then, he so patiently reminded me that I needed to be thankful for what we have and that I have the opportunity to be a stay at home mom. WOW! Thank you so much honey! Seriously. I think we all sometimes need to be reminded of how good we have it.

Finally, God used a blog of someone I don't even know to remind me once again to stop and be grateful. She goes by The Nester. She has a very interesting decor blog. She also writes in a Christian column called InCourage (no, it's not spelled wrong). Please check out this article. This was the first thing I read this morning. Think God's trying to tell me something? So please do me a favor. Hold me accountable. If you hear me rambling about adding on or buying a new house, stop me. Remind me to be grateful.

On to a totally different subject. Did you know 8 out of 10 car seats are installed wrong? Well, we went to a fireman that goes to our church before Jacob was born and he checked ours out for us. We were good to go. I haven't thought much about our new car seat because we're pros at this, right? WRONG! I got a fireman to look at it today, and it was too loose!!! It was installed correctly, but he had to show me a trick to get it in there tighter. Please, have your car seats checked. Even if you've done it a million times, these angels are too precious!

Thank you Jesus for the blessings you have bestowed on me! I'm so undeserving!

Our Pumpkin's First Birthday Party

Welcome, and thank you for joining us for Jacob's birthday party. Come right this way...

We had so much fun! We spent time with some amazing friends. We are so thankful for everyone who came! (Nana and Pappy even drove back for the day!)

Lil man had so much fun!

We were getting ready to head out on the hayride when these guys showed up...

They were the nicest young men. Their parents should be proud. They saw signs for the birthday party, and thought some kiddos might like to see some horses. And they were right. :)

Then, we headed out on the hay ride. Funny, everyone wanted sheets to lay on. Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Oh well. It was lots of fun anyway. The bigger kids kept wanting to "go again."

When we got back, it was time to open presents. Then we had MORE CAKE! Jacob has been on a sugar rush this week! My friend from church, Heather, did the cake and it looked (and tasted) wonderful!!!

Jacob even had his own all over again! He's gonna want it to be his birthday everyday now!

Of course, he made a disastrous mess again....so it was off to the tub. I'm sorry, but his hiney is so cute!

Then, at the very last minute, Jacob's friend Henry showed up! We were so excited to see them. Since he missed the hayride, Wayne took him for a little ride (on a big green tractor).

After all the excitement died down, it wasn't long before this is what we saw.

After that quick nap, Dada was up to more fun and games with his little man.

Hope you had as much fun (but hopefully not as much work!) as we did this weekend. :)