the abc family

tonight

2009-08-03T21:23:00.003-04:00

aj had his first ice cream cone.

all that first time sugar came bursting out with lots of energy and aj started dancing.

but do not tell him he had his first bites of ice cream. maybe he will not ask for it again for a long time.

(i know you are wondering what in the world am i doing blogging so much. well , big daddy has been hiking out west. i packed up and headed to my fam's for the week. i have had lots of fun and lots of help.)

today

2009-08-03T14:05:00.003-04:00

we played at the forum.

here is my model.

and here is my elf.

when daddy is away...

2009-08-03T13:47:00.003-04:00

aj gets alot of mommy time.
maybe too much. he asked and i simply said okay (to pass some time!).

the ironic thing about this happening is that i am reading a book about raising boys to become the strong men of charachter God created them to be (especially in this culture of men being feminized. ). i was not helping the cause in this moment.

if you did not see tays' beautiful girl caught in the act of putting makeup on, i think you should head over to see.

testimony

2009-08-01T14:07:00.004-04:00

if anyone has 55 minutes to sit and listen to a testimony on the internet... i highly recommend this woman's. she was a young woman (wife and mother of two young ones) who died of cancer very bravely, and gave her testimony to a group of ladies before she passed away.

grab your tissues.

lake hartwell 09

2009-07-30T13:57:00.007-04:00

vacation with lightfoots (minus leebs).

we were so blessed this past week to be on lake hartwell at this gorgeous house and play with fun fun toys on the lake. outside was were we stayed day and night.

(since i have been so bad at updates, i am going to give you tons of pics b/c that is my fav part of blogs. )

aj loves anything water and had so much fun. he could say "big boat", "lake", and "ski" for jet ski.

we rode these all day long.

adam is always catching animals for aj. imagine that.... but also imagine this... adam catches this HUGE bull frog one night after aj has gone to bed. big daddy is so excited to show ME that he comes into the bathroom (while i am sitting and unable to go anywhere) and the bull frog jumps to my feet. OHH MY WORD!

sweet boo with a book always by her side.

bubbles and tractors are our new things!
look at these two rooms. they were my fav in the whole house.

hope you all are still enjoying your summer. peace out!

st. augustine 09

2009-07-15T11:34:00.008-04:00

we headed to the beach last week with adam's entire family (40 ish people) and had a blast. aj LOVED the "ochh". we were out there morning and evening. thank goodness we got a beach buddy.

( i do not really like any of my pics, so i will just give a few. )

aj and sazy with their cousins. precious time.

cup cake had her choosen spots on the beach.

and we had lots of fun together when we were actually together and not playing tag team. i find myself repeating "this is just a season of our lives" many times a day. for example: when i am up at 3am feeding a baby, when i just want a nap, when my husband goes out to the pool with one kid and i am inside feeding the other child, when 2 kids are up at night, when i just want to sit and snuggle with my husband but choose sleep instead. it is just a season!

i will say... it is one fun season (minus the sleep part), and i am loving every minute of it with my man. i could not do it without him. and in his words " i think we make one good team."

shh!

2009-07-01T21:32:00.004-04:00

i have a secret.

i bought this 100% organic cotton shirt for $5.and i found these that i love.

all of these fun clothes and more can be yours from walmart .

sunshine and i went to buy some things for the beach and found this designer norma kamali with fab clothes. i saw her name in a style magazine and made a mental note to check her out at walmart for her lower priced things. she uses all organic materials for everything she makes. i do not claim to be one of these persons that is all organic or whole foodsish of a person. i do try, but will not place that full stamp on me. i have a pet peeve with people who say they are such and really are just want-a-bees. you know!

i do not know much about this designer. so, if she supports something that we may not agree with , then do not get mad at me. i just agree with the price, style, and organicness.

thought i would share.

lil princess

2009-06-29T22:13:00.006-04:00

my dranny and papa have always called me "princess" (not by my choice), and now sunshine will be called "lil princess" by her dranny. well lil princess met her dranny for the first time this weekend. here is the first look.

let me tell you that dranny did not want to let go of this car seat, and held sunshine in her lap like this for a long time.
dranny finally let us take her out, and we made it to the porch for the rest of the day.sunshine loved the porch and remained in dream land.rock did as much of this as he could. nina did as much smiling as she could.

and i just soaked the day in. i hope you all had a great weekend.

ohh, and we did alot of this too!

mini photo shoot

2009-06-22T20:08:00.001-04:00

two and a half weeks

p.s.

2009-06-21T22:43:00.002-04:00

this sugar plum had a birthday.

baby sister is only getting older and funner. she is home for the summer just to be with me!! and i have to tell you that she has done a great job. first she had to babysit me on the days big daddy was busy, and make sure nothing happened to me ...such as water breaking without husband around. we really just watched movies, ate donuts, drank starbucks, and walked. then she was very pivotol in delivery with middle sister. i really needed them in there!

i love you boo! happy birthday. keep getting older with me.

happy father's day.

2009-06-20T18:28:00.005-04:00

i have a few warm wishes to wish.

to my sweet husband and father of my two children.

i love you so much and think you are the most amazing dad. this ride is only going to get better and funner and even more full of life. your heart for me, the kids, our family, and the Lord keep me wanting to be a better wife to you everyday. thank you for choosing me as your help mate and thank you for making me a mom. i love you hottie!

to my dad.

i could never put into words what you mean to me and continue to mean to me. i know that i would not be the person i am today without your gentle giudance and your personal relationship with the Lord. thank you for raising me as you have. i only pray that adam and i can have the influence on our kids as you have on us. thank you for loving on my kiddos and getting on the ground chasing big boy every time you see him. i love you dad.

to my father in law.

i am so blessed to have married into the cantrell family. adam would not be the man he is today without you. thank you for loving me and loving on my kids as you have. it is so precious to me that you timed your retirement in the perfect time! time to watch my kids every week. we will keep you forever young. i love you.

i am alive!

2009-06-20T16:52:00.004-04:00

i am so sorry (for the millionth time) that it has taken me forever to blog. first, i am loving my time as a mommy of two. second, i lost my cord to upload any pics from my camera. i thought you'd rather see pics than read my words anyways!

i am so WONDERFUL over here. i have had the most blessed last two weeks. praise the Lord for all His answers to our many specific prayers.

here are a few of examples:

1. prayer for easy delivery that did not leave me in pain or feeling like crapolla for months. prayer answered. i have felt great and had more energy for my TWO kids than i have in months.

2. prayer that Sazy sunshine would eat well and have no issues like big boy in first few weeks. prayer answered. (of course i did not really try the breast this time like last time. i did pump for a week or two and then stopped cold turkey. ooooccchhh! i will leave all those details out for the moment, but will tell you one tidbit. it was getting to be too much with trying to pump and having an 18 month old BOY come up to you saying "pump, pump" and raising his shirt pointing to his boobs. he already knows how to put on makeup, wear a purse to go bye bye, and wipe off in the bathroom. no more.)

3. prayer every single night that big boy would take well to his sister and love on her. wow. he has been so precious with her since the hospital. he says "baby sazy" all the time and wants to kiss her and rub her head. he wakes up wanting to go find her and baby talk with her. it warms my heart so much.

those are just some of the biggest prayers that i have not stopped thanking the Lord for His answers.

let me just brag for a bit on two of my fav people.

first comes my husband.

he is unlike any dad i know. from the second my two children came into the world, big daddy is hands on with no reservation. he jumps in and does everything from feedings to diaper changes. he shares in everything and lets me rest and do whatever. even in the hospital, i left him in the room several times to go walking and eat outside the room, etc. he is huge with taking big boy to the weight room every day and letting me chill with little girl. baby, i love you so much and could not do this with out you and would never want to do it with anyone else. smooch!

then there is my mom who is my true hero. she was with us for the first week and off and on this week. mom takes nightime feeding when she is here and lets us sleep (big daddy trades with her too). she also cooks all my fav healthy food (the ones big daddy will not touch), and keeps my glasses filled with lemon water, green tea, or diluted cranberry juice. then she makes me lay out every day , do sitz baths, nap, go get massages, have date nights with big daddy(we have had 3 since little girl born) and lets me excercise as she feeds and entertains the kiddos. one special mom. i have been so spoiled.

( i do have to mention that i have the best in laws as well. ghee and pop have taken big boy several times. ghee offers to come be with me everyday and cook me any food as well. but, there is just nothing like your mom. you can have your mom look at the damage below and tell you about your hemoroids, but i think my momma in law may not wish to look and understands why i keep my mom here.)

you can see that i am so well over here and loving life. there has been a continual lump in my throat since little girl was born when i think about my new fam of four. there is something different that i can not explain in having two kids (that sounds so weird and so old to have two kids.) i feel so blessed. so blessed to be married to an amazing husband that i had a crush on ten years ago and God protected just for me! so blessed to have two healthy and sweet hearted kids. so blessed to have the most amazing extended family. i am thanking God everyday.

2009-06-06T22:51:00.004-04:00

i started to do a post, but will have to finish tomorrow. adam just had to tell you! it will be pic loaded b/c we are so blessed with so many loved ones.

i am off to bed. adam has the next feeding and nina the next... then me. sleep.

"night night" she says.

p.s. the poopie song is the song big daddy sings to aj when he poops. it makes aj okay with having a dipee change. we all start dancing!

We're Home!!!

2009-06-06T21:47:00.006-04:00

We were able to come home last night....but between packing up the car when we first got the word (which included my computer) and 10:45 when they actually brought Erin and AJ downstairs....I didn't get a chance to blog to let everyone know. Sorry. I tried to use my phone, but to no avail. When we finally got home it was 11:20 or so, Mom and Dad were still here after putting Big Boy to bed, and I had to go to Walgreens to get Erin's meds (which, by the way, she is doing so well with dealing with the pain...I can't even imagine), so I didn't blog then either. This morning was nap time with Sazy, this afternoon was nap time with Sazy, and tonight....well, I'm blogging now....so no more nap time. We have had a very good day. Nina is here helping and did a great job last night so that Erin and I could sleep through the night (which we both were able to do). She also cooked dinner for us too.....which was really tasty. Erin is currently doing a blog too....with pics that her sister took. With mine....you'll have to live with what I took today with the phone (as my camera is still dead and I have not recharged it). Sorry. Chunk.

AJ wanted Sazy to put shoes on today, so he brought her his Crocs. As big as her feet are...they are not ready for his Crocs....but it was really cute.

Josie got to meet Sazy today too....and she did a thousand times better than when AJ came home. She basically came right up and sat beside us, smelled her head, gave her a quick kiss, and went to play with Big Boy. She then came back by four or five times to check on her. It was cool and Erin was so willing to let Josie be there. I guess she has seen how sweet Josie is with O-daddy and is willing to let Sazy get the same love.

It was a bit tough for Josie later though....as Pop brought his dog, Dooley, to meet Josie. Josie was not as accomodating with the new dog as she was with our daughter. Even though she eventually got used to Charlie (our Bulldog, Lord rest her soul) she never acted as though she liked Charlie as long as she knew anyone else was around. She was only sweet if she thought no one was looking. To see this new puppy with her third favorite man (I am first, Haynes is second....AJ is not a man yet) was a bit unsettling for her. It was cool to see her go get in between AJ and Dooley when the new pup went in for a kiss on AJ. She is protective of Big Boy.

The Jury is Out....

2009-06-05T19:51:00.003-04:00

Alicia is back tonight and is getting ready to take Sazy to the Nursery to do the bilirubin (sp?) check and weigh her one more time. Assuming things go well....they could discharge us tonight. However, given how late it is, I am betting we have to stay. The good news is that the little girl just unloaded a big poopie....which will definately help with that bilirubin count. So...in honor of the big event....let's all sing along.....
"My girl....she did a poopoo,
My girl.....she did a poopoopoo!
I said, my girl, she did that poopoo,
She did the poo to the poo to the poopoopoo!"

In Case You Didn't Know....

2009-06-05T11:00:00.004-04:00

We are thinking Sazy is pretty close to a spitting image of her brother. Here are some pics for you to compare. I couldn't find any pics of AJ's feet on his old blog....but I assure you, Sazy's feet are some steep competition for him.

AJ....1 day old (this was the Blackout post)

Sazy.....less than 1 day old (sorry, but her eyes aren't open and there is not hand to cover the double chin)

A New Morning

2009-06-05T10:31:00.003-04:00

Well, last night went about as well as it could. We had the sweet nurse who checked on us regularly and made us feel comfortable. Erin didn't sleep much as Sazy was right next to her making little baby noises (she did sleep well and ate well) that Erin could not sleep through. I did fine as the little couch thing was long enough and the temp cooled off as the night went on. We have been up since about 7 AM with VERY regular visits from the staff checking everything for the little girl and the Hot Mamma to paperwork to breakfast stuff to refilling the hand cleanser. We have a student nurse today, so that might have increased the frequency of visits....but she is sweet too so all is well. I guarantee we have not had 20 minutes alone since we've gotten up....but you know, that's kind of a good thing. We do appreciate the fact that they are making such a direct effort to make sure things are good. Family is coming at some point this AM....Erin Emirich is bringing us lunch. AJ should be up here before too long....but Big Momma (Ghee) said he did not get to sleep last night until about 10:30 with all the excitement and stuff and had not even woken up by 9:20 when we talked. Dr. Daus came by and spent some time with us this morning too before he started his duties across the street. He said as long as things keep going smoothly that we could go home tonight. I guess we'll find out at some point this afternoon. Sazy has not pooped well....only a little dime sized thing about 6 this morning and just a drop around 9. So if you feel Ok with praying for pooping....we'd like to see some more progress there. Getting the hearing screen done as I type....hopefully things look good there too. Enjoy the pretty pics.

Big Daddy

Turning it in....

2009-06-04T22:32:00.011-04:00

So things are winding down here for the night. We got moved into our room, they took Sazy to the nursery for a while, and all our family is gone. We are so blessed to have the family that we have, and to have so many friends that care about us and have been praying for us. Thank you so much. Our last nurse was Alicia and she was great during and after the delivery. We now have another Alicia for the night and she seems just as sweet. Hopefully Sazy will feed better than AJ did at this point and they will send us home before too long....but as long as we have someone reading the correct charts this time....I think I can handle staying as long as they need to keep an eye on things. Dr. Daus is great....and left us tonight with the quote of the night...."That delivery was no gutter-ball"....which is a bit of an inside joke with my sister Cayce. We have had a ton of family visit so far as well as Tays.....and I will try to list them all. Pop, Ghee, Will and Cat, Cayce and Brian (with Georgia, Reagin, and Bennett), Meme and Pawpaw, Tom and Nan, Aunt Teresa.....Nina and Rock, Leigh and Becca (who both were champs during the delivery....they helped), Gary and Della, Amanda and Lauren.....and of course, big brother AJ! Needless to say we tried to set a record. The head nurse finally came in and told everyone they had to leave. It was hard for Erin to let AJ go, but he went with my parents for the night and will be fine. He was not quite sure what to think when he first walked in and saw all the people (he and Pop did not get there till about 8) but quickly warmed up and would not hardly stop looking at Sazy. Once he did.....he never wanted to let Erin out of his sight but could not sit still and was climbing all over her. She was a champ again and loved on him like crazy while handling the crowd and the phone calls from other friends and relatives. Dranny called before and after and we wish she could have been here to see Princess Jr....but hopefully that will happen soon enough. Here are some pics of the night.....certainly more to come. AC

Captions-

Pic 1- Hot Mamma gets first look at Little Girl

Pic 2- Little Girl gets first look at Hot Mamma

Pic 3- Little Girl can't keep her eyes off Hot Mamma

Pic 4- Big Boy's first look at Little Girl

Pic 5- First Family Photo

Pic 6- Big Boy is so happy to be a big brother

Pic 7- The Dream Team- Dr. Daus and Alicia

She's Here

2009-06-04T19:47:00.006-04:00

20 inches, 7 lbs 2 oz.....arrived at 7:31.......pretty quick....she only had to push 5 times total through 2 contractions. She looks like AJ initially....with big feet and big lips. Here are the first pics. Big Daddy

7:27.....and pushing

2009-06-04T19:27:00.001-04:00

She is "complete" and ready to start pushing. We'll let you know when the little girl is here!!! Chunky A

The Waiting Game

2009-06-04T18:39:00.003-04:00

OK, so Dr. Daus says Erin is about 2 hours out. Family is going to get some dinner and Pop will bring O-daddy to the hospital around 8 or so. Audrey is taking off as the shift change is taking place at 7......her parting words....."One Love". She is REALLY good. Thanks for praying for all of us. Chunk

Epidural is in....

2009-06-04T17:56:00.002-04:00

and we should get this show on the road shortly. Erin is having very consistent contractions every 2 min or so, but her pain has now gone way down after the epidural was in. Our dr that did the anesthesia was really good too....and he did so well talking us through everything that he was doing. Dr. Daus brought me a Coke (first one I've had in forever....it was soooooooo good) and a granola bar to snack on.....he rules. He's hanging out with us now and getting ready to give Erin another quick exam. He is expecting to have a ballpark time of arrival once that happens. We'll try to get AJ up here at some point once we know that too. I am waiting for statements from Dr. Daus and Audrey to post here....but both seemes caught off guard when I asked what they wanted to say. They are preparing their statements now and we should be able to post something before too long. Diesel

Just updating

2009-06-04T16:49:00.008-04:00

We are in our room and answering questions etc. Here are some pics to get things going.

This first one is us waiting in the Triage.

Getting her IV so that the epidural can come......

We are so happy to be in a room already!!!!!

This was O-daddy back in September when we first found out Sazy was on the way. We'll give another picture of the two of them when they both get here.

Thanks- Big Daddy

Room 2006

2009-06-04T16:29:00.002-04:00

Moved on in just now. Erin knocked out her IV.....and she was almost done. It was required before the epidural could be administered and now she has to start all over. Just kidding. She did knock it out, but she does not have to start again. We have met our next nurse (Audrey) who is on until 7 PM. Erin likes her and she has a great accent (from Jamaica)......so hopefully this little girl gets here before then. Big Boy is at home with Pop (my dad) and will come on up at some point. He should have gotten up from his nap around 4, and then we're playing it by ear about whether or not they should come on. Guess we'll figure that out when Daus gives us an ETA on the little girl. Just overheard Audrey saying that this should not take too long.....so here we go. Big Daddy

At the hospital...

2009-06-04T15:52:00.003-04:00

Here we go. We are sitting in Triage answering questions and finding out what is next. We have a sweet nurse to start (we prayed for this) and Erin's contractions are pretty close together....about 2-3 min apart. Dr. Daus measured her at 4-5 cm dilated at 2, but this nurse said she is at 3-4.....don't know why there is a difference. There may be no issue at all....but maybe Sazy is just not ready yet or is getting shy at a new place. Who knows? Hopefully we won't stay in this little room as long as we did last time. I'll fill you in with more later. Big Daddy.

thursday a.m.

2009-06-04T10:54:00.003-04:00

doctor appointment:

dr checked me around 9am, and i am a 4 cm dilated but still thick and really no consistent contractions. so, he stripped the membranes. fun. and sent me home from the office (which is 5 minutes away from my house).

i am to go back to his office at 2pm, unless i start hurting with contractions. he will strip them again if nothing is happening. we may go on to hospital from there as he told us to have our car packed.

but...i think i have one stubborn girl sitting in me.

i am hanging out with my sisters, mom, adam , and sweet aj.

an emotional breakdown may be on the way as i get sad thinking about the change about to happen in my baby boy's world. but then i become okay very fast as my mom is rubbing my feet and painting my toe nails while i eat some good food she cooked for me. life is good. God is good.

(pics from easter)

almost time for baby girl

2009-06-02T14:04:00.002-04:00

hi everyone or anyone who might still check in over here. i am so sorry that i have been a non-blogger girl. just call me a non-internet girl these days. i have choosen to read, nap, clean, go to baseball games, love on my baby boy, and rest ...over the internet.

i am so ready for this baby to come and she should be here any day. i figured that i should throw some pics of big boy up before baby girl comes.

baseball season is over! sweet daddy was the region champ, and then we went into playoff mode. we should have won the state title, but God had other plans for the team. i have to honestly say that i loved this season. normally, i get tired of all the games. not this year! big boy and i loved being at the field any day we could. he is all about the balls and bats, then we help clean the field after games. precious time. i am already looking forward to next baseball seaon with two kiddos.

and i am more in love with the coaching side of my husband than i have ever been.

so, here are some pics of the big boy before he becomes a big brother.

we also had to take breaks from the bats and balls to eat dirt a few times.

girly is coming any day. adam will be jumping on the blog to update it when we do go into labor (i think). i've been contracting all day. hmmm. if she does not come by thursday a.m., the doctor will help me get started. lets go and get this show on the road!

i miss you all

2009-03-28T20:17:00.007-04:00

so... our internet did come back, but i have been working alot, traveling alot, reading alot, and disinterested in the internet. big daddy, aj , and books seems to keep my attention well enough. but i have had several ideas at blogging, and need to jump to them.
first, i am at my parents this weekend and have stolen leebs's pics from two of our recent trips. i have been travelling to see as many of boo's last college basketball days as i can. leebs has been my buddy and big daddy has been my babysitter staying at home with big boy. (my husband...mmm mm mmm. he is so the man!!!)

i will just give you some pics in bragging about boo. senior night is the first set of pics in which all the seniors were honored in a last home game. my parents were so cute.

here is boo in game mood. i think she is the prettiest NCAA basketball player.after the game and a special dinner... boo snuck us into the locker room and gave us a behind the scenes tour, and we took this sweet pic with her arena behind us.oh, and on the way home from that trip...let me tell you that the 6 1/2hour drive took 19 hours(left at 2pm on sun and arrived in atl on mon at 9am) to get home. my uncle brian drove me, leebs, and grandma home in the snow. we were stopped on 85 for 6 hours, then starting moving, and got stuck on the next exit ramp for another 2 hours. then drove the rest of the way home at 30mph. i will spare the details of being pregnant and stuck on 85, and some pics we took in middle of night to make trip more intersting (but were so terrrible), and just show this pic of the car after the trip with alzheimers grandma who never went to sleep!!

and my sweet baby that i was so excited to see with adam. they had just woken up (well adam never went to sleep b/c he was so worried all night).

second set of pics are from the big south tournament in high point, n.c..

boo with her game face ready to begin the game.

it was such an exciting game, b/c it stayed close till the end. and they won the tournament giving them an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament (which they did loose their first game in first round, but we will not go there).

if you can tell in the below pic, boo is praying. her team has a tradition of praying in the center of the court after every game. they always ask the teams they just played to join them, and alot of the times they do. this one was precious b/c it was such a big game to everyone.

but boo is the woman, b/ she always leads the prayer. they all grab hands, boo steps more to the middle leaning on one foot, does this nervous shake of the head that only i notice, and then closes her eyes and prays. so proud of her.

sweet family.

my sweet in-laws even came up for the big event.(i did mean to cheese puff this pic)

grandma and uncle brian joined the party too. but leebs and i made it very clear that we were not riding home with them in fear of a long trip.

leebs is great at taking pics of hugging moments. she gets the best of dad and boo. so for kicks, this is how boo and dad bye...and this is how me and boo say bye. i give her the "peace out" sign.

it is the end of her basketball career. so sad. i just had to show you these pics of one of my heros.

i will try to be much better at blogging these days to come. i have some pics to show you next week from our baseball season with big daddy. a big book update is due from all my reading. and maybe i will be extra nice and show you my belly in days to come. 9 more weeks for baby girl to cook.

shh!

2009-02-20T11:09:00.005-05:00

i am at work. shhh!

since i can not downlaod pics from my camera, i sure can from my email. here are some pics that tays took for me the other week. she is such a blessing to me for so many reasons, but one being i love her pics and she lets me pay her back with acts of kindness. i am so blessed to have tays in my life.... but i will not go into all the ways i love her today. you just look and see why she made me so happy on this day.

and this one is the hotty totty look with those eyes!

i have to admit that yesterday i did the whole "portrait inovations" thing. someone had given us a gift certificate for there and we needed to use it. how does the photographer (who did not have the patience for working with kids like she would if she had her own kids. i think she had no kids of her own. mothers can point those out!) expect my child to stay on this little square. i was exhausted after 45 mintues of this by my self. and i am not even the "traditional" picture person. for other people, they are great. not me. and not agian. (unless my mother in law wants me to. she is more traditional)

2009-02-17T13:26:00.004-05:00

you all have to forgive me. our internet has not been working at home (i am at work). and i think adam is going to work on that!

but, i have had lots going on and would have loved to share them. i hope you all are well, and i will be back soon.

smooch

sweet weekend

2009-02-01T13:51:00.002-05:00

we had so much fun this weekend. or i should really say two days of this weekend. we drove up on friday night and got home at 2am on sunday morning. my baby boy was a doll and could not have been better in his car seat. every minute of the trip was fun. fun car ride up with my parents, great food, nice hotel, perfect breakfast with boo, quick run to J.Crew factory outlet (sooo fun), pre-game coffee with boo, nap, great game, perfect dinner, and a trip home that included lots of reading for me and lots of talking to my parents for big daddy. what is better than such family time. aj did not get much of a nap on game day!
but he ran and ran all day long.

i soaked up every minute with my hubby, b/c here we go into baseball on monday!

pray for me.

something new for the year

2009-02-01T11:06:00.003-05:00

i love when other people write about books they are reading, b/c then i know what to expect in reading a new book and get great recommendations. so, i am going to start trying to tell you about my books. then maybe you will tell me about your books. (i know who my reader friends are out there)

there are so many good ones that i have read recently, but i am going to just have to start with this year. after the Psalm 91, i read Baby Proof really fast. it was a fun quick read about a couple who decided to not have children until things changed. i have to say thank you to mary for telling me about Emily Griffin. she is so fun. and i love that she is a local author. i saw this book for 3 dollars after Christmas and snagged it. (mary, i have ordered her other three books off amazon)

last week, i read Jesus: An Interview Across Time. dad had given it to me to read before Christmas. i had started it, but had a hard time finishing it until now. my mind had to really wrap around Jesus being here talking with us and answering all questions about his life on earth. i ended up really loving it and it has changed my thinking once again. how quickly i wonder away from Jesus being so real and in the midst of our every step on this earth as he experienced it all as well. read this one, when you want to be challenged.thanks to 14 hours in the car this weekend, i am almost finished with another book.

hi

2009-01-27T22:06:00.005-05:00

happy new year.

i am so pregnant. i posted on adam's blog instead of mine. so pregnant. so... go take a look over there if you want a welcome to the new year.

i am back to blogging.

so...

2009-01-26T15:47:00.003-05:00

if i loved all these ideas for the nursery...

this... and this...

these bright colors with the tree...

how sweet these colors flow together...

and i can surely make these butterflies...

then i would be having a girl.

(you might have been smarter than a pregnant woman if you read it on adam's blog)

we are so excited. maybe me a little more than adam at this moment. all he can think about is the teenage years. so, sweet girly needs to come on and melt his heart to give him a chill pill.

we are off to see some of this sweet number 25 player this weekend. i can not wait to see her. isn't she such a hottie. i think she is the hottest girl in division 1basketball.

(and my other sister is the hottest med student ever)

happy sweet weekend to you all.

i will try to play catch up

2008-12-22T16:47:00.007-05:00

so sorry i have been blogless over here for the past two weeks. i have been working extra and playing extra hard. Christmas time is so fun to me b/c of all the traditions you have surrounding the holiday. annual parties (ornament exchange parties are my fav), decorating, cards, food, and all the little traditions you make up as a family.

so, i have left my camera out of several things, but brought it on a few things. first, i never gave you a pic or two of aj's party and cake.

and the next day, we moved aj's car seat around. why is it so much fun for a mommy to turn the car seat around. i just giggled the first few rides at how fun it was to see him. aj loves it too. he thinks he is riding a rolling coaster.at one of the parties, there was a face painter named twinklz. she is there every year. so, this year, everyone talked aj into getting his face painted. twinklz picked a pirate and mommy pirate for me ( i had no idea what she was painting on me or aj, but she was a jewel.).

we also started our santa claus tradition. i just love how families display each year's santa pics out at Christmas. (adam's mom has tons all displayed from her childhood, her kid's childhood, and now her grandkids. i love looking at them all.) last year, i felt like aj was too young to be on all those germs with santa. but, this was the year. you can see what my pic looks like, so just imagine what the "official" pic looks like. and i love it so much.

we also started the pink pig tradition. i did it as a child each year, and want aj to enjoy it too. he loved it so much that he smiled the whole ride.

i will end on a few pics from our house. i have loved looking at how everyone decorates, so i thought i would share a few. this year, the theme seemed to be ornaments in my house (i already have a theme for next year.). i hung them from every chandelier and picture frame. lights were added to top it all off. the only trees we have are a few trees on our armoire, far far away from little bit.

sorry this was so long, but i tried to update you and wanted to share some fun things. i love you all and pray you have a merry Christmas. smooch. smooch. (i can not wait for Christmas eve and Christmas day!)

one.

2008-12-07T13:33:00.006-05:00

sweetness is one year old today. i can not believe that this popped out of me (after 16 hours of labor) exactly one year ago. everybody told me time flies, but i did not know what they meant until now. time flies. but i love every moment.

i love this boy so much. and i love watching him grow and change everyday. many laughs in this house!

we had a fun birthday party yesterday, which i will post about later, but he has one fav present: the present of a baby sibling next june!

(adam has a few updates on this at http://www.orantesgrant.blogspot.com/)

happy birthday baby boy.

my heart

2008-11-25T20:10:00.004-05:00

the past two years have carried a different air to thanksgiving time for me. big daddy and i were blessed to be able to travel to Isreal for 10 days over thanksgiving time in 2006. oh my!!

i had never had this huge desire to travel there (i do not know why), but big daddy always had. and i am so thankful he had that desire, b/c it was the trip of my life time. i miss Isreal so much and can honestly say that i could live there (or Kuai, Hawaii) with my man.

(here we are on top of Mount of Olives with Jerusalem behind us)

i thought i would share a few pics with you b/c this is where my heart is. i can think upon the trip and feel like i am back in Isreal. you go from place to place with your bible and journal in hand, and your mind continually thinking upon Jesus and how real He was yesterday and is today. (i was so challenged with the reality that this is how we should be living everyday as Christians. i keep working on it!)

(our tour guide, Moshe, who wanted to be as tall as us)

(floating in the Dead Sea. can u find us. i promise we have no floats under us)

(Sea of Galilee)

(hilarious. we rode a camel in the midst of the Bedowin Tribes and the Judean Wilderness. the camel was very mad at big daddy at the end and would not let us get off!)

(big daddy climbing the Aquedect running from Mount Carmel to Ceasarea)

(i was so thankful for these two girls. it gave me some girl power on the trip while big daddy had some guys for guy power.)

(i saved the best part for last. first is Golgatha. this is the most likely site, on top of the mountain, for Jesus' crucifixion. can you see the skull in the mountain?)

(and this the Garden Tomb, the place most Christians claim to be the burial and resurcetion site of Jesus Christ. the Catholics have their own site in the city that they believe in. we got to see both, and i have to say that there is a feeling you get at both sites. and the Garden Tomb is amazing and my choice. i believe!)

(this is the sign inside the tomb on the door. we got to enter the tomb. wow) (and i just love this picture outside the tomb. we had just had a devotion and prayer time with communion. a heavenly experience to amidst all this history.)

i pray the Lord blesses you all this holiday season.
i have tons more pics if you ever want to see them from Isreal.
happy thanksgiving.

thanksgiving: round 1

2008-11-19T10:33:00.004-05:00

we spent this weekend in the mountains celebrating thanksgiving with my side of the family. beautiful weather, but a bit chilly for my flesh and bones.

aj had much fun walking around and playing with my cousins. and he discovered the Christmas tree full of ornaments. oh my!

pluck. pluck. for each ornament.poor sweet santa.

we have a family tradition of shooting misteltoe out of the tree. i do not know if you see the clump, but there it is in the tree on the right side.

everyone takes turns shooting at the branch till it falls to the ground.

but, the branch got stuck this year, and lauren went climbing for the branch.

lauren was successful and sent the branch flying down to hit big daddy in the back of the head. poor guy. he was fine, after all, he had been feeling very masculine with one of the guns.success.

however, we were not successful in the family picture taking area. little boy was too ready to play.

at least i got to squeeze my man alot.
(no worries. little boy was only out to find the mistletoe and then back inside he went. no guns with him.)

supper club'n it!

2008-11-10T10:57:00.006-05:00

big daddy and i hosted supper club on saturday during the ga football game. we had so much fun (but would have had more fun if jason, john, amanda, and the heatons had been there. heather and tommy decided to get sick so they did not have to make the long drive. but i forgive them and miss them even more. who knows about the others.)

i had so many kids in my house and i loved every moment of it. at one point there was a child sleeping in all three bedrooms for their afternoon nap. but when awake, they all played so well together.

big daddy was so cute with the boys.

and aj officially picked his first girlfriend. he even cornered her and was going for a kiss.

i think he picked very well. look how precious.

(a special thank you to the harris clan for helping me in the kitchen. i love them so much.)

i hope you all had a great weekend.

lessons from aj

2008-11-06T21:15:00.003-05:00

1. do not get stuck under the ottoman when crawling between the couch and ottoman.

2. when on someone's shoulders, hold on by their ears.

3. if you drop your toy on the other side of the dog, crawl over the dog.

p.s. we sorda skipped halloween and went to visit my sister in virginia, since big daddy left us for the ga vs fl game. (and halloween scares me, by the way)

life story

2008-10-27T11:07:00.005-04:00

if you enjoy reading about other people's life stories, here is one that will tug your heart. remember me telling you about how i have been following Stephanie Nielson of Nie Nie Dialogues, well... here it all is in a nutshell.

it just makes you stop and go "wow, God, i do not know what You are doing, but You are doing something BIG here".

hottie

2008-10-26T18:18:00.006-04:00

i have two hotties in my house and here is one of them

spending time with the bunnies ...

and pumpkins...

(did i tell you we are walking?)

and eating spaghetti.

i will share some of my other hottie another day, but i will tell you
there is alot of smooching in this house.

3 confessions

2008-10-22T12:21:00.004-04:00

1. confession:i love to brag on my husband. he is such a Godly man. i love his heart for the Lord. and i get to see it trully up close and personal. being married for over 4 years, i have been able to catch his relationship change and get more intimate. TODAY, he started a series in chapel at school on the body of Christ, something the Lord has laid on his heart for almost a year. aj was a part of the begining of the talk and did great while i stood off to the side. SOOO cute!

2. confession:i was tested like never before by my son last night. i used to think that my husband could really test my patience, but no... way wrong. aj was just testy for about an hour before bed time. we had run to target, and he talked VERY loudly the 10 mintue ride home. then he did not want a bath. then he did not want his bottle. FINALLY, we were on the ground battling a diaper change and sleeper outfit. after saying "STOP, AJ" in a not very good tone and volume, i felt my insides getting hot. the Lord brought the words of the song "Jesus loves the little children" out of my mouth. it calmed me down and aj laughed his way to bed. then adam came home and i told him he could do whatever he wanted and i had no cares.

3. confession: i do not always feel bad after leaving my baby for a work day. when i go to pick aj up and he is sleeping so cozyish with his pops, my heart melts and the world is okay.

last friday

2008-10-18T21:08:00.004-04:00

friday morning, we did a lot of this. just because mommy was not ready to go to work .(big daddy did not appreciate this as much. he said something about any money saved on gas this week went toward this electric bill...) those are carrots in the mouth.

friday night, aj went to gee and pops house to play with the cousins while big daddy and i had a date.

i think he had fun!

p.s. thank you so much gee and pops for always baing so sweet about wanting to watch aj, so adam and i can rekindle some romance that gets lost with diapers and bottles. everyone's love tank is very full!

fresh air.

2008-10-15T15:13:00.006-04:00

fresh air.

i worked all last week and just wanted to do nothing but snuggle with my munchkin and big daddy when home. but over the weekend, munchkin and i went to see my dranny in the mountains while big daddy was at the ga game.beautiful.

dranny is a jewel.
and my parents are crazy fun.

we stayed outside the entire time (except for the few hours i tried to get munchkin asleep, but gave up and played. can you tell my face has a bit of frust on it!).

maybe one day i will have dranny's green thumb.

surprise!

2008-10-03T14:18:00.006-04:00

i did a little surprise dinner for leebs last night. her birthday is in 2 weeks, but boo came home last night and will not be back for a while... so we make the most!

and she wore these all night...
and of course, starbucks was apart of dinner.

sister's night out is tonight....

a day in the life of a social worker in the women's center

2008-09-30T22:02:00.005-04:00

8:45am- arrive at work and make a list of patients that i have referrals to see.

9-beeper. breakfast meeting i was not planning on with some vendor lady that i do not have time for today.

10- beeper. finnally get back to my office and rush off to see a 25 year old woman who just delivered a healthy baby, but she has a history of drug abuse. (nurse was getting antsy to see what the deal was so she beeped me with her "emergency"). i walk into waking a woman that looks like she was dead to the world. chit chatty stuff and then the "so i read in your chart there is a history of drug abuse". major back peddling by this woman who is slurring her speech from being so tired. "so, why don't you tell me a little about this drug abuse." more lies come from her mouth and i leave the room running to make a call to DFCS.

10:30- see two ladies with a history of depression. i do some post partum depression(PPD) teaching and make sure they agree to call their doctor if they exhibit any symptoms.

11- attend a meeting on the high risk unit and go over all the patients to see how they are progressing.

11:30- meet with a 16 and 19 year old who just had babies. make sure they have all their baby supplies (car seat, crib, clothes), know how to add their baby to medicaid and wic, have good support from family, good living situation, ideas of returning to school or work, SEX EDUCATION, ppd, etc.)

12pm- stop in to check on all my high risk patients(which i do two or three times a week) and make sure they are not going crazy in their hospital room on bed rests for two + months.

12:30- run to the dollar store for party decor and pick up chick-fil-a.

1:15- beeper. Labor and Delivery (l&d) calls to tell me they have an intrauterine fetal demise(IUFD or deceased baby ) at 28 weeks and that the patient has already delivered. i normally have a heads up on these patients and meet with them before and after they deliver. this lady showed up at the doctor's office fully dilated and no heartbeat. patient was rushed to our hospital to deliver fast. i go in to offer support, a memory envelope with a baby gown and blanket, support group info, grief booklets, and go over funeral arrangements.

2:15- i am finnally back up on the postpartum unit to see a few more patients who need some community resources for getting help with baby supplies, money for rent and food, medicaid and wic info,etc.

3:15- beeper. l&d has another IUFD, but this one needs a ride to North Fulton hospital too. what in the world? long story short, the pt. has an IUFD around 30 weeks still inside her and has to get to North Fulton hospital, b/c her primary doctor (who only delivers at that hospital) wants to do a ceasarian and tubal ligation at the same time. our hospital will not do the tubal b/c we do not know her history. the patient has no money, and no family members with gas to get her there. she spent the last bit of her money paying for a taxi to get to the hospital that she thought her doctor delivered at. poor girl. so, i arranged a taxi through our hospital to take her to the other hospital. to top things off for this girl, this baby was conceived by rape. i offered alot of support during our wait on that taxi.

4:15- walk back to my office while calling my mom to tell her i am going to be late. i am so behind on charting, so i write notes in the charts of all my patients as fast as i can.

5:30- way later than i like to leave from work... i walk out to my car thinking about how blessed i am and that God trully has a purpose for every single woman whether she acknowledges Him or not.

happy beautiful weather day

2008-09-24T12:13:00.004-04:00

i love the fall colors in my house. (i just can not do easter pastelly colors.)

p.s. this was between my legs during this post, saying many things.

the big picture

2008-09-22T11:03:00.003-04:00

"give her the fruit of her hands: and let her own works praise her in the gates."-proverbs 31:31

"for a christian, motherhood is the subtle art of building a house in grace-"the wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands"(prov 14:1). each day's work is significant, for it contributes toward the long term plan. each nail helps a house stand in a storm. but motherhood isn't a simple formula. building a home- childbirth, education, discipline- requires holy joy and a love of beauty. the mother who fears God does not fear the future."
nancy wilson, Praise her in the gates.

100 times a day...

2008-09-17T17:17:00.004-04:00

we say "hi doggie".
charlie used to run into her cage.

but now she plays with aj too.

a little break...

2008-09-10T11:31:00.007-04:00

SO, i decided to take a break. i meant to write a post and tell you, but never got around to it. OOOPS.

i have just been doing lots of things:

blog stalking like CRAZY, rearranging my entire house, trip to the mountains, date nights almost every week for the last month, moving more furniture, chasing a baby crawling everywhere, reading books, journaling, and making memories.

(if you have been to my house, you know how much rearranging this is below in the pics and you will see that the GORGEOUS island my husband made me one christmas is somewhere else in the house. i needed to open rooms up to this baby that crawls and stands up on everything. BUT.. we first had a conversation that went something like:

e- "this needs to go somewhere else"(maybe the basement), "b/c i am tired of aj falling around it, not b/c i do not like it. i love it."(and it does not fit with the look i am going for this time)

a- "that island is not going where you are thinking."

e- "it is a piece of furniture."oops

a- "to you it is a piece of furniture. when i look at the island, i think of how much i love you and all the hard work i spent on it b/c i love you SOOO much."

(he really is that sweet)

e- ( still not getting it, i walk away, b/c i just can not picture the island anywhere upstairs. and I am the decorator who chooses where things go.)

later i apologized and moved some more things around the next day to "fit" the island in a new spot. i am so slow at catching on to some things and so insensitive sometimes.

AJ update:

the last month has been so much fun. 9 months. aj is changing EVERYDAY. last you knew, he had two teefee and was scooting. he popped two more teeth the next week, began crawling really fast the same week, stood up the next day and now lets go of things to show me he can stand on his own, crawls in and on top of everything, shakes his head and says "N, N, N", points his finger saying "N, N, N" (maybe we have been saying no and doing those other things too much), swings in his new swing, pulls the top kitchen drawers open and hangs, and opens all the other cabinets.

we had our 9 month check up on monday. it was INTERESTING. the doctor had to do a "fix the mommy mess up on boy part" procedure , and three shots. emotional day for all. aj is almost 22 pounds and 31 1/4 inches long. he may be the tall skinny boy version of me. the doctor asked if i was worried about any developmental issues, and i told her no but that we may have some serious stubborn and strong willedness going on(she questioned me about that for a long time, and tried to tell me it was just a boy energy thing. i still think it is a cantrell thing. he he. not lightfoot at all!)

some more new things:

-adam and i celebrated 4 years of marriage. very fun. he thought the gift this year was flowers, i thought it was linen. who knows what list we were looking at.

-my new food kick is the stoney field organic vanilla soy yogurt everyday with fruit or cereal on top. mmmm. i have two times a day.

-i celebrated a birthday, and adam drew me a sweet pic on the kitchen chalkboard.

-my new fascination is collecting vintage pyrex bowls. they warm my heart and i get so excited to find them in antique stores.

-new stalking of several blogs... i found them all through Tays' blog. she has very creative friends. like her friend darby and erika. great ideas! erika led me to the Neilson family who were in a plane crash, and are currently at a burn center in AZ. i have fallen in love with this entire family. stephanie neilson has been such an encouraging mom and wife (and she loves vintage and retro stuff)to me through all her old posts. i have spent most of the last two weeks reading through all her posts and i love every single one. i call her "my new friend who does not know me" to adam. pray for them with me as you think of them. and you can also keep up with them on her sister's blog, courtney, who is just as encouraging.

(i am getting tired of going to all these other blogs just to get to the one i want, so i am going to do a list of blogs i stalk in the corner soon to make it easier for me. but first, i may have to introduce myself to these people.)

-new subscription to daily devotional blog (found through darby's blog). the readings are very real life.

thank you to my sweet friends who keep checking my blog and wanting me to post.

who knows when i will post again. he he. but, i will try to not make it as long this time.

we have teeffee..

2008-07-31T20:47:00.005-04:00

my morning routine with aj for the last several months has included me asking him "do you have any teeffee". and yesterday he said yes with a big giggle that allowed me to see while eating. aj has two front teeth!
if you zoom in, you can see his two bottom teeth. aj also found my teeth so interesting yesterday, that we played this game for several minutes.

i am so excited to finally say he has teeth. poor boy woke up at 12:30am the other morning and then at 5:15. sweet adam tried to put him back to sleep, but finally got up with him after 45 minutes of trying to get him back to sleep. what am i going to do when adam goes back to work. i love my boys so much.

and the changes keep coming.

2008-07-29T16:55:00.003-04:00

aj is giving me alot to blog about these days, and i could blog a couple times a day....

yesterday, i came home from work and adam told me that we are going to be in the e.r. alot and i was very confused. then he went on to tell me that aj thinks he can do anything. aj hit his head so many times yesterday from trying to stand up, but only landing on the hard wood floors with his precious head. my son just MASTERED crawling last week. he thinks he can stand this week.

here is a pic from aj during nap time, and one after nap time. these both are firsts for us.

aj is changing so fast.

2008-07-24T13:34:00.002-04:00

time is flying.
we are taking a few crawls at a time and then plopping.

we are sitting up for long periods of time.

we had our first biscuit the other night.

we sit in our high chair very well.

we are holding our sippy cup all by ourself.

so fun!

way too long...

2008-07-15T15:09:00.005-04:00

we are at the beach for this week, and i feel so bad that i have not blogged in so long, that i want to give you all a taste of my sweet boy at the beach.

adam and i have been so looking forward to this week, and it is way going beyond our expectations. aj loves the water and the sand. he eats the sand by the handful. yippe. (schedules for everything are way off, and i could go crazy if i was not on vacation)

here is a peak....

aj wishes nina and rock were here.

books

2008-06-26T21:39:00.005-04:00

my dad is such a role model in so many ways... one of his ways is in his love for reading books. dad finds the best books to tell us all about (my family also shares this love for reading. becca and i always have a book in our purse to pull out at any moment. leigh can only read about the human body these days and those books do not fit in her purse. mom carries a whole library in her car and reads from all of them at the same time.). i just finished reading these two books and i wish the author had more. i read both of them in a couple of days. so hooked.
i highly recommend these two books. "a thousand splendid suns" would be my fav of the two. the emotions that book took me through, was more than i was expecting. i was surprised again and again.

one of the emotions i was overwhelmed with relating to was the love for a child. people tried to explain it to me before i had a kid. then i had a baby and went flying with this new love i had for MY son but did not know what to do with the feeling. but when my hormones calmed, i got it. this is the indescribeable love between a parent and child! i am getting it. and i think i will keep getting more of it as the years go by. ( i also have this new window that opened for me to grasp how much my parents love me and how much God loves me. wow.) WHAT A BLESSING! God is good!

that is just one of the emotions i went through. read them for yourself!

poop

2008-06-23T11:27:00.002-04:00

aj and i have our first poop story:

here is my trail of thinking in this crazy mind of mine.....
i put aj in his exersaucer for some morning exercise after i have fed him. charlie, the bulldog, comes out to play with aj. charlie just licks aj all over his feet and stares at my boy.
aj does some grunting and i think he is pooping, but i forget while i am eating a snack.
then charlie goes to bed, and i run to get my tennis shoes for a walk with aj.
i sit in front of aj to put my shoes on, still in the exersaucer, and notice some "dirt" on the floor of his toy.
how did charlie get dirt in there and poor aj has been stepping all on these "dirt" crumbs.
i get closer to figure out how to clean this dirt out, and notice a plop of dirt.
wait.
how did charlie back her butt up and poop on this thing.
then i get closer and notice that aj has a plop coming from his butt and down the leg.
oh, i see. aj pooped.

poor boy had poop down his leg and crumbled all this poop with his bouncing feet. mess mess.

then i ran to tell adam to come see what his boy did and he tells me he might throw up. what does he think about me cleaning this up. that i love poop!

catch up

2008-06-19T20:25:00.005-04:00

so sorry for the delay. i know you all were on pins and needles waiting to see how aj did with solid foods. he did great with the sweet peas (adam picked the sweet peas instead of squash b/c he thought they would be more bland). aj made no face and had no special reaction to the new food in his mouth, but was overly excited. i knew i should have started him earlier with his robust body growing. this is a picture of how messy i made him with food.

i did it! i made aj some baby food the last two nights. it is so fun and so easy. i will admit that it is not as easy as grabbing a jar, but well worth it. i did some math and the money i save is huge! and aj will get organic at a great price. yippe. i will have to let you know how long this lasts, especially with aj hating the sound of the food processor. he goes into this terrible cry and can not calm himself down when i start the machine. but here are some sweet potatoes. hmmm.

oh, and aj started drinking the other night while watching some sports with daddy.

happy birthday becca boo. the big 21. rock flew her home for the weekend, so she may be drinking with aj later! (here is boo doing her fav, drinking starbucks in geneva. she is down town at starbucks as i type. wish i was there. luv you.)

6 months! oh my!

2008-06-07T12:53:00.004-04:00

sweet baby boy is 6 months old today. i love it! everything is getting funner and better. i just love every day. i feel so bad for writing how hard it was in the begining for me, because it is so great now.

tonight, aj is celebrating with a candle on some squash....

family time

2008-06-05T09:36:00.003-04:00

here are a few pics from last weekend.

adam, aj, and i were able to meet my grandma and uncle for dinner on sunday. i never see them, but i love them so much. grandma suffers from severe dementia (she should be diagnosed with alzheimers.). my mom and uncle make the best of it and just laugh at all her stories. (most of the time they are laughing, not all.)

tidbit: grandma likes to hide and pack things. she will pack an entire car from top to bottom, front and back seat, if you leave the doors unlocked to the car. and she will also try to kill an aunt with a fire extinguisher. and you never know what you will find in the dishwasher.

happy birthday rock

2008-06-03T18:25:00.003-04:00

today is my dad's birthday, and i am so happy he is getting older. if he was not getting older ..then...no that can never happen. dad says he will live to be 120 years old. you can ask him his reasons and he will show you Genesis 6:3.

i would not be who i am today with out my dad. thank the Lord for my dad and mom raising me. they are my heros. dad is the greatest role model i could ever have in pointing me toward a relationship with Jesus as my Lord and Savior. i would not have the depth of relationship i do have with the Lord, i would not be the woman i am today, be married to the husband i am (that is one great story), have the great relationships with my fmaily as i do... i just have the best dad.

thank you so much for choosing to marry the wife you did, dad, and for having me as your child. i thank the lord so much for you and everything you mean to me. i love you dad and i pray you feel very special on your day!

(these two pics are from the day i delivered aj. dad stood at the door and prayed the entire time. sweet cayce and her kids stood there as well. and then dad walked out of the room with a big smile after seeing aj for the first time. )

more baseball

2008-06-02T18:43:00.006-04:00

i have had a great weekend, even though it was very busy. becca boo has been home allowing some great sister bonding time. adam has also been "around", but baseball is not over.

i always forget about june ball. scrimages and practices continue for the month!

adam had his baseball banquet on saturday night, and i caught more of a glimpse into how much of his heart he puts into baseball. a few weeks ago, i mentioned that i wished i could be a fly on the wall when he taught classes. well, i also wish i could see more of all that he does for his baseball program. it is very inspiring to be walking life beside someone who is trully doing what only God has called him to do. i love watching him do his thing!

i forgot to post some pics like i promised from last weeks game. here we go.

bummer

2008-05-27T10:45:00.002-04:00

my sweet man and his team had an upset last night, but they played so well. i am so proud of my man and his team. after telling me he loved me after the game, the first thing he said was "maybe next year we will go farther". he has completely taken the baseball program from the ground up and to the final four in the last 9 years. sooo proud.

thank you everyone who came to the game.. especially tara and her baby that is popping out in 7 days. she is a stud.

more to come next year (and i will have some pics later tongiht when i get home).

here is an article from the paper.
http://gwinnettdailypost.com/main.asp?SectionID=7&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=15423&TM=38456.04

birthday boy

2008-05-24T17:02:00.005-04:00

adam turns 33 today. oh my , how old!

poor adam has had the bussiest day with graduation, luncheon, and practice. he will not even make it to his family dinner (his mom cooks steak rollups, mashed potatoes, green beens, and rolls every year) until 9pm. but i got to cook and be with him last night!!

i love birthdays so much, and want other people to love them as well. your birthday is your day to feel extra special and extra loved. adam has not liked birthdays, i do not undertand, so i try really hard to make him love them. i think he is coming along.

on birthdays, i always pray sweet little prayers for the birthday person. this year, i am really praying harder that adam has a great series next week in baseball. here are a few pictures from the game getting us to state and cheer us on into next week.

babe, i love you so much. i do think you are old. old is good for you, b/c you only get more ...great in all ways. this year has been a great year watching God do some big things in your life. your relationship with God has been an inspiration for me to watch and want to model. thank you for that. i also think you have gotten more handsome. your coaching skills seem to have improved (but we will see on monday).and daddyhood also looks great on you. i do not know what i would do without you. so.. keep growing older and we will keep making memories. smooch.

final 4 and a fan

2008-05-19T17:54:00.004-04:00

i have to tell you all that i am so proud of my sweet hubby... he is going to the final four in baseball and he installed a remote controlled fan all by himself.

adam won his two games last night; putting them in the final four round of state ( first time in providence baseball history). so excited for my hubby and that he gets to wear those tight pants a few more games!!! we play monday.

i mention the fan b/c i have a funny little tidbit to go along. adam worked for 4 hours on sunday night installing this thing (not what i wanted him to do on his last night home before he left for the tournament), and it would not turn on. adam was frustrated, but did a good job of still enjoying the night. so, on monday, his electrician grandfather came over with adam's dad and climbed the ladder to try to figure it out. oh, they figured it out alright. the plastic wrap was still on the battery in the remote. hmmm. (i chuckled for a while and debated telling him)

good for you babe!

fun times.

2008-05-19T16:22:00.003-04:00

sweet baby boy has had some good last few days. this weekend was just a great breath of fresh air. adam won his game on friday night putting him into the Elite 8 for their region in the entire state. adam plays tuesday and wednesday this week. big prayers for him and his team as aj and i do not get to make it to down south for the games.

saturday night we had a family date night. so fun!! i said "three" when asked how many and i felt so proud saying those words.

aj got his big boy car seat put into the car this weekend. i actually have had it since aj was a few weeks old, but was just waiting for the timing to put it in the car. well, this week, i told adam that i can no longer lift my chunky boy into the car in that carrier. i had it!! aj looks like such a big boy riding in his new "plush king size car seat".

i also took the plunge and tried the nursery at church. i took a tour last week and love the set up at our nursery, so i knew i had to try it. i asked adam to hold aj, so he could be the one to make the hand off to the worker. i wanted to cry at that moment and all through church, but i did not. my husband was being so sweet and i loved worshipping with him for the first time in a long time. nursery was a success (it was only aj and one other boy with four ladies).

today, aj and i kissed adam good bye over a lunch together and a feeding of the king snake in adam's room. i called him while on my walk last night to tell him there was a snake in the road. of course, my husband jumped in the car to catch the snake with one of my ralph lauren pillow cases. he is such a man. but today, i think aj loved watching the snake b/c he is black and shiny.

it has simply been a refreshing last few days as a family. hope you have had some great ones too!

a few things i have been thinking on

2008-05-08T11:33:00.004-04:00

i love reading about other people living life.

(and i am tired of this teething thing waking my baby up in the middle of his sleep!which he just did. how do i know if i should go on and get him up or try to get him to go back to sleep. so, i wrestle with myself over his bed for several minutes trying to comfort. then i go get my tennis shoes on to walk him outside, and he falls back asleep. i can continue blogging.)
there is a challenge when you read about someone going through a difficult situation and see how strong they are in the Lord. i feel so encouraged to dig deeper and know the Lord deeper in my personal life as i pray for them. recently, i have been following two people i do not know of personally. i learned of one from an email from a friend, and another from paige's blog. if you have time to do some researching...

1.this is angie who recently lost her baby girl a few hours after birth. her testimony is on this link, but then you can find her blog address from there as well.
http://withoutwax.tv/2008/04/28/rocked-to-my-core/
2. this is katherine wolf who is fighting for her life. precious family.
www.caringbridge.org/visit/katherinewolf

and then there is this sad, but great movie adam and i watched last night. P.S. I Love You. i love it so much. adam says it is slow, but not me. and the end is the best! i hope you love it too and want to live each day to the fullest with your loved ones.

i hope you all are encouraged as well!

happy 5 months

2008-05-07T11:50:00.004-04:00

sweet baby boy is five months. and i love it. he is getting so big.

we have had such a busy last week with many activities to remember. on friday, aj had his first day of school with daddy. i took aj to visit a few of adam's classes. so fun!

on friday night, leebs had her spring formal. aj and i helped her get ready. aj was more entertained by reading "road and track" magazine. (nina went through the whole magazine with aj telling him which cars rock liked and did not like. so cute to hear.) leebs was a cutie patootie.

later friday night we went to a wedding shower for evan and rebecca. a date for adam and i.

saturday began with a 60th wedding anniversary for adam's grandparents. aj started in one outfit for the first thirty minutes, but all the buttons popped off slowly. so weird. so we had a back up outfit, but it was not as cute. here is aj's first outfit and meme and papa with the great grandchildren.

then adam and i ended saturday night with another date to a wedding. we made it to the wedding with will and cat, but lets just say that we took a tour of 85 north and south, 285 and 75. interesting. i do not think i will ever be getting a "tomtom" navigation system that will and cat have for themselves.

adam has his first round of state playoffs this weekend. yippee.

tag

2008-04-28T20:31:00.002-04:00

tays has tagged me to answer a series of questions:

what was i doing ten years ago?
soo nothing important! i had just "broken up" with my highschool boy whom i never really "dated". (we liked eachother for three years and then actually said we were dating for a few months our senior year, but then i broke his heart on prom day by "breaking up". yes, we still went to prom together that night. he just threw up a few times! so mean of me to such a sweet boy. i still feel terrible, even though i apologized to him in depth later that year.) i had not applied to college even though i was about to graduate! i was also getting ready to spend the summer in Spofford, New Hampshire as a camp counselor.

5 things on my to-do list:
1. BLOG on my BLOG. i am so bad at this, b/c i always wonder what anyone would want to read about my life.
2.change out winter/summer clothes in closet. (i have had my summer clothes in their garment bags on the floor of my bedroom for at least two weeks.)
3. buy wedding gifts for a wedding that passed and one this summer.
4. lay out in the sun for at least thirty minutes for a few days when aj is napping to feel like i have some inkling of sun-kissed skin.
5. find a jean skirt for this summer to wear all the time. something not too long, but not too short for these long legs. so hard to do!

5 snacks i enjoy:
(let me first say, i love love love snacks. if you are ever around me and you are hungry, i am your girl! i have snacks with me wherever i go or i just might pass out. and my dad eats them all when we are together. he says "watchya got" and i know what he is thinking.)
1. dry cereal. frosted shredded wheat, special k, total, captain crunch, etc.
2. nuts. all types, but almonds and soy nuts are my fav.
3. dried fruit
4. cheese
5. fresh fruit and veggies.

5 places i've lived:
1. atlanta, ga
2. paris, france (2 months)
3. spofford, new hampshire (summer)
4. columbia, s.c. (grad school)

5 bad habits:
1. adam says i steal the covers at night. whatever.
2. i change out of my work clothes immediately when i get home and put on comfy clothes and wash my face. it is a bad habit b/c some times my husband may only see me in my comfy clothes for days, and miss out on me strutting some "cute day" with the hair and clothes really working for me.
3. i lock doors immediately when entering my house or any house. it is good when i am by myself, but not when i am at someone else's house or i lock my husband outside any time he goes outside or is behind me. there have been days when he is working in the yard and i may lock him out 4 times in one day. he does not really like that very much and always says "my own house!!".
4. wearing cute shoes, eventhough they kill my feet. i am getting irreversable damage, but it has not stopped me.
5. i do not close the top of the toothpaste all the way. i do one twist with the top. it stays on for me, but drives adam crazy. we have seperate toothpaste tubes.

5 places i've worked:
1. bruster's ice cream.
2. j. crew
3. counselor at camp spofford
4. nanny for two days a week for two years.
5. gwinnett medical center

5 things i'd do if i were a billionaire:
1. buy grandparent's old house that my granfather and dad built around berkeley lake.
2. pay off our debt and my parent's debt.
3. quit work and go back to nursing school full-time in this accelerated program for one year. i would have my mom and adam's parents watch aj for a couple days and have a nanny for the other two days of the week. then when i got my degree, i would just work a few days of the month and be a mommy the rest of the days. ( i do love social work, but i would love to challenge myself and become more medical in my area of work)
4. start this environmentally minded christian organization that adam would love to do one day.
5. help my dad start this group home for teen mothers that he has talked about several times.

i am going to tag monica and allison. girls, get to work on your lists.
thanks tays!

i love my scooter more and more

2008-04-22T21:17:00.004-04:00

aj's new nickname is scooter. he is into scooting anywhere and anytime.

is it possible to fall more in love with your child? (i know it is with your husband most of the time, so i should have known) i have always heard parents talk about this overwhelming love at first sight when baby pops out. yes, that happened. but, i have fallen more in love with my child these days and did not know i could be any more in love with him. i do not hear parents talk about this part.

i mentioned in an earlier post that mommy hood is getting funner and funner. aj does these new things everyday that fill me with more and more love. he looks at me longer and listens to me talk. he belly-giggle laughs at me. he "hugs" and "kisses" me. he pinches and pulls my hair. he talks to me. he lets me read books to him. i just love it all, and can not even imagine how much more i will continue to be filled with this love for my son. (these things really help my hormones)

fun tidbit: we went to the doctor last week for aj's 4 month checkup. he is 28 1/4 inches long and almost 17 pounds. adam was 26 inches and 17 pounds when he was 4 months. maybe aj will be taller than adam! (adam calls aj his 6'8" pitcher)

4 months

2008-04-10T10:06:00.002-04:00

sweet baby Aj was 4 months old on monday. i have been meaning to blog, but i have such a hard time finding time to blog some weeks. you moms who are so good at it need to help me. maybe i just am so bad at managing my time with a baby. do give me a few points for being married to a coach who is very much away from me this time of year. so, i am so exhausted when Aj sleeps that i sleep too. no blogging time.

i am working most of this week and adam is getting a taste of motherhood. he definately gives moms the cudos for taking care of a baby all day. thank you sweetie! and he understands why my time alone or with other girls is so important. i like adam on spring break.

the last month has been interesting. i returned to work!!! God definately blessed me with a job i love, making it so much easier to be away from my baby. i am in a new area,NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). being around babies crying all day and new moms helps my hormones while away from my baby. i get to counsel families loosing their baby, and rejoice with those who get to take their premie home for the first time in several months. the emotions are far between. people think that the NICU is a sad place, but it really is a place of miracles. and i get to be apart of it.

then i go home with this renewed energy for aj. i look forward to my days of and try to do many things with aj. my favorite is having him sleep on me for at least one nap during the day. good cuddle time. then we work on nap times in the crib for the other naps. aj is changing so fast. he actually will play with me. he giggles when you play with his hands and feet, and he grabs toys to go to the mouth. those starring days were tough, when the baby just sits and stares. i went crazy a few times.

i was not the normal girl who dreamed of having a baby. i dreamed of KIDS. kids i can play and talk with and develop relationships with. the baby cuddling time is precious and i did love it, but i have been ready to play. some people do not understand this, but it is me.

one other thing, i officially became a mom with the short hair. i cut it yesterday. it is just on my shoulders, but big for me. they say all new moms chop the hair. does it count if most moms do it for the convenience and i did it for something new. i still loved taking time to do my long hair with a baby watching baby einstein (thank you tays and mrs. gene) in the bedroom. i have just had long hair for several years and needed something new. okay!

after work, i get to see my friend from grad school. she was my best friend while in south carolina and i love her so much. she had a baby boy one month after me and they call him aj. i feel like i just saw her last month, but it has been 4 years. i will let you know all about it!

she is hanging in there.

2008-04-04T10:13:00.003-04:00

sweet boo had a great surgery, but a bad night. she was in some great pain and extremely uncomfortable. thank you for thinking of her.

while i am all about boo, there is a great article about her from the Liberty website. i love to brag about both of my sisters. i have always been so proud of them as they have all these incredible qualities i have always admired and wanted for my self. i thank God that we have never struggled with those terrible "sister" issues you here about. we really only argued about taking eachothers clothes, jewelry, and purses. these days i just get mad with becca and leigh for not calling me enough. i know they are so busy but i miss them so much.

if you have time...

http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm?PID=10869&newsID=2215&TeamID=7

little prayer for boo

2008-04-03T10:35:00.003-04:00

my sweet boo is having her surgery today around noon on her knee. she is a tad bit nervous about waking up and not being to feel her leg. silly girl. she is in God's hands. please say a prayer for her. nina and rock are with her, as i would be too if i did not have this sweet baby that might be a bit too much to handle around a girl who just had surgery. aj might decide to get up and walk to play with becca's leg. i will hold him down for now.

we got to spend some time with becca boo this weekend as she came in town for one last horrah before her surgery. whenever i get to be with my sisters it reminds me of how much i miss them. one day things will be quiet and we can sit and chat over coffee forever.

remembering...

2008-03-29T22:12:00.003-04:00

i do not know how many mothers do this, but i think back to my pregnancy. often. i have a friend, amy, delivering her baby via c-section tomorrow morning. we were talking last week about labor. she did not labor at all with her first baby as she had a planned c-section due to the baby being so big. i laugh b/c amy got to experience labor pains last week for about an hour and was shocked. she talked about having to hunch over in such pain. she then became thankful for c-sections!

amy was telling me how different her weekend was going to be knowing monday morning the baby would be here. you c-section friends know what that is all about. like a dentist appointment or something. my mind can not even fathom. i know nothing other than the unexpected.

these pics are from my early friday morning that began at 1:30am on dec7. by 7:30am, adam was getting a kick out of me being unable to stand up straight with the contractions. hunching over makes everything seem a tid bit more tolerable. after adam had to take a picture out of humor, i made him take one of us as a family of two for the last time at home. do i look like i have been up all night in pain or what? fake smile? chubby cheeks?

i love the miracle of pregnancy and birth. this weekend i have just been thinking and i pray amy has a blessed delivery.

easter

2008-03-29T21:36:00.005-04:00

finally, i am sitting down to write a blog. my mind is so spacey these days with a million thoughts and no organization. but, i am finally taking time to tell you about our first baby easter. it was beautiful.

my parents were at boo's tournament, so it was just the three of us for church, brunch with bee, and dinner with the cantrell's. it was a very sweet easter being extra special with a baby. i do not know exactly why certain holidays become more meaningful with a baby, but i can not imagine how incredible christmas is going to be this year.

my parent's made easter extra special for us, so i want to do the same thing. nina had cute easter baskets outside our bedroome door easter morning full of girly goodies (clothes or a pair shoes or makeup or...always the perfect little things). aj is also going to look forward to his easter basket. this year he got a gift i really wanted which was a cute night light. he loved it so much!

i hope you all had a great easter.

just an fyi: adam ordered me a new ac adapter for MY computer (as we have had issues around here), so i may become a real blogger in the near future.

becca boo

2008-03-21T13:46:00.003-04:00

i have been computerles most of the last week. but, i am at my mom's house for the day and aj is sleeping at the moment. let me grab that time to play with you.

i am at my dad's computer, so i found pics from becca's game a few weeks ago. this blog is for the liberty flames. think of them on sunday as they play their first round in ncaa tournament in norfolk, virginia. they are playing the number 5 seat old dominion. boo has her knee all wrapped up, but still working out. if they get through this weekend, they will try to play boo the next weekend. her surgery is still not scheduled. keep praying for her. she is one tough cookie. my sweet baby was passed down the long line of women.nina sat away from the loud mouths to keep aj calm.feeding time was with a few distractions.seeing boo was the best of all.

still missing boo and counting down for her to be home.

sisters

2008-03-12T21:33:00.005-04:00

leigh beebecca boo

these are my two favorite sisters in the whole wide world. they are the best and most gorgeous sisters any girl could ever desire(heather may disagree). i have a word to say on the two of them tonight.

i owe leigh bee a big thank you for coming to spend the night with me last night. adam had a game far away and got home real late. i am still a scardy cat and did not want to be by myself the whole evening, so she was so sweet in volunteering to come play with me and aj. leigh bee has been so busy with studying in her second year of med school that i do not get to see her as often as i wish. it is beautiful when we are together. say a prayer for her as she takes her boards this summer. thank you leebs.

becca boo needs a few prayers as well. she had an MRI today as they think she has a torn ACL. at the end of the basketball season! boo is a starter for Liberty, and another starter just had her ACL surgery today! (terrible to us, but perfect timing to God.) pray for boo as her team has the big south tournament this weekend.they are the regular season champions.

bee and boo are my heros. i love them so much.

lets try this again...

2008-03-11T21:57:00.004-04:00

i am so excited to be starting this whole blog thing again. the creative juices were not flowing on that boy blog. i kept asking adam if he would let me change things...take off the visitors from the hospital, change colors, take off the ENTIRE life story of Orantes Grant on the main page, etc. but, b/c my husband is a sweet sentimental man, he finds it hard to desire change. there were thoughts in my head i wanted to share that just did not seem appropriate on the other blog. freedom is the new feeling i feel in opening my mind to just writing and sharing with friends. even if it is one or two people, i love staying in touch with others. i love you all.

AJ is three months old and i am loving life more everyday. the begining of mother-hood was amazing but challenging. whoever reads these has heard my story and does not need that recap. on new things, i started work last week. part-time, but time enough. my mom is my hero. she made last week "OK". she came over to my house an hour before i had to go to work, cooked breakfasts, ironed my clothes, got Aj up, made lunchs, did laundry, did the dishes, cleaned my house, boiled bottles, assisted with dinners....and then taking care of my sweet baby. with AJ, mom did everything on schedule, great nap times, started sign language(as much as you can), left me messages throughout the day... i know other people will do a great job at keeping Aj, but there is no one like my amazing mom.

thank you nina for everything you have done for me and my family of three. we could not have survived the last three months without you. and i could not have gone back to work so smothly and emotionally in control without you.

speaking of work... i have so many stories to tell. maybe tomorrow i will go through a few interesting stories. you will have to tell me if they get to be too much for you. my social work brain thinks on a different level than the rest of my brain.

cheers. here is to new blogging, Aj three months old, nina, and social work.