Always Christmas

A Clay Pot

2011-08-21T13:17:00.004-04:00

This isn't entirely an analogy I came up with on my own, but I often think about how my life was before Christ. Though I was young, I still picture myself as a pot made just how I would have like to be. Then when my life changed, I picture God shattering that pot and rebuilding it tiny piece by tiny piece to create just what HE wants. Putting the pieces where He wants so that I can be best used. Maybe even leaving gaps in between the pieces so that as I am filled with Him, it can pour out to others. I want that.

I am not typically a busy person. I love time to myself and get so much energy from being alone in silence. Touch is so not one of my love languages. Though I ADORE my children and love giving/getting hugs and kisses from them, when I can't even sit on the sofa to breath without a child at my feet or hanging on my arm or climbing in my lap, I have to find a way to retreat. Even if only for a minute! ESPECIALLY a little boy that screams touch as a love language and asks me numerous times a day if he can "give me lovin's". I'm not naturally a flexible person. I'm working on that but its tough. I like to have a schedule and I like to know whats coming next and I REALLY like to leave some wiggle room in there so I don't feel rushed. I feel like ever since we moved to Richmond our lives have been NON stop. I know part of that is just what it seems like. We do get time as a family, but its so tough for me when at any point it can get interrupt or "rearranged". Of course, Robby LOVES being on the go. He loves being around a bunch of people and gets his energy from that. He's the epitome of flexible and feels like anything can be rearranged to make time for people. (** I am in NO way saying that Robby often puts others ahead of his family, its not like that at all. He's seriously the best husband and father I could have ever dreamed of.)
Its so hard though because I know there is a balance but I also know that loving broken people takes sacrifice. We moved to Richmond to reach people and share Christ with them. Thats the WHOLE reason we're here. We're not here to be comfortable or to live a perfect life just the way I would like it. God has introduced us to SO many people that need a touch from Him. More like a slap from him. How can I sit at home and try and relax when there are so many people. And its not that I don't think anyone else can do it and we're the only ones. I just know that its why God sent us here and its been tough but we've definitely seen Him work. Yes, we've been woken up in the middle of the night, threatened, taken advantage of, lied to, been uncomfortable...but then I think of Paul and all he went through. How can I complain? Its not making light of what I'm going through, they are still issues that are affecting me, but seriously. Now, I can't say that my flesh doesn't want to sometimes tell people to grow up and stop being stupid and selfish, but I know that would do nothing worthwhile. I'm just trying to find some sort of balance. I have to keep reminding myself of the Truth. On days/weeks I don't...weeks like this past one, I just feel like I get swallowed up.

So saying all of that, I am just exhausted. In every way.

I know God has great things planned, and I'm having to rely on Him every second of the day. I mean, I say that knowing its the truth and its what I'm supposed to do, but there are some days when I just seem to lose. I have to keep struggling through this and being reminded of the reason we were created. I hope you are living in light of why God created you!

I need a bandaid on my heart...

2011-08-21T12:37:00.009-04:00

Here are just a few updates of whats on my heart. I put in some pictures of the kids just to liven it up a bit.

I don't have a ton of close friends. I mean, I have friends, but many super close ones. You know, those friends you just can't wait to get together with. The ones that you know you can tell anything in the world. The ones that you might make plans with to come over and paint for a few hours, but then you just sit and end up talking because you just love being refreshed by each other. Or someone that decides to come over at 10 one night to play board games just because. That is Sarah. She's not dramatic (well, maybe just a teeny bit :)) She's not high maintenance or hard to please. We share so many of the same dreams. I love her. Well, she moved to Michigan in July. I think I cried for three days. It has been no fun. Even though we met when we moved here, I've never felt like anyone could have been a better friend. She was the closest thing I've ever had to a sister. Its been a huge bummer to be without her. She's definitely the closest friend I've had since my mom. Its been so hard to know she's not close. To know I can't just call her up and go meet her to hang out. I know God is teaching me to rely on him but its just so dang hard. I miss my friend.

I have a hard time with people that aren't "committed" to things. Like people that say they will do something and don't follow through. I know I need to show more grace, but thats a really tough one for me. About a month and a half ago when we found out that a member of our church community had relapsed on drugs I felt like God was telling me to get ready. I didn't really know what for, but I knew that He was telling me that we were about to step into something tough. He told me to be reminded that addicts can't exactly be relied upon. That the drugs run the show. That we would be ministering to them and that I would have to have abundant grace that I could only get from Him. Boy. He. was. right. In the past few months we have been loving on numerous current/recovering addicts. It's just so hard to see someones life so torn. So in shambles. So dependent on something to satisfy the emptiness they don't know how to give to God to fill. Its so draining, but I know that God is using us to love them. I do love them. My heart aches for them as I see their lives fall apart. As I see how decisions ruin lives. How lies dig you deeper and cause so. much. pain.

My heart is burdened but hopeful.

So full

2011-08-15T08:18:00.002-04:00

My heart is so full right now. I'm trying to decide if I should post everything or just keep it between me and the Lord. Its not like anyone hardly reads this (not having a pity party, just stating the obvious) :) God is doing great things, but they are also extremely challenging. Praying for patience, strength and energy and taking one day at a time. I'll be in touch.

Garden Grown

2011-07-24T09:45:00.004-04:00

So we have this tiny garden and we planted way too much zucchini and squash. I'm so thankful for the free produce, but I'm sooooo over it :) We went to Wilmington a few weekends ago and when we came back, we had a massive zucchini. Actually, we've had three that are about as long as a watermelon and as thick as a large grapefruit. No fertilizer. We just left them on too long. I hope our tomatoes do half as well!
So I didn't know what to do with it. I mean, what do you really do with that much zucchini?! I'm happy to say, I made something AMAZING!

Watch how this...

Turned into THIS:

I cut the zuchini in half and put a little olive oil and salt and pepper on it and roasted it for about 20 minutes. Then I scooped out the insides (which I'll puree and use later in a spaghetti sauce or something). Then, I marinated some chicken, and cooked it really low so it was nice and tender. I made some brown rice and put some diced tomatoes and green onions (from our garden) in with it. Added a little salt and pepper and the chicken and stuffed away. I topped it with a little cheese and put it back in for about 20 minutes. Thats not my first choice in a dinner usually, but I was so thrilled it turned out good. Robby and I only ate a half of the giant beast, so we get to eat it again today! You should try it!

Saturday Sanity

2011-07-02T12:36:00.006-04:00

So Robby and I have started a wonderful Saturday morning routine. We put the kids to bed late on Friday night in hopes that they sleep in on Saturday morning. Robby and I wake up at 5:30 or 6 and start with coffee. Not just in the kitchen like normal. The night before, we set up a little coffee station in the living room on the corner table inbetween the two sofas. Once we crawl out of bed, we hit the button and the morning starts. We sit and drink our coffee in complete stillness and just talk. About anything. Its. so. wonderful. Last night we went to see fireworks with some friends and the kids didn't go to bed until 9:30. So, that meant that this morning Robby and I got from 6-8:30 all by ourselves. It was such a great way to start the day.

Then, once the kids wake up, I make a fun breakfast. Something like pancakes, or cinnamon rolls or breakfast casserole...something we don't normally have :)

After that, we load this kids up and take them to the gym and Robby and I take the 9:30 yoga class. Yes, of course, Robby takes yoga with me :)

We haven't been doing this routine long, but so far, we love it. It gets us ready for the day and gives us a chance to enjoy some conversation without being exhausted at the end of the night. Love this.

What do you do regularly with your loved ones that you enjoy?

S'more love...

2011-06-04T09:33:00.005-04:00

I covenant to love you and to fight for you
and when we fight to love you anyway
I offer my love to you unconditionally
As I am loved unconditionally by Christ

I promise to be there for you
When its easy and especially when its hard
When you are laughing and
especially when you are crying
When you are well and especially
when you are sick

These are the vows we wrote for our wedding. Well, basically the ones that Robby wrote for us... :)

Last night we had a little "in date". That's what we call a date we have at home once the kids go to bed. We take turns planning them. This time it was Robby's turn. He started with us writing out our vows and then somewhat disected them to see what parts we've done well with and what parts we could work on. Then we drew pictures of how we see the other person. This was hilarious. My picture was very descriptive. Him holding a box of diapers, with a toilet brush in his hand and balancing a frying pan and a cup of coffee on his arms. All of these things because he's so helpful and thoughtful. Then he had big muscles and a tool belt, because he is so handy around the house. And then, to top it off... he had bare feet. We went shoe shopping for him because he lost the pair of tennis shoes he's had for about six years. (I think it was time for a new pair anyway haha) We left with no shoes. We've been to four different stores looking for shoes. He's so indecisive. Its hilarious. So that he had bare feet in the picture. :)

Now, this sounds dumb, but for some reason I have been wanting to have S'mores for a really long time. Not because I think they taste amazing, but its just something about them that makes me feel like a kid. So, even though I haven't mentioned it in a while, he went to the store and got stuff to make them. So we had a great fire in the Chiminea and roasted marshmellows and had S'mores and just talked. I love those times. What a precious little date.

Seasons

2011-05-09T13:04:00.005-04:00

The other day, Mary Grace was having some trouble settling down for her nap, so I went in and started to rock her. She kept looking up at me, smiling, and playing and trying to put her pacifier in my mouth. I started to get frustrated, but then my mind drifted and I started to think about my mom.

As she rocked me when I was that little, what was she thinking? I can imagine her holding me and laughing at the things that should have annoyed her. Did I really bring her as much joy as Mary Grace has brought me? I remember her telling me how much she had wanted a little girl. I think it was the incredible relationship that I had with her that made me long for one too. Let me tell you, this little girl rocks my world. Oh how my heart selfishly aches for my mom to have met her. To hold her, to kiss her, to squeeze her, to rock her, to love her.

I was watching home videos a few months ago, and came across one of when I was about 12. We were all sitting around at Christmas, and I my mom was talking to my aunt and I and said, "I can't wait till Joanna has kids. I can't wait to be a grandmother!" Oh how things don't go as we planned. I hear her say that in my mind all the time now. Especially when the kids do some of their ridiculously silly things. I feel like, since its been seven years, it shouldn't hurt as bad. And mostly it doesn't because I don't let myself go there. But it does. I try to not be jealous of others. But when I get really weak, I am. I start wondering what it would be like if it were MY mom holding her grandchildren, my mom coming to visit, me able to give my mom a hug on Mother's Day.

I'm going home this week. I'm going to help my dad clean out over thirty years of stuff from their house. A lot of it is filled with tiny memories of my mom. As time goes by, it seems like it gets more difficult to remember the precious times we had. I know that going through all of these memories will be so difficult, but I hope that its freeing. I hope I can be reminded of the joy she brought into a room and the gracious heart she had. I hope that I can remind myself I don't have to hold onto all her material things just to remember those things about her. Robby is hoping I don't come back with a U-Haul full of blue and white china.

Though at times my heart aches, I do have hope. Hope in the future we have together in Heaven. Peace, knowing that even though she hasn't gotten to see my sweet children here on earth, she's probably up there rocking our two sweet other babies that we've lost. Oh how I love and miss my mom with every ounce of my soul.

i failed.

2011-01-25T21:02:00.004-05:00

Ok, so remember a few posts ago when I said I was going to start blogging about healthy meals and stuff like that...well...you might be asking, "Where are they?" I was on such a roll making some pretty awesome stuff but I never could find my camera when it was time to take a picture of our nicely plated food. So, I'm admitting that I failed, and that I have no desire right now to try and make up for it by starting over. BUT, I will send you to my sweet friend Jana's blog (<---click there) because she has a great one about healthy stuff she's been making lately. Check it out! I'll try to redeem myself in some way, at some point. :)

Little Cabin in the Woods

2011-01-18T21:22:00.007-05:00

(PICTURES BELOW...I PROMISE!!)
I have always been thankful that I have a thoughtful husband. Things definitely get crazy with kids in the picture, but for Christmas he pulled through again, big time. One of my gifts was a kid free weekend away. We were to drop the kids off in Lynchburg and then head to Massanutten to stay at our sweet friends cabin. Now, for some of you with parents that live nearby, this might not seem like a big deal. You might get to get away often. But for us...it was heavenly. If our family is ever in town, we don't want to leave the kids with them, we want to see our family! So, this was extra special. But as excited as I was, I was really worked up about leaving them. I prayed that they would do well. Partly for Teecy and Christy's sake, but mostly for my sake so that I could relax. Well, funny how we're doing a study on prayer and God decided to remind me VERY clearly that it works. See, the kids hadn't been sleeping through the night for about three weeks. Mary Grace, who normally does, has had a cold and just been unsettled and Trey has been waking up crying and having night terrors. I mean, like three or four times a night were up with at least one of them. Also, going home for Christmas really threw them off schedule and made things worse. Thats why I was nervous. Wanna take a guess at what happened? They both slept through the night PERFECTLY both nights. I still can't believe it. (They've actually been sleeping pretty well since we've been home to, praise the Lord)
So, back to our trip...Robby was so sweet because he told me that we could do whatever I wanted while we were there. This resort is really awesome. It has snow tubing, skiing, an indoor water park and tons of other stuff. He made such a sacrifice because the only thing I wanted to do was stay holed up inside the warm cabin doing nothing. I. LOVED. IT. Another part of the gift was gift card to the grocery store to spend for that trip. We went a little crazy and decided to get Filet Mignon. We had that and some super fun snacks and ended up having much needed chance to feel like two adults reading and talking over coffee. (That doesn't happen too often) :) THANK YOU TEECY AND CHRISTY!

This was what went into our omelet the last morning we were there. Green peppers, mushrooms, filet, and aged white cheddar from Trader Joes. It. was. so. good.

A vegetarians nightmare. We went all out and got filet mignon.

Robby working hard in the kitchen making breakfast.

Our little reading "nook"

NEW POST! YAY!

2010-11-03T14:41:00.002-04:00

Alright, I realize that its a little ridiculous that my last post was about Josiah and Amanda getting engaged, and two weekends ago, they got married. SO...I'm ashamed, and I've decided to get my act together. I've decided to start incorporating something new into the blog. Robby and I have made a committment to start eating a lot healthier. We never ate terrible on a regular basis, but we've really decided to be serious about it. I wish that I would have taken a picture of what I made last night. It was so good. AND CHEAP! I got some all natural/hormone free boneless skinless chicken for 1.49/lb. (LOTS AND LOTS OF IT!) and a head of broccoli and a box of quinoa. It was my first time cooking it. We really liked it and its so healthy! I sauteed mushrooms and onions to go over the quinoa. Overall, the meal came out to about $7 TOTAL! That was awesome!! So, I'm going to start blogging about eating healthier and I'm also going to post pictures so you can see eating healthy can actually look good, taste good, and be done for a reasonable price. The bummer when eating healthy is that its more expensive, but if you shop around, its possible! We are on a pretty strict grocery budget and we also buy diapers when needed with the money we've set aside for groceries, but we still came out well at the grocery store yesterday. We aren't adding anything to our budget. We'll try to do it with what we've got.

So for dinner tonight, since it got super cold outside, I'm making homemade chicken and rice soup with carrots and corn and to go along with it, homemade spelt yeast rolls. I've never made them before, but we'll see how it comes out. I'll post pictures!

Happy Day!

2010-05-02T14:52:00.002-04:00

I know its been way to long my lovely blogging friends. (If I even really have any that read this...:) I have some wonderful news to share with you!.........

My little brother Josiah is engaged! His fiance is Amanda and I'm so excited about them getting married this year! God totally blessed him with an AWESOME soon to be wife! I love love!

Life lately...

2010-03-23T18:54:00.004-04:00

So life has been INSANE lately. I finally was able to go get a massage (for 50% off, or else I wouldn't have done it!) It was wonderful. Robby's appointment is next! With our launch service coming up and all the drama that has gone into finding a meeting space, its enough to make me want to run home to Georgia and hide till its all over! We had a space we were feeling good about, but that fell through (twice) and then we were going to meet at a school, but found out that its not available to meet in for the Sunday before Easter and Easter Sunday, so that stinks. So, since its too late to draw up a contract and work on that, looks like we'll be meeting at a pavilion in the park. God is reminding us that the "church" isn't a building.

I did my first jewelry show in Richmond on Saturday. It was kind of a bomb. There hadn't been much publicity, so not many people knew about it. The booth was free though, so I'll take that any day. Now I just have more stuff to FINALLY put on my website. Here's some of the newer stuff I've made...

Its About Time!

2010-03-07T22:46:00.002-05:00

So, we finally sucked it up and took Trey's pacifier away. He only uses it to go to sleep, but he's so addicted to it that he cried for it every time he wakes up in the middle of the night. Also, he ends up coming in our room every night around one in the morning because he has woken up (I'm guessing its because the pacifier has come out of his mouth and he's wakes up looking for it but can't find it so he comes in our room) and he cries for it and we're so exhausted that we just put him in our bed. I really would have no problem with him sleeping with us except for the fact that he is such a restless sleeper. He thrashes and hits and moves and whines and it is ridiculous. So, I'm getting no sleep still. Mary Grace is a much better sleeper than Trey! We're really hoping that taking away the pacifier will help. (And he also just looks really silly being two with it in his mouth...)

Most of you have seen Trey in Georgia or know him from Wake Forest, but don't really know his personality now that he is a little older, so this might not be funny to you but it was hysterical to us. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

So, I cut a tiny little bit off the tip of it. I handed it to him when it was time to go to bed and he put it in his mouth(Right after he said in his excited, high pitched voice "oh, thank you" which made me feel kind of bad.) Well, then he leaned over to pick something up and it fell out. He looked at it kind of weird and put it back in and tried to suck on it. He had this really funny, concerned face. Robby picked him up to put him to bed and he took it out and make a noise like "phshh"...
He was playing it with the whole time Robby was reading him his Bible story and then
he got in his bed. Robby went in a little while later to check on him and he said "Blanket" which meant for him to tuck him in bed again because the blanket had come off of him. And Robby said "I love you Trey" and looked at him and his eyes were closed and he was laying there content WITHOUT HIS PACIFIER IN HIS MOUTH. This is a HUGE deal for us. He usually cries when its time to go to bed because he just hates it. He went down perfectly for us without even a whimper. (I think part of it was because he missed his nap today, but I think that played in our favor!)

So, let's pray that he sleeps through the night and that he doesn't freak out anymore and cry for that silly pacifier!

Happy Birthday Trey?

2010-03-07T21:26:00.003-05:00

So we celebrated Trey's 2nd birthday and it was blast. He's growing up so fast. I love it though! It's so fun to talk and interact with him. (Except for today when I was trying to get him to take a nap and me made fun of me and said "I mean it" thinking we were playing a game) Here's a few pictures...

More SNOW!??!

2010-02-07T19:34:00.005-05:00

These are all the layers we put on Trey before going out...

Can we say he looks like Ralphie's little brother?

Even though the roads are pretty icy, Robby is convinced that our 4-Runner can handle it! We have had two sick kids this week. GROSS! Mary Grace has a little ear infection and a cough and Trey has had a SUPER bad cough and runny, nasty nose! Trey also has some new teeth coming in and he has had something wrong with his stomach for a few days (I won't go into details..:) So, when he said he wanted to take Trey to a friends house to watch a little of the Super Bowl, I was more than willing to let him go be brave on the icy roads. Actually, I know you are thinking I'm a terrible mother to risk letting my son out there, but the main roads aren't bad at all and those are the only ones he would have to take to get to our friends house!

So here I sit, with Mary Grace asleep and a quiet house. Praise the Lord. I hardly know what to do with myself...

There is a pile of four loads of laundry that need to be folded and put away. There are some dishes that need to be put away and a play room that needs to be cleaned. My business needs some major work, and there are taxes to be done...Nope. I'm just going to sit. It feels so nice.

Here are some pictures of the snow that we've had. I haven't really gotten to go out in it since I've been taking care of the kids, but its fun to watch from a distance. At least I'm staying warm!

Friends...

2010-02-07T19:31:00.002-05:00

I am so blessed to have such sweet friends. I really never have has super close girlfriends, but recently, God has given me some of the best friends I could have ever asked for. Friends that share the same interests, desires, struggles, and similarities! I just wanted to tell them thank you! You know who you are!

Oh Glorious Day!

2010-02-07T19:24:00.004-05:00

When we out that Trey was allergic to peanuts, our first reaction was to cry...actually it was to cry because he would never be able to eat Chick-Fil-A! I have so many childhood memories of going and getting a kids meal with my grandmother while we were shopping at the mall. So, since Trey is allergic to peanuts and since Chick-Fil-A cooks their food in peanut oil, we have never let him try it. Well, I recently asked his allergist about it, and found out that since their oil is so refined, ITS OKAY FOR HIM TO EAT! We tried just a little bit at first, but he couldn't wait to have more! He loved it and we are SO thrilled that he can eat it!

Answers

2010-01-14T18:02:00.002-05:00

Well, we didn't get as many answers today as we had hoped. The doctor said that Trey was a strange case. After a two and a half hour visit, lots of pokes and skin scrapes, we found out that he's fairly allergic to dogs and cats and cashews and walnuts and peanuts and dust mites. They said his dust mite allergy was almost as severe as the peanut allergy. Poor booger. Reluctantly, we are going to try a nose spray for him to see if that will help with his coughing at night and we're going to go ahead and get a dust mite cover for his toddler bed. Hopefully this will work and we'll all be happy sleepers in our own beds very soon!! (They said it could take 2-6 weeks for the nose spray to kick in and work)

Now for little Mary Grace. The poor girl has got some terrible reflux. I didn't have it with Trey, so this is new, but its terrible. She can hardly be awake without crying. I can just see her writhe in pain and tell that she's miserable. She wakes up at night a lot and CONSTANTLY wants to eat. (Because the eating soothes the reflux, so its the only way she knows how to feel better) I've gone completely off dairy and soy (SO TOUGH FOR ME!) and hopefully this will help. If it doesn't, I'll have to go ahead and call the doctor and see what we can do. I've given her some gripe water, but I can't tell yet if that helps. This is so not fun! Especially for her! She was so quite the first week and she was always so content. I hate that she's so miserable now.

Don't let the bed bugs bite...

2010-01-12T16:08:00.006-05:00

This precious little boy...

is being terrorized by these vicious microscopic little bugs...

Boy have we had some issues! Trey apparently is the odd one of the family. No one in our families really has allergies, but Trey seemed to pick them up from somewhere. We definitely have "that kid!" He is highly allergic to peanuts, and we don't give him anything with wheat in it, because we found out that irritates his eczema and makes it worse. So, he's peanut and wheat free. That makes it tough, and expensive!! Most gluten free foods are GROSS, so I have been making him his own kinds of breads and foods with Spelt flour. Its time consuming, but worth it, because it has made SUCH a difference in his skin. Apparently Spelt flour is a lot easier to digest and better for you, so Robby and I have been using it also. Anyway, Trey also tested positive for an allergy to dust mites. I remember having an allergy test when I was younger and testing positive for them also, but I think most people probably are. It wasn't to the point that they were bothering me, so I've never really thought about it.

Well, since we've moved here, there have been some nights when Trey wakes up around midnight coughing like crazy. Uncontrollable, hacking coughs. They last for about 10 minutes, go away for about an hour and come back. Its miserable to listen to him cough like that. Well, I read that sometimes that is because of the dust mites. So, I've often taken all the bedding off his bed and washed it in very hot water. Thats supposed to kill the dust mites. Well, it might work for a night, and then they are back. I thought about a dust mite cover for his bed, but I've been told that if he has a plastic mattress, which he does, that its not needed.

Well, ever since we've been home from the hospital with Mary Grace, Trey has been sleeping in our bed. Yes. Our bed. Which means, my already unproductive night of "sleep" is even lessened by a restless toddler that likes to smack me in the face while he sleeps away throughout the whole night.

My predicament is that sometimes he'll cough in our bed, sometimes he won't. We've tried him on the love seat in the family room, and he'll sometimes sleep through the night, and some times wake up coughing. So, where are the dust mites, and why do they sometimes bother him and sometimes not? So, I've made an appointment with the allergist for this week. We've got to figure this out, and get this boy sleeping in his own bed again SOON!

Mary Grace

2010-01-03T18:20:00.004-05:00

Oh, what a week! It started out with me wondering if I was ever going to have this baby! I had an appointment for my 40 week visit with my midwife on Monday. I basically begged the midwife to give me some sort of answer as to when she would be born. Of course, she couldn't do that. She did help me with some natural ways to induce labor and gave me some herb drops to take. She said that they would make me cramp, but that within 36-48 hours I would probably go into labor. That was good enough for me.
I started having some mild cramping on the way home from the visit. That was around 2:00 p.m. and by 5:30 the cramping was getting worse. With Trey, my water broke first and they sent me to the hospital and had to give me Pitocin to make me start having contractions, because after about 4 hours I still wasn't feeling anything. (Looking back I don't agree with them doing that. Wish I would have been more educated at the time, but that's another story...) So, I wasn't really sure what to expect with Mary Grace. The cramping wasn't really regular, but it was surely painful.
So, by about 7:30 when I couldn't lay down without having some major cramps, I reluctantly called the midwife, thinking that I was just wasting her time because it was just the cramping that she talked about. I just was so paranoid about having the baby at home! So, we talked a little and she told me to wait a little longer and see if they got to be a little more regular. By 10:15 when I was having them every six minutes I called her and she told me to go ahead and come in and they would check and see. So we piled all of our stuff in the car and got Trey in. Our sweet friends Joe and Sarah Daley met us at the hospital to take Trey.
They put me in a room and hooked up the monitor to make sure Mary Grace was alright. After about 20 minutes, the midwife told me I was 6 cm. That was sweet music to my ears. It was about 5 hours after being at the hospital last time that I was even 4 cm. So basically we got to the hospital at 11:15ish and she was born at 2:46 a.m. What a totally different and magnificent experience compared to my labor with Trey. I had such a wonderful experience with my midwife. I would suggest that to anyone!

Well, the story doesn't end there. The story wouldn't be good if we didn't add a little drama in it, right? Well, we planned on leaving the hospital on Wednesday. That morning our friends called us and told us that it was 45 degrees in our house and apparently the heat wasn't working. Robby called around (praise the Lord we have a home warranty) and someone came to look at it, fixed it, it went out again that night, they came back and fixed it again, and it went out again last night. We aren't sure whats going on, but someone is coming back tomorrow. We spent the first night out of the hospital in a hotel. Yes, a hotel. So not the ideal place to be taking a newborn. My sweet dad is here and bought us two space heaters for the house, and my aunt and uncle had gotten us a kerosene heater a few years ago for Christmas, so we've been surviving by living on one side of the house and having all of our little heaters running. I've been sleeping in the recliner, and Trey and Robby have taken over our bed. For some reason (though not surprising) Trey has been sleeping terribly, and the only place he'll sleep through the night has been our bed. I don't know if its just because he's been so thrown off by having to have been away from us and then with the heat mess. (Obviously he needs to get away with out us more often!) I can't wait to have the heat fixed so that I can get that booger back in his bed!

Alright, enough is enough. Enjoy some sweet pictures!

It's Christmastime in Richmond...

2009-12-21T21:15:00.002-05:00

Well I have been sick since Thanksgiving. Gross. I actually got better for about a week but then have gradually gotten worse again. I can't breathe through my nose, so at night my throat dries out viciously and burns like fire. I have a cough that sounds like a seal and I'm just flat out one big whale. But oh how excited I am about this Christmas season. I really can't handle the fact that this past weekend we got about eight inches of snow. Its gorgeous outside. I'm so surprised at how much that adds to the glory of Christmas. It reminds me that because of the birth of Jesus, and His dying on the Cross, that I am washed as white as snow. That the blanket of white that is covering nearly every inch outside is kind of like His forgiveness of my sins. Though, I know that His "blanket" doesn't cover, it takes away. My sins are gone.

Now, on from my sermon. :) I am so over ready to have this baby. One midwife told me last week that it looked like it would be any second. The one I saw today told me that she thinks my body is trying to get better before it lets me go into labor. Which means that it could be a few more days to a week. Oh how I wish to be able to bend over and pick something up without feeling like I'm going to topple over! Or how about put on shoes normally. Or what about even standing up in the shower without feeling like I'm going to fall over. Soon enough. Thats what I keep telling myself.

I guess what I'm mostly nervous about is having her on Christmas day. One, because I really want to be here with Trey, but two being that I really just don't want to be in the hospital on Christmas and all of our friends are going out of town except one family. Well, that family just had a baby a week ago and they have family in town. So, I hate to send him there, but we might just have to! :)

I'm going to end this with some cute pictures of Trey in the snow. Enjoy!

thankful

2009-11-30T18:07:00.004-05:00

This years Thanksgiving was wonderful! My family came and we had tons of fun watching Trey be silly and doing yard work (well the boys did) eating tons, and showing them around Richmond. The bummer of it is that I started to get the flu on Saturday and am still recovering. My family left Sunday morning, which I'm thankful for, because I would have hated for them to have gotten sick especially with an eight hour drive home!! I ended up calling my midwife on Sunday though just since I am 36 weeks pregnant, I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right. She called me in something that will lessen the symptoms and duration of the flu but it will still allow it to run its course. We both agreed it would be absolutely terrible to go into labor at the time being this sick. She also told me what I needed to look out for and do and not do, and most of all she said I need to stay in bed and do nothing. Which sounds nice at first, and actually has its shining moments, but when your precious little boy comes in the room excited to see you and says "mommy, mommy, mommy, hug?" but you can't because you don't want him to catch this terrible virus, its enough to break your heart and make you beg to be well again!
Luckily I have this incredibly amazing husband that has completely taken over as a mommy to trey and doctor and humble servant to me! :O) He has been cooking, cleaning up after every meal, sweeping, doing laundry, dishes, scrubbing the bathtub...which is so much more special when I'm sick. It's so nice to feel taken care of and makes me fall in love with him even more...imagine that?! I know I take it for granted sometimes, but this is reminding me how I should pay more attention.

Now, I'm sure most of you are wondering why there is a picture of Friends on here?! What does that have to do with being sick? Well, I'm sure most of you have seen the show and understand when I say how they live in community with each other. Here is a group of friends who do just about every aspect of life with each other. They are always there when needed, and constantly look out for one another. Thats the second part of my sick story.
Since we moved to Richmond to start this church we have met some amazing people. Those are some of the people who we do life with together. Who we are "Friends" with ourselves. We have meals together, play games together, read the Bible together, pray together, work together and are just plain there for each other. Well, last night when Robby was in small group and told them what was going on with me, they all immediately stepped up. Chris and Ann sent him home with gatorades and waters for me, Luke and Whitney said they were bringing dinner over tonight, April went out and got me more gatorades and soup today, and some offered to watch Trey if needed. Out of the eight people that were there last night, I'd say thats a pretty darn good group of friends to have. I am so thankful to be a part of this and pray that people will be drawn by this story and want to be a part of it also! So, thanks to my Friends!

Picture Post

2009-10-27T20:47:00.009-04:00

I know I haven't posted too many pictures lately, so this is for all the family that has been wanting to see pictures of that little rascal!

Muffins make everything better!

Check out this great outfit my dad bought him last year! It hasn't fit him until now, since he's so tiny, but it finally does (except you can see the vest is still a little big) and we love it on him!

Trey is showing off his first tattoo. He was so proud!

Trey is learning to be a helper! He loves watering the plants.

The Craziness Begins...

2009-10-23T10:12:00.003-04:00

Actually, it continues...

We had a great little visit from Micheal this week. He and his friend Caleb came through on their way home from New York. Trey really liked Micheal's bright orange knit hat. I think it fit him quite nicely and might just have to get him one!
The weekends are beginning to fill up very quickly. I would give almost anything to have a weekend to go home, but I'm knowing that probably won't happen. I guess I have to accept that. Maybe we can make it home at the end of February for Trey's birthday. Robby and I were looking at our calendars the other day and I told him to look really closely at December. I said, "See how the weekends aren't full now...let's keep it that way!" Our weekends until December are jammed full. All of them. Since there is another little Christmas on the way, I told him we needed a little family time before life changes all over again. He completely agreed. Let's see if we can make that happen....

So this pictures of Trey that you see...well, here's the story. The other night it was really cold and Robby and I wanted to just get under blankets and watch a movie. Trey had gone to bed at 8. By 9, we put in the movie and got situated. About five minutes later, Trey started crying. He doesn't normally cry when he wakes up. So I went in to check on him and he would not go back to sleep. Robby got him and brought him out to watch a little of the movie with us. Apparently Trey loves The Karate Kid. Robby paused it to let me get up and get something and as soon as he did, Trey started to cry. PITIFUL. So, Trey watched the movie with us. We couldn't help it. He stayed lounged back like that in Robby's arms almost the entire movie. Precious little stinkin' booger.

We finally found a Chiropractor here that is really great. Even though I've only been adjusted twice, I already feel a tiny difference. He said he wants to see me no less than twice a week. The Lord is wonderful with his provisions for us. The chiropractor said that a pregnant woman who gets adjusted a good bit before delivery usually has a shorter labor! I'll take that any day!!!

I know I've been slacking on my posts. Sorry. I'll try to work on it :)

Baby Love

2009-10-09T22:51:00.003-04:00

Robby and I went to a "Mops and Pops" dinner tonight. Yea, kind of a dorky name, but thats ok. We're dorky people. I joined a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group when I got to Richmond and I am really thankful that I did. Its at a really great church here in the city with about 40 women all with little kids. Tonight we got to spend some uninterruped time with our friends Matthew and Lindsey. It was so nice. Another added bonus was getting to hold a little seven week old little boy. It brought back so many memories of Trey and got me all worked up/freaked out/excited/nervous about having this little girl. Robby was so precious with the baby. He's the one who suggested that we hold him and give the mom a break. I love my thoughtful and sweet husband.
Get ready Robby, you're about to get your share of some baby love.

Today

2009-09-27T22:42:00.004-04:00

It's late, and I should be in bed, but I can't sleep. Thats funny, considering how tired I am, but I just can't settle down. (I'm sure that doesn't have anything to do with my back hurting like it has been with this pregnancy...) I was just looking at some pictures of that little cute boy I have and just couldn't believe his sweet little face.
As you've probably read in older posts, Trey has allergies. Not severe (except for peanut butter) but he's definitely got them. About three weeks ago, he woke up two nights in a row coughing really bad about four times each night. He wasn't coughing during the day, just at night. I know he's allergic to dust mites, so I stripped his crib and washed everything in hot water, and that night he slept perfectly. Hmmm...? So then two nights ago it started again. I stripped his bed, but accidentally forgot to get the dust ruffle. Well, last night, he was still coughing like crazy and woke up crying because he was coughing so hard. It was too late to wash everything, so I just laid in the recliner with him for a while and tried to make a pallet on our floor. Well, the pallet didn't work out because after a while, he started coughing again. I put him in bed with us (which is definitely a last resort, because even though its adorable, he is SUCH a squirmer!) and he didn't cough anymore...so, whats going on? How do dust mites work? Would they have crawled from his unwashed dust ruffle to his crib mattress that quickly? I'm lost...

So the whole point of my blog, other than that really long story of Trey's current sleeping habits, was to rest in how much I love my son. It is frustrating enough to be sleeping absolutely terribly as it is with this pregnancy, but to have to be up about 8 times last night and then stuck with about 5 inches on my bed when I put him down with us...but what a little bundle that loves his mama. I am so blessed to have such a tender hearted son. Tonight we had our first worship service with the church. It went really well. I knew Trey had had a really rough day since he didn't sleep well last night and since he is teething, but the people that watched all the kids said he was a breeze. What a precious blessing. I want to squeeze him.

Because I was such a sap and was so blessed by his sweet heart tonight, when we got home from church I told him he could watch some of the movie Toy Story when we got home. (It was already about 8:45, and he normally goes to bed at 8) As soon as I said it, he got this precious look on his face and said "Woody"...Melt my heart. He loves that movie.

We are switching him to a toddler bed soon. I'm a little nervous about it, but I think he'll like it. He LOVES to ride in the car carts at Kroger (even though I'm sure they are infested with germs) and I found this little yellow beetle bug toddler bed on Craigslist that we're going to look at tomorrow. Even though his room is light blue and tan, I just had to get this to see if he would like it. If he doesn't, we could just resell it on Craigslist. It will at least hold us over for a little while until we find something else that is a little nicer. I'm really hoping it works though. I can imagine he's going to love it. I'll post some pictures once we pick it up.

Happy Week Everyone.

A Classy Way to Cheer

2009-09-17T13:57:00.004-04:00

Alright, this is for all of you football fanatics! These hand stamped, sterling silver necklaces are a great way to support your favorite team! They go great if you are dressed up, or great with jeans and a t-shirt! This was a gift for a Georgia fan, obviously. :) I can do some other teams as well. Just check with me if you are interested. I can also do your child's school sports team colored beads and your child's name and jersey number on the disk. These necklaces make great gifts!! Send me an email if you are interested or check out my website!

www.gajewels.etsy.com or georgiajewels@gmail.com

A visit from BoBo

2009-09-07T20:32:00.003-04:00

So we have been calling my dad "Granbo"(for Grandpa Bowers)with Trey. I was thinking maybe that would be too hard to for him to say, so I started to call him BoBo. Trey took on to it really well and started calling him that right away. Its ADORABLE! He looks at random pictures of him and says "BoBo" with big puckered lips. Its been such a great visit, and we're already looking forward to Thanksgiving when he comes again, hopefully with the other boys!
We did lots of stuff while he was here. We ate at Sticky Rice, went to the Children's museum, Maymont, the park and we had our first vision cast for the church. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Happy Anniversary

2009-09-03T10:11:00.003-04:00

You are so precious to me, and you are such a fabulously cherished blessing from the Lord. What a great gift of a father you are to our sweet son and that you will be to our little girl. I love you. Happy Anniversary!

Kangaroo Jacks

2009-08-22T20:37:00.003-04:00

So we have been promising Trey for a few days that we would take him somewhere really fun. Things have been crazy, and its been so hot outside that we haven't been able to go out and play (his skin gets really bad when he gets too hot...poor little dear). Believe it or not, today it was hotter inside our house than it was outside. Our A/C went out last night and so it has been really rough. The fan will go on for a minute and then cut off, so we don't know whats going on with it. Praise the Lord we have a home warranty so they will come and fix it, but they won't come until Monday. Grrr....anyway, we took Trey to this great little place called Kangaroo Jacks. Its a huge warehouse full of inflatables. He thought it was just the best thing ever. I wanted to get on them and play so bad, but I guess I'll have to wait until Mary Grace is born!
Then, to top the night off, I made him his first ever chocolate chip cookies (they were made with natural sugar and spelt flour). We really try not to give him a lot of sweets, but I just couldn't resist making him some cookies. He loved them too much! We will definitely be doing another trip to Kangaroo Jacks again soon and making some more of those yummy cookies. Yay for fun family days.

Need a little t.p.?

2009-08-07T19:52:00.006-04:00

So Robby and I were sitting in the play room working on something and Trey was in the other room. He got really quiet (as most kids do when they are up to something) and here's what we found. If you follow the trail, you can see it went all over the house...

Settling In...

2009-08-07T19:40:00.004-04:00

We are having a blast here in Richmond. We are finally done traveling for a while, at least we think we are... We are about to start painting some rooms (at least I think we are) and then once we hang our pictures, we'll be all moved in and done!

I am almost 20 weeks pregnant and find out next week if its a boy or a girl. Very exciting!

Here are some pictures, FINALLY!!! Enjoy!

Update for Amie

2009-07-23T09:06:00.003-04:00

This is heavenly. I am sitting at Panera drinking coffee (decaf, of course) and for the moment, I don't have a care in the world. Robby took Trey for the morning to have a play date and I am refreshing my soul. Lovely.

We are still working on setting the internet up at our house, so there hasn't been a whole lot of updating lately. Sorry about that. Or camera has also been lost in the jungle of moving mess, so there haven't been a whole lot of pictures taken either. SORRY. We're slowly getting our act together though, so soon enough we should be back on track with frequent updates and lots of pictures!!!

We moved in last week and we love it. Since we didn't go through our boxes before we moved from Georgia to North Carolina, we are having to sort out and go through a whole bunch of junk. So, we're getting ready for a big yard sale!!

We moved in Friday and turned on the water and it was GROSS. It was clear but it gave off this horrid smell. It was like sticking your face in a bucket of rotten eggs. We ran the water and ran the water but it just wouldn't go away. Finally Robby figured out that it didn't really stink much when we turned on the cold water, it was just the hot water. So, brilliantly said that maybe it was the hot water heater. See, the house sat vacant for a very long time so I'm guessing the water just got really funky. So, my dad said we should drain the hot water heater from the outside and then we had the water company come and flush our lines (which they did for four long hours) and we now have clean water. Yay!!

Things are coming along and we are having our second church get together/cookout tonight at Cliff and Aprils house. We are so happy to be here!

I just want a hug...

2009-07-09T09:36:00.004-04:00

So Trey has this new love of hugging random kids. We were at the mall yesterday and he saw this little boy who was about three times bigger than he was and about 4 or 5 years old. Trey went up to him with his arms out chasing him for a hug. This scared little boy hid behind his mother with a terrified look on his face. Poor Trey. All he wanted was a hug.

Then we were at Old Navy, and if you have been in there lately, you're aware that there are manequins all over the store. Well, as I was trying on clothes, Trey was making friends. My dad was watching him and when I came out, he said that Trey went up to this little manequin and gave it a hug a few times and just couldn't figure out why it wasn't hugging him back, or why it was so hard. Then he went up to the little dog statue and was trying to pat it and couldn't figure out why it wasn't moving. Poor Trey. All he wanted was a hug.

So, I guess our little boy has turned into quite a hugger. Its really cute to see him randomly go up to my family and give them hugs. Its enough to melt your heart.

Stilll Going...

2009-07-08T14:43:00.003-04:00

We feel like we have been all over the place lately! We just got back from a trip to the beach 10 hours away, and this weekend, we will be travelling to Wilmington,NC to be with Robby's family at his grandfather's funeral. Then, we will be going to Richmond, and less than two weeks later, we have to go back to Georgia for a wedding. Poor little travelling Trey.

We had a great time at the beach, and Trey loved swimming in the pool! Right now, Trey and I are spending time with my family, since Robby is already in Wilmington. My dad got Trey this really great ball pit, and he loves it. He's started giving everyone hugs and its really really cute! I think he's finally getting comfortable! I don't have my camera with me. Robby took it with him, so I'll have to post pictures later. (I know a post really isn't that cool without pictures!) Sorry!

Quick Update:

2009-06-09T10:20:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we got the house we were trying to get in Richmond! We are very excited and very ready to get up there and get stuff going!

Ok, I Caved...

2009-06-02T11:57:00.002-04:00

So I guess I won't wait until Richmond to give everyone an update. Trey is asleep and I'm finally getting a few minutes to sit and relax, though I should be cleaning up the whirlwind of a mess that he left before his nap...Oh well.

It's been so nice to be in Georgia visiting with family. We've spent the first part of our time here with my dad and brothers, and towards the end of next week, we'll head over to Robby's family's house to spend some time with them. It will be wonderful because ALL of the Christmas kids will be home! Teecy is coming home from Taiwan at the beginning of next week. Michael is coming in from Virginia next week and Christy is home for the summer, so it will be really nice to have them all together to see Trey. Teecy and Michael haven't seen him since Christmas, so I know they are going to LOVE their time with him!

Trey is being such a little adventurous ham! My dad is in the process of painting the outside of his house, and Robby was up on a ladder working on some siding, and Trey just started climbing the ladder that Robby was on! What a nut! Luckily my dad was right there to stay behind him incase he fell. He loves to climb on anything and everything and it is wearing me out!!!
He also loves to color! Yesterday, I heard this terrible scratching noise and I just knew he had a fork or something scraping up my dad's hardwood floors...well, I ran in the room to check on him and he was sitting in the middle of a huge peice of paper just going to town, coloring up a storm. I was so relieved that it was the crayon against the paper on the floor I had heard, instead of something else! It was precious.

We are still waiting to hear something about our housing situation. We put an offer in on a foreclosure, and they somewhat accepted it, but then sent it to another department to see if they could do something (I have no idea what the banks do with these houses!) so we have been waiting about two weeks to hear the final word. Grrr...We are just ready to know if we got it, or if we need to move on!

We are still working on raising support, and its going pretty well. We are still a little under what we had hoped for, but we know that we will be taken care of! We are so grateful to all of you who have stepped up to help support us through prayer and through financial giving. Thank you so much for being a part of our team!

I'm sorry I don't have any cute pictures. I keep leaving my camera downstairs and so I haven't been taking any pictures. I'll get some up soon though!

Taking a Georgia Break

2009-05-25T21:24:00.003-04:00

Since I am realizing and finally accepting that no one hardly ever comments on my blog anymore, and probably, no one even reads it, I've decided to not worry about feeling like I have to post while I'm in Georgia. Maybe people will be more interested in whats happening in my life when we move to Richmond! :) :) Check back in a month!

Mother's Day

2009-05-13T15:27:00.002-04:00

This Mother's Day was so sweet. Trey was actually old enough to do something fun with this year! Robby surprised me with a clean house when I woke up that morning and then after Sunday School, he and Trey took me to Hill Ridge Farm. I've been driving by and seeing it since we moved here and have wanted to go so bad! We took Trey's little wagon and had such a good time. We fed catfish and ducks in the pond, fed goats and chickens, played in a gazebo filled with dried corn (almost like a giant sandbox, but less messy and way more fun!), went down the giant pipe slide (which Trey LOVED) and just enjoyed the beautiful day! Then we went to Mellow Mushroom and had a GREAT lunch! It was such a sweet day. I'm so glad we got to finally go before we move in a week! I'll post some pictures when I find out where Robby stored them on the computer! (Or, you can just read his blog to see pictures from the day)

2009-05-06T10:59:00.002-04:00

Well, this weekend will make going to Richmond for the past three weekends in a row. We went last weekend to try and avoid going this weekend, but the house we put an offer in fell through and so now we are back at square one. Luckily we have the BEST real estate agent, and she is great and flexible and will accommodate our crazy schedule. This weekend, we're going to look at a few other houses, but we are also going to look at apartments and houses to rent. We move out of Wake Forest in two weeks and are running out of time for a place to live. My sweet dad and brother are going to come and help us pack next weekend and were going to put all of our stuff in climate controlled storage here in Wake Forest while we go home to Georgia and then we'll come through Wake Forest to pick it up on our final way to Richmond. We found such a deal on storage! Its only $22 for the first month with no commitment! (Its actually only $1, but there is a set up fee, and since we only need it for about a month, its a great deal!)

Trey is being super precious lately. He's sitting here eating a cracker and watching a show on tv. He's learning more and more and making us laugh all the time. He can shake his booty, stick out his tongue, wave, he blows bubbles when we pour water over his head in the bathtub, and he loves to knock on everything! He's a mess!
He's eating solids so much better and is sleeping wonderfully at night!

Meet In The Street

2009-04-29T12:47:00.002-04:00

So, I am doing a big artisan festival this weekend. I read that more than 10,000 people are expected to show up. WOW. That quite a bit. I'm really hoping I get some business. It would be a blessing from the Lord. I'll let you know how that goes.

We went to Richmond last weekend to look for houses. We found one. It was our dream house. GORGEOUS, and at a GREAT price!! But, we realized that it was farther away from our "planting partners" than we would have liked and that we really would rather have a little extra money to save each month instead of paying as much for a house payment. So, we had to grieve over not getting it :). We are going back on Sunday though to look at another one that we have found. It looks promising. Its about 700 sq ft smaller than the other one, but its in a great area and much closer to Cliff and April. Its funny that 10 mins up the road, houses are much smaller and much more expensive than in other areas of Richmond. This one has AC which is really important (and hard to find in Richmond it seems) because Trey's excema irritates him some times when he gets hot. So, we'll see what comes of this weekend. We might be putting an offer on a house soon!!

Insanity

2009-04-15T13:10:00.002-04:00

Things are absolutely insane at our house. Our last bit of time here in Wake Forest looks something like this...this weekend we head to GA to have some Vision Cast Meetings back to back to back. (We will have about 9 meetings in 3 days) and my dad and I are going to some stores on Saturday for potential clients. Then we come back and the following weekend we head to Virginia to house hunt and see our friends that we are planting the church with. Then the following weekend is Meet In The Street in downtown Wake Forest, which is a huge artisan fair/junk food/entertainment extravaganza. I'll have a booth there from 10-4 that day. Then the following weekend Robby and I are traveling all over RTP to find some potential stores, then the next weekend my dad and Jordan are coming up to help us pack and then we leave!! Can you believe it? Crazy? ....uh...yea! But, here is a cute picture of the boy to make all my anguish disappear..:)

Wow! Twice in a one week!

2009-04-09T09:46:00.003-04:00

As most of you know, Robby has been doing a Bible study with six guys from a close by neighborhood. One family has three boys and another family has three boys. One of those families also has three girls. They are constantly asking Robby when he's going to take them to do something fun since he's always doing something with the boys. Well, this past weekend was their weekend! I went and picked them up and brought them to our house. We had a little Bible Study, made bracelets and decorated Easter cookies and went to the park. They had a BLAST! They girls are so precious. Every time the youngest girl (Cherivum) would go in our bathroon she would say, "Man, your bathroom looks nice up in here..." I kept cracking up... Here are some pictures from the day! (The girls are Angel, Zamara and Cherivum)

2009-04-06T21:29:00.002-04:00

I was informed by a kind friend that the past few blogs I've posted have started with apologies for not posting much. It's time to press the reset button! I'm making it my goal to post at least once a week if not more, until we move to Richmond. I think one of the reasons I haven't posted much is because I don't like to post without pictures, but I might just have to get over that some times! I realize how annoy it is to go to a blog and not have it updated, so here we go...!!

This one is going to be very matter of fact, but I hope you find it at least a little interesting!

-Trey ate a bug yesterday. I think Robby let him on purpose, though he promises he put it in his mouth right before he was about to grab it...
-Trey is having a terrible time teething right now. He can barely breathe and is sneezing and coughing from all the junk...I feel terrible for him. (I also hate getting up every 2 hours with Robby to clean out his nose)
-He's eating SO well and we are loving the Cherrios!
-Robby is finishing school well and we are so ready for it to be over, though he has loved his classes and we have LOVED living in Wake Forest.
-We leave Wake Forest in 7 weeks to go to Georgia for two weeks and then to RICHMOND!
(visit Robby's blog www.rchristmas.blogspot.com to find out more!)

This was a short update, but more will come soon or sooner than it has lately!

Psalm 103:11-12

2009-03-25T10:22:00.003-04:00

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us"

For so reason this hit me really hard today. I'd say thats a whole lotta love.

2009-03-23T12:10:00.003-04:00

Alright. I realize that it has been nearly a month since I posted last. I'm a terrible slacker and I admit that. There has been SO much going on in our lives, but not really anything worth blogging about. We are in the process of trying to wrap things up here in Wake Forest and move to Richmond, VA to plant a church with some friends of ours in June. So, the majority of our free time has been filled with Robby studying, us trying to write update letters to people about whats happening in June and planning some Vision Cast meetings to help us raise support for this big adventure. That's the story of our lives right now.

In other news, I made this great necklace for a friend of mine over the weekend. I don't even do three names on one disc because its too risky to mess it up, but I wanted to try it for her since it was a special gift for her, and it worked out quite nicely!

Drama Mama

2009-02-25T11:27:00.004-05:00

So, as many of you have probably heard, Trey has a peanut allergy. I'll briefly fill out in on how we found out, though it still makes me cringe to think about it...
Trey has never really eaten a ton of solid foods, but a lady I met at church said, "You should try peanut butter and jelly! Its the only thing my 14 month old will eat!" Even though I felt a little weird about giving him peanut butter and jelly, later that week, I was eating some peanut butter and just to see if Trey would like it, I gave him a TINY little amount. (It was probably the size of HALF a grain of rice!) Well, about 10 minutes later, I noticed his hand was red and had hives on it, and his face was starting to swell. I tried to stay calm, but was in such a panic. Robby and I rushed to the drugstore and got some Benadryl for him. By then, he looked like Will Smith on the movie Hitch (just without the swollen ears). I called the nurse line at the doctors office since it was after hours, and they said he should be fine unless he was having trouble breathing. He wasn't, praise the Lord. After he calmed down, he threw up everywhere, so that made me nervous again since he had just thrown up his Benadryl...so we gave him more, the swelling went down, and he actually slept fine that night. The next day we flew to Arkansas to see some friends. (What a blessing from the Lord that I didn't give him anymore that I did!)
So, the doctor called while we were there and wanted us to bring him in when we got home for some allergy testing. So that brings us to yesterday...

We get to the doctor and Trey was playing happily in the exam room when he tripped and fell into this old heater or something that was in the room, and cut his poor little nose. (I put a little picture of it up, so you could see). So that started the tears... he recovered rather quickly, but it was only the beginning. Then she wanted to see a spot of excema on his side, and so that made him cry when I took his diaper off, then she checked his heart and lungs and tried to look in his mouth. She literally had to pry his mouth open because he clinched his jaws to tightly. So... that made him cry. He never cries that much. What a rough day!

Then, she proceeds to tell me that she wants to get some blood from him to run an allergy panel just to see some basics. It tests for obvious things like milk, soy, peanuts, and wheat. I had to hold the poor baby down on the table while they took some blood. He had no idea what was going on since he never gets poked with needles, and he was so scared. But I will say, he did rather well, and I actually held it together the entire time!
You would think after that the visit was over, but she ended the visit by informing me that Trey was "very underweight". Obviously, because most children are eating lots and lots of solids by now and probably drinking whole milk (which we wont be giving him) so I can understand why. But, she said he really needs some calories and has quite a bit to gain. I don't know if I buy that completely. He's very healthy and quite chunky, but I will certainly become more serious about making this boy eat!
She did say it was probably because he was so active and just not eating quite as much as most babies, but that since he was been trying more and more solids, the weight should come on quickly.

So, to end the day, I had to spend over $100 on two EpiPens (thanks Dad) to have around at all times in case for some reason he was to ingest the peanuts, and another $60 for some steroid-free excema cream. Whew! I guess we won't be eating this month! :) I'm hoping this allergy panel will answer a lot of our questions. We sure do love our little Treysome!

To end this novel, I will say as leary as I am about going to the doctor, I am thrilled and thanking God that I had a great one yesterday. After finding out that we weren't vaccinating and rarely go to the doctor, Dr. Rule didn't give me a single ounce of grief or try to lecture me at all! She was so kind and really enjoyable. I will definitely request her from now on!

Time to get with the program!

2009-02-19T11:36:00.004-05:00

So when my uncle Rick asked if the snow was melting yet on my last blog post, I figured it was way past time to update. Honestly, I used to get a little annoyed when people didn't update their blogs regularly, but now, I can totally understand! So, I hope you aren't annoyed by me for not updating in so long!!

Trey is about to celebrate his first birthday! We are really excited, and we are also thrilled about our families coming up two weekends in a row!
Robby is finishing up classes and graduating in May, and so things are getting a little insane in the Christmas house with us figuring out what is next. We have a lead, but more on that later...

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll stop typing so you can look at some from the past few months...Enjoy our little love bundle!

Snow much fun...

2009-01-21T19:46:00.003-05:00

We had our first snow day yesterday (and today) with Trey! He was so cute! We only kept him outside for a few minutes because it was just so cold...but we got a few good shots and he thought it was so funny when Robby threw snowballs at us! He kept laughing and it was so cute!
We woke up to a gorgeously thick blanket of snow on the ground and it kept going throughout the morning. It didn't really stop until about noon and I think we got almost 4 inches! We are very thankful and it has been so nice that Robby hasn't had to go to work for two days.
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything! I'll try and be better about it!

Welcome Georgia Jewels!!

2009-01-01T12:40:00.004-05:00

I know it seems way too early for Valentine's Day, and I'm not one to celebrate too early, but I had to get some pictures taken for my new Valentine's Day "One Stamped Life" line. I want to get word out to my stores that I'm already taking orders for V-Day, and I thought I would share them with you also! This is so exciting for me! Thanks Lord, for something fun and new, and thanks Dawn for the opportunity!

Christmastime in the City...

2008-12-30T18:05:00.004-05:00

I know I haven't been blogging...I'm sorry. Things have been insane since I got to Georgia! I am loving my time with my family! I already have a ton of stuff to do after buying this business, so I've been busy with that too! Trey's having trouble with his skin being really dry and itchy and so he's been a little whiny, so I just haven't been able to get much done, especially luxuries like blogging! Haha...
We had a great first Christmas with him and he got way too much stuff... I feel bad that he got stuff that he doesn't need when he's completely content with a tupperware lid! We are going to save most of it though for when he's a little older and when I'm at home trying to work on stuff for the business and Trey needs some new entertainment! Here's a funny picture of him from yesterday when my dad and I took a walk. The blanket is there because he was falling asleep and didn't have anything to prop his head up. Ha.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and that you have a blessed New Year!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-07T21:14:00.004-05:00

Things are getting crazy at our house since we are leaving in less than a week to go home for THREE weeks! I will be staying in Gainesville the extra two weeks while Robby is in Amsterdam freezing his butt off! Also- for those of you that don't know, next week I am buying a business! My sweet friend Dawn is selling her business, Georgia Jewels. I am so thrilled to get the chance to have this business! More on it with another post...

Trey is a mess. He's sleeping so much better at night which is such a wonderful blessing, but he's still not eating any solid food. The fact that he's sleeping better makes up for the lack of solids though. I would much rather have him sleeping good, though I sure could use a break! The other day, a guy in our Sunday School class said, "Oh, he'll eat when he's ready, don't rush it". I kind of wanted to slap him. Not really, he's a nice guy, but the poor thing has no idea what its like when your child won't even take a bottle!
Trey dropped a big glass jar with a candle in it on his toe the other night. He knocked it off the shelf! Good thing it wasn't lit. (I know, shame on us for leaving it in reach--though we really aren't so dumb that we would lite it on a shelf within his reach) His toe is black and blue. Poor thing. It's getting better though. We felt so bad, we went to the store and bought some baby Tylenol and gave it to him for the first time ever! I'm proud that we lasted nine months without it! But, we gave him a tiny bit. For those of you that know us well, you know we had to have felt bad!!

Robby is finally done with this semester. He's still working for Wendell which has been a wonderful blessing. Robby has started doing a bible study with two sets of brothers from a neighborhood close by. There are six guys he's working with and its going really well. He's planning on blogging about it soon, so I'll let you know when he's done so you can read all about it.

We still don't know what we are going to do when Robby graduates in May. We're ok with that though, but we know God will show us!

We hope you guys have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Trey's First Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T11:13:00.005-05:00

Dad, how come there is not a single picture of you and Trey? We'll have to make up for it at Christmas!

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving with my family in town. They were able to stay Wednesday through Sunday and it was such a great visit. Trey has been teething, so he was extremely snotty the entire time and waking up a lot at night, but what's new?!?
My dad is such a great cook, and he cooked one heck of a turkey!

Robby and I ran a 5k on Thanksgiving morning, so that was great incentive to stuff my face later on that day. I'm now trying to detox from all of the yummy JUNK that I ate!
But I guess that's probably pointless to do since Christmas is just around the corner!

This is kind of exciting news! I was at my friends house and I was telling her about some of the jewelry that I've made and she said, "My mom does hair, you should take some to her shop and have her sell it for you!" So, I took some jewelry and within 10 minutes of being there I had already sold three things! Thank you Katrina!

Hope you guys had a great holiday celebrating all the wonderful things in life we have to be thankful for. also. We are so excited about going home for Christmas in two and a half weeks!

Slacker...that's my name, don't wear it out

2008-11-25T22:32:00.002-05:00

So I understand that I am a total slacker, and I am so sorry about it! Things have just been a tiny bit insane getting ready for family coming to town for the holidays. Also, I guess I'll let the cat out of the bag to let everyone know that I'm in the process of buying a business! I'll explain more about it later, but so far, it has been such a blessing and I'm already seeing God work through encounters I've had.
I'm so thrilled that my family is coming to spend time with us. Trey is going to love it!

I'm also pretty pumped because I'm running my first 5k on Thanksgiving morning. My friend Tiffany is going to do it too, and so is Robby. He's going to run with me to keep me company, because to me, running is SO boring. I hate running by myself!
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and I'll try my best to take some good pictures of this weekend!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Raining Tears

2008-11-14T13:51:00.004-05:00

This morning Trey decided to greet us at 5:45. Not the most fun, but when he's so sweet in the mornings, it's hard to be upset! It was raining pretty hard and Robby didn't have to go to work, so we decided to go to breakfast. I think it might have been the first time ever we have gone to breakfast since we've been here. (There is no comparison of Longstreet here, so we don't usually bother.) There's a great place that we've been to called The Village Deli, and we just recently found out it served breakfast, so we decided to give it a try. After my experience today, I will be giving them more business. So, if you live in Wake Forest, please visit The Village Deli!!

A few minutes after we ordered our food and sat down, a homeless man came in behind us. He went to the counter and ordered something and got a drink. We weren't sure if he had bought anything for breakfast or not. He was very kind. He saw that we were holding Trey while we were eating and he brought us a highchair. (We didn't think Trey was ready for it, so we hadn't bothered, but we couldn't turn down his kind gesture.) Then, he told us he had some napkins if we needed them. My heart was burdened the entire time and I was constantly wondering if he had ordered something to eat. Robby went and asked the woman behind the counter, and she said they would take care of it and were going to give him something. That brought me to tears just thinking of how many restaurants probably turn away the homeless. As Robby and I were eating, I felt guilty putting every bite in my mouth. A little later, I looked over and the woman who had brought him the food (I'm guessing she's the owner or manager) was talking to him with her hand on his shoulder and giving him an umbrella. I shed a few tears and nearly lost it. But I'm glad I kept it together for the most part. Then, as we were leaving, Robby asked him his name and was saying bye and the man asked why we had to rush off and asked if we wanted to sit down for a little while. So sweet. His name is "Red". We talked for a little while and he was so kind. As we were leaving, he asked us if we wanted the other half of his breakfast sandwich to wrap up so Trey could have it later. This homeless man had just offered my little son (who totally missed out because he won't even touch solid food!) his food. Of course, there is no way we would have taken it, but how much does that say about the rest of us? When's the last time we gave something away to someone in need at our expense? Be it time, money, food... Just something to think about for the day. I'm praying for Red. Thank you Lord, for the rain that sent us there.

Shout Out To My Main Potato!

2008-11-10T21:36:00.004-05:00

As I'm sitting here typing this, I'm looking over at my precious husband who has fallen asleep on the couch, once again. He is actually not snoring (too loudly that is) and I'm impressed! As I am thinking about how funny he is when he sleeps, it's also making me think about how wonderful he is. What a great guy he is to put up with me and all of my silliness. I bet he didn't know what he was getting into when he married me.
He is such a sweet man, with such a precious heart. He comes home from a long day at work and takes Trey for a little while so that I can go run or have a few moments of sanity. He never complains. He always eats what I cook for dinner and always seems excited about it, no matter what it is. He always thanks me for it. He supports me and allows me to follow my heart.
I'm thankful that Christ chose to use Robby to teach me about HIS love for me, even though I know my love for Robby isn't even close to how HE loves me. I am learning more and more about love every day.

I'm a slacker...

2008-11-06T22:05:00.003-05:00

I have definitely become a slacker in the blogging world lately. Trey has been a handful, and since he's crawling like a maniac and into everything already, we haven't had tons of free time. He's just started sleeping better at night and taking longer naps during the day! It's about time! We did get a few great pictures the other day that I've already put on Facebook, but for those of you that don't have Facebook, here's a few for you.

New Trey pictures! ...and they are clean!

2008-10-22T10:38:00.002-04:00

Warning: Don't read if you get grossed out easily!

2008-10-20T10:01:00.004-04:00

I do realize that this is way overstepping the blogging boundaries, but I haven't posted anything in a while, and this was just too funny not to share. So, I will apologize now to all of you that think I'm disgusting after reading this.

So Trey was a little constipated this week and he didn't "poop" for 2 days! We were about to give him something to help out, but as he was jumping in his jumperoo, I guess gravity just did the trick. Robby and I heard this loud pop noise and we knew exactly what it was. It was actually so loud, that Robby heard it in the other room. We waited for more, figuring there would be more to follow but the one pop was all we got. Boy was it a pop. Here's what we found...

Comment Crisis

2008-09-24T21:17:00.005-04:00

For all of you out there who read Robby's blog...he is jealous that I get comments more often than he does. So...read his blog (if you have time!) and leave the little booger a comment!!!

The Thrill of the Hunt

2008-09-23T11:24:00.003-04:00

What is it about a woman and a bargain? Maybe it's not just a woman thing, but I guess I know mostly women that get ecstatic about this! Last week Harris Teeter had triple coupons! They triple any one up to $.99! I am still new to the triple coupon thing, so I'm learning all of the tricks, but I got about $30 worth of groceries for $7.17. I would say that's a pretty good deal!

Yesterday, in the Target ad, I saw you could get 4 boxes of General Mills cereal for $11 and a free gallon of milk! Well, I went and saw that some of the General Mills cereal was on sale for $1.99 so I actually got 4 boxes and a free gallon of milk for $9.27! I get so thrilled when I find a good deal. I actually went back this morning and got 4 more boxes and another free gallon of milk for a family with six kids in the neighborhood that we do ministry in.
In Georgia, at the Kroger we would go to, they very often have boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.99lb or less. It was never that cheap here, until about 3 months ago and they have started selling it for that price quite often! That is so much better than the $4+lb it usually is. Since we don't eat hardly any beef, that's a great find for us chicken people!
I met a woman once who told me that she didn't pay any attention to the price of meat when she buys it. She just buys whatever. She is not overly wealthy, I guess she just doesn't really care. That is so hard for me to imagine. It's so exciting to know you are saving money!!! Hahah.. ok, I'm closing out this post because I think I'm probably scaring some of you. Also, remember that I stay at home with a baby most of the time and don't get out as much anymore! Hahah! Hope you find a good bargain soon!

Our "Sweet" Guys

2008-09-21T21:46:00.005-04:00

One of my previous blogs was about taking some good snacks to a family that we had met. This morning when Robby picked them up for church he had to come back and get Trey and I because we weren't ready on time. The boys came in and helped Trey finish getting dressed and we got to snap a few pictures of them! Their older brother Antwain didn't come this morning so I'll have to get a picture of him later!

We have been picking them up every Sunday for church and sitting through the service with them and taking them home. We are realizing that asking two 3rd graders to sit through an hour and fifteen minutes of a service (who have not grown up in church and aren't used to it, with parents that don't go to church) is probably asking a little much, so we are going to make up a little fun sheet for them to do during the service with some "Bible stuff" for them to learn. We'd rather spend the time to teach them things than having them sit there bored and tuning everything out and continually asking us when its going to be over!

Robby has been going to their house once a week and doing a Bible study with them (and sometimes their mom, Clareece) which they seem really in to. So, I am excited to be able to update you all on how our relationship with them continues to develop!

Way to have your eyes shut Robby!! (This is John)
I could squeeze this boy! Here is Javon!
Javon, John and Trey!
Trey was getting his ghetto boots put on!

Picture Perfect!

2008-09-19T09:49:00.002-04:00

Here are some random pictures of the past few weeks. I'm sorry I don't have an exciting story to share with them. Maybe something will happen soon...hah..

A little bit of Georgia...

2008-09-17T20:32:00.005-04:00

I'm sorry I haven't been posting much. Not much has been going on in the past few weeks, since school started.
Tonight I was trying to think of what to make for dinner, and as I started pulling out things to make, it hit me that (for those of you from home) we were basically at Longstreet! Here's what we had:

Chicken fingers, fried okra and homemade mashed potatoes. It doesn't get much better than that for a little Georgia comfort!

Happy Anniversary Robby!

2008-09-03T15:35:00.003-04:00

Today is our 3 year anniversary! Boy time has gone by. Lots of things have happened in these short three years, but they have all been worth it! My sweet man wrote a blog for me last night. It was precious. You can read it here if you're in the mood for something a little sappy. If not, just skip that post, but still read his blog! I love you babe!

The Funnest Way to be a Blessing!

2008-09-02T20:01:00.003-04:00

On Friday nights Robby and I have been going to minister with some of our friends to a tough neighborhood in Wake Forest. There we have had the blessing of spending time with some adorable kids! We have gotten close to 2 brothers, that are both in the third grade, named John (Fat-Fat) and Javon. They have an older brother named Antoine that we have started to get to know. Their mom is pregnant and Robby and I thought it would be cool to take them some snacks. So, I had an excuse to go to Target today and spend some money buying tons of great snacks and we got to take it to them tonight. There mom is so sweet and she was very blessed. We LOVED it! That is such a great way to be a blessing! Here's all the loot we got them:

Bowers Boys

2008-09-02T15:01:00.004-04:00

Thank you to my family for coming to NC to spend a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We ate a lot, had a blast and can't wait till we see you guys again. I'm the worst about remembering to take pictures but here are a few that we got in on the last morning...

Trey- honestly sweetheart, what is up with this face?!
This one is a little better, but what's up with the double chin?

Bumbo Bargain

2008-08-28T18:26:00.006-04:00

Trey is so adorable in his Bumbo seat, though his thighs are getting so big that he gets a little stuck when we try to lift him out. A Bumbo seat is the most durable seat for a baby! It has been so nice to have. Thanks Kim! I do want to give a little hint on the seats though. In most stores the seats run about $40. My friend Kim (who can find a bargain anywhere!) found hers at a yard sale for.... $3 dollars!!! Because they are so durable, they don't have wear and tear and it looks like new! So before you shell out the money for a new one, check the yard sales!! We bought Trey a tray (thats the first time I've gotten to use that one unplanned!) and it works great to put toys on for him to play with!!! Here are some pictures especially for our Uncle Rick!!!

Teething Troubles

2008-08-27T13:15:00.003-04:00

Yesterday after Trey woke up from his nap, he couldn't breathe because he was so stopped up. I think he's teething, so it could possibly be that he is congested from that. I'm hoping he didn't catch something from the nursery on Sunday. (We put him there for the first time this past Sunday. We figured at six months it was time to suck it up and let him go.)
Hopefully it will go away in time for my family to come visit this weekend. At least he has been in a pretty good mood, other than the fact that he can't breathe and constantly has snot all over his face. Here's a few pictures of my pitiful little love bug and his first time sick!

This is what i've been seeing today each time after Trey sneezes. :(

I Hate Change.

2008-08-22T12:57:00.005-04:00

These past few weeks have been kind of hectic. I worked for three full days when classes started at the Seminary because they needed some extra help in the Accounting office. I enjoyed interacting with people, since I haven't done much of it lately. Then Robby started working full time and started taking classes. At the same time, we both agreed that we are ready to finish up in Wake Forest (though we will miss our friends so much, and have loved living here) and get his schooling done in a year. (Nine months actually...) So, he upped his hours this semester and is now taking 12 hours along with working full time. That is quite a load I will say. Before everyone asks us, "What's after Wake Forest?" let me just go ahead and say we have no idea. We are praying about a few different options that we are keeping to ourselves, but as of now, we really just don't know. Robby really enjoys this part of life. The "this era of our lives is over, it's time to move on and see what's next" time. I HATE IT. So, I am being stretched and trying to let go of my selfishness and be open to whatever God has.

It's been a month since I started my "Bring Back the Waistline" routine, and I've made a little progress. Not as much as I would have liked it, but I think I'm just going to have to wait until Trey stops using me as his cow and then hopefully I'll see more. I'm going to keep trying though!

Also, on the topic of new things- We finally got Trey an Exersaucer! He loves it and is SO adorable in it! Here's a peek at his playtime!

Trey Day!

2008-08-10T17:05:00.003-04:00

I promise I didn't put my 5 month old in time out!
He's started doing this when he's playing and its hilarious!

Trey was way too tired after church today!

Our Baby Einstein...

2008-07-30T18:35:00.005-04:00

I only say that because his hair is looking a lot like Albert's these days. It looks frayed and frizzy sometimes and I always think of Albert Einstein. Ha. I do apologize to those of you that would like to read about something other than Trey, but since I spend 24 hours a day with this precious bundle, thats about all there is to blog about. (I will in fact be blogging about my Bringing Back the Waistline progress soon though.) He has been in a wonderful mood lately and we have so much fun together.
I had been rocking him to sleep every single night because I couldn't bear to put him down in his crib and let him cry. We would try it for like 10 minutes and then I just couldn't stand it. At church on Sunday, in the amazingly wonderful "cry room" (where all the mom's take the loud babies but can still listen to the service and watch it through the glass...) I met a woman who said to try getting him drowsy and then putting him down and just sit by his crib if its needed but not to pick him up. It was so hard at first because I love to hold him when he falls asleep and goes limp in my arms, but he was really needing to learn how to get himself back to sleep in the middle of the night instead of waking me up 3 and 4 times. Well, praise God. After about 10 minutes of moaning/crying he went to sleep and has been doing well with it and sleeping GREAT ever since. Thank you Janine! Here are some pictures of his cute new outfit that a sweet friend Barbara got him and then some pictures of us having fun today.

New Video

2008-07-27T19:06:00.001-04:00

Just so you know, we added a new little video of Trey to the right side of the blog. Just click on "That's just so funny Mommy!" Enjoy.

Whats that??

2008-07-25T20:26:00.003-04:00

I don't have much to say on this post. The pictures speak for themselves. We gave Trey baby cereal for the first time last night and tonight. Here's what he thought...

A New Blogger

2008-07-20T22:17:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to give a shout out to a new friend in the blogging world...ROBBY! He would love for you to check it out and leave a comment! Welcome, love.

"Bring back, bring back the waistline..."

2008-07-18T00:01:00.002-04:00

If any of you are fans of the band Bleach then you will recognize the lyrics to one of their songs that says..."bring back, bring back the bass line." I thought it would make a good title seeing as how that is my mission. Who says you really do lose all the weight you gained during pregnancy if you breastfeed exclusively? Everyone told me that. "Oh, you'll lose it so quick!" Yeah right. Not so. I've still got about 25 lbs. to go, and its killing me. How am I supposed to work out to lose the weight when the lactation consultant told me to do nothing and eat between 3,500-4,000 calories a day so that I can make more milk for Trey? (I kid you not!) She is soooo not the one with the extra wide hips, so I will not be eating that much. Look at Trey's thighs...he is definitely eating enough! So, that is my new mission. To bring back my waistline. Not that you even care, but i'll be updating as my progress continues. Say a prayer for me!

Trey's First Fourth!

2008-07-04T17:47:00.008-04:00

Can I get a drum roll please?... Last night was the first time Trey slept through the night without waking up to eat!! Even though he's still a great sleeper at night, and just stirs to eat and then falls right back to sleep, last night he didn't even move! It was a little scary, I'll admit, but I was so thankful that I didn't have to get out of bed for like 7 hours in a row!!!! Thank you Lord!
We had some fireworks near our house last night, so here are a few pictures from that. We were nervous that Trey would freak out from the loud noise, but he did great! Watching him watch them as they went off was priceless!
This morning, he was too cute in our bed! He's getting SO big! We just had to share the pictures with everyone!
(We're off to camp next week, so I doubt I'll be blogging, but I hope to have some good stories when I get back! )

Good Job!

2008-07-04T10:52:00.005-04:00

Check out the newly remodeled bathroom at my dad's house! It's finally done. Doesn't it look great? Good job guys! Sorry Robby didn't get to help anymore than he did. He wished he could have! Can't wait to see it in person next weekend.

Simply Amazing...

2008-07-03T16:19:00.006-04:00

Please watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

Held resentment, Bitter from loss of my Mom...

Thankful that we have eternal life with Christ and I get to join her soon

What's yours?

We missed you guys!

2008-06-29T00:05:00.002-04:00

We hated that we couldn't make it to the Haughton Reunion, so we put together a little video for you guys just to let you know we were thinking of you and hated not getting to see you all! Hope you have had a great time and taken lots of pictures for us to see! Just click on the link and it will take you to the video... (I still don't know how to put the video directly on here, sorry)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g8rm3ta4UQ

Trey goes to school

2008-06-22T18:19:00.006-04:00

Dad, here are more picture of Trey. As you can see, he's getting so big that he will be gong to school soon, so you'll need to come up and visit in order to take him to first grade.

Good time in GA...

2008-06-19T10:19:00.007-04:00

As most of you know we just got back from our three week visit to Georgia. It was definitely an odd three weeks. We are so glad to be back in North Carolina and not in the car!! Of course we already miss our families, but its so nice to be back in our own space!
We went to my little brothers graduation when we first got there. Then, Robby's grandmother passed away, so he and his family went to Gainesville, Florida for the funeral. We went to a wedding. We also demolished one of the bathrooms at my dad's house and Robby put in a new floor. We went to the beach for a week and it was really nice. Robby had a great first Father's Day! Trey was dedicated on Father's Day so that was nice also. So many other things happened but i'll spare you the details. Here are some cute pictures from the visit. (Of course all are Trey)

What a cute smirk! He's such a flirt for the camera! He was so into my dad's aquarium!
He loved it and would sit in
front of it for so long!
What in the world??
Josiah was having a little pizza before graduation...
I hope that sauce was on his face on purpose!
He cashed out with as soon as Heather got to see him!

Trey has started chewing on his hands.
Yes, he's beginning to teethe already!
He loves his GrandBob
He looks so big already!
I dont know what this face was for!
Kisses for Mommy!

"Happy Father's Day, Daddy!"

Kisses from Granbo
Uncle Michael did such a good job
walking Trey to sleep. Trey loves him!
How cute is he with his Nana? I guess
he was waking up from a nap...

I'm still here

2008-06-15T21:49:00.002-04:00

I know I have been a horrible blogger since i've been in Georgia! I'm sorry! We have had a heck of a visit and we are so ready to get back to North Carolina! I'm going to have to post pictures later, but just wanted to let you know that i'm still alive. Can't wait to see everyone in NC!

Playing all this tag is wearing me out!

2008-05-20T13:46:00.004-04:00

to me these are like forwarded emails of the blogging world, but i'm going to finally cave. everyone will be glad to know I'm not going to tag anyone at the end, but i'll answer the questions. thanks amie. like i have time for this! ha!!

1. What were you doing five years ago?

ending my junior year of high school; loving spending time on the weekends with my mom; crushing majorly on my youth pastor/now husband, teaching 2 and 3 year old sunday school.

2. What are five things on your to-do list today (not in any particular order)?

-wash clothes
-go to Target
-pack
-take a shower
-exercise

3. What are five snacks that you enjoy?

-pita chips and cottage cheese (thanks tiffany)
-chocolate or caramel rice cakes
-toasted pita bread with peanut butter or hummus
-fruit
-string cheese

4. What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

-pay off any debts my family owed (Robbys family and mine)
-buy a big house and adopt a lot of children (in a few years) and not have to worry about providing for their needs and education
-send money to IJM to help support the crack down on human trafficking
-buy one of those fancy baby monitors that alerts you if your baby stops breathing, so that I wouldn't wake myself up 5 times a night checking on him.
-buy a small airplane and hire a personal pilot so that we could see our families more often
-since the baby monitor one was kind of a joke, i'd keep some money so that i could help anyone when there was a need that came about (like the bannister's house burning down)

5. What are five of your bad habits?

-BITING MY LIP
-wanting sweets, ALWAYS
-checking email too often ( i hardly ever even get any, you would think i'd get the hint...)
-not typing "correctly" and using all lower case because it is easier
-being too lazy to exercise

6. What are five places that you have lived?

Ha! boring life...
-Gainesville, GA (upstairs bedroom of my parents house)
-Gainesville, GA (downstairs bedroom of my parents house)
-Gainesville, GA (Northwood Circle when Robby and I got married)
-Wake Forest, NC (Bostwick Apartments)
-Wake Forest, NC (West Pine Street)

7. What are five job's you've had?
-receptionist at a home building company
-working for Indigent Defense in the courthouse (when people get in trouble with the law and are charged and can't afford any attorney, we would provide one for them)
-secretary at an attorney's office (i have actually worked at 2 different offices doing this. i really liked it but it was too much pressure)
-receptionist at a vet (same as amie, loved it!! but some of my co-workers often stressed me out)
-run around girl for a poshy hair salon (this was awesome because i got anything i wanted done to my hair for free when normally it was outrageous to have paid for)

Update of pictures...

2008-05-19T12:27:00.012-04:00

He's already turning into a little man...

Look at those luscious lips...I came home from the store the other day, and Trey was helping Robby study. So cute!
Trey decided to grow some rabbit ears...
This is his recent little "cool guy" smirk
My goodness... look at that belly
I could eat him up!!!
Baby Moses...

(Big Sigh...)

2008-05-19T12:13:00.003-04:00

As I read my Bible this morning, I finally realized it's time to let it go. The worrying that is. Since becoming a mother, I have constantly prayed for Trey's health and safety. I know those are important, but I haven't come to the point that if something actually did happen to him, that I would put it in God's hands. It has been more prayers of me asking God to just prevent anything from happening. I know it doesn't really work that way. So, my journey has begun. I know the concern will never go away, which I feel is probably a good thing, but I know I can no longer be consumed by it. (Another big sigh...)

Fun with Kirby

2008-05-11T21:36:00.010-04:00

Our sweet friend Kirby came to visit us this weekend. We had a great time catching up on life, playing with Trey, watching movies, eating, going to the mall, etc...(someone even came away from the weekend with a new piercing!!) We are so honored that she cared enough about us to come visit. She is one amazing girl!
Our Sunday School class from church has taken up a project on Friday nights, in the projects, and Kirby got to join us. We've only done it for two weeks so far, but I think its going pretty well. We grill out and love on God's children. Our Sunday school teacher and his wife and kids actually moved there, and so we have some connections through them. Here are a few pictures of our Friday night...

Treysome

2008-05-05T22:39:00.007-04:00

Here are some of our latest Trey pictures. (I don't really have anything else to blog about, since my life right now is pretty much eat, sleep, Trey...)

Sweet Sleepy Baby...

What a roly poly!!!
Sooo glad bathtime is over!
We love seeing his cute butt
in the air when he sleeps!

Tummy Time

2008-04-30T22:59:00.005-04:00

For those of you that have had children, this will probably be nothing new... It was too cute for us though, and we thought it was precious! This is especially for Teecy and Christy!! (Wait for the smile at the end and turn up the volume!!)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=066z1Q-5xek

Good Times with our Bo

2008-04-28T15:19:00.004-04:00

Trey had tons of fun with my dad this weekend. He was in a great mood and smiled a ton! (Trey that is...my dad is always in a good mood, and if he's not he usually fakes it!) As you can see from this picture, Trey was thrilled to be in his arms! He looks so content! Thanks for coming dad!

GranBo

2008-04-24T20:17:00.003-04:00

Last time "GranBo" came to visit, Trey was just week old. This weekend he's coming for another visit, and we are so excited! Trey has grown so much since my dad last saw him, and I know he can't wait to get here. We're going to attempt to go to the Farmer's Market Saturday, as well as the Walk for Life at the Wake Forest College Birth Place. Robby has to work all day, so I'm thankful my dad will be here to help out! We'll see if Trey can handle it. I'm still a little nervous about taking him places, but he's getting better. Can't wait to post some pictures of our fun weekend!

Too Cute!

2008-04-16T15:25:00.003-04:00

I couldn't resist sharing this with you guys! He's finally started to smile!!!

Our Saturday "date night"

2008-04-13T23:17:00.002-04:00

Robby and I have both been feeling bad for the past two days. The pollen is terrible here, but neither of us normally have allergies, so we don't know if its that or if we are just sick. It's all the classic symptoms: dry and scratchy sore throat, ear aches, coughing, sneezing, etc...We spent our Saturday night being pitiful and sitting on the sofa drinking hot peppermint tea and putting garlic oil in each others ears. (Weird, I know but the garlic oil is some kind of Christmas family healing ritual...) It wasn't ideal, but it was still fun to sit on the sofa and just talk. Thought the picture would make for a good laugh in the blogging world. (I know...it's terrible!)

Cherishing the moments...

2008-04-10T22:55:00.005-04:00

I was thinking today about when I was in high school and the times I used to spend with my best friend. Watching movies on weekends, (Most of which were sappy love stories, or intense thrillers. Those were the two categories we always stayed with for some reason...) going to Dairy Queen whenever we had "boy talk" to discuss, baking together, skipping school for a day just to spend time together, going to lunch at Fraisers... we had so much fun just being together. Though I have a wonderful family now that I am married, I do miss those times. I miss her. I miss her smile and her kindness, I miss finding little gifts that she had bought me just because...I miss calling her when I was bored, and I miss loving Christmastime because she just got so excited around that holiday!

I miss my mom....she was my best friend. She was the most wonderful woman I have ever known, and I think that I will ever know. She was so faithful, so strong. Most girls probably wouldn't have wanted to spend their high school weekends at home with their mom, but I loved it! I wouldn't have had it any other way. I am so thankful God allowed us to have those special times together before he took her home to be with him. Its going to be 4 years in June. I can hardly believe it. Even so, it is still so difficult to be without her sometimes. I find it hard to let people into my life because I subconsciously feel like, if its not my mom I'm loving, I don't want to love someone else instead. I've been working on that, but it is still hard. I know she wouldn't have wanted it that way. She loved people. She always reminded me of the postive.

She used to pray for Robby and I all the time. She hardly even knew Robby. She just knew that I had a crush on him and for some reason (I think God let her see a little glimpse into the future) she knew we were going to get married. She told me we were going to get married. How did she know that???? I'm so honored to have had a mom like that.

I remember when she was in the hospital she told me that when her mom had died, she thought her world was over. She thought her life would never be the same, but that God gave her my dad and my brothers and I. She said we brought her more joy than she could have imagined. That her life became full again.

I'm feeling that now. Though I sit with tears running down my face typing this, I do feel that joy. Though my mom is gone, God has replaced pain, anger and emptiness with two wonderful guys (my Robby and my Trey) that I love. and my relationship with my dad and brothers is much stronger than it was 4 years ago. Now I have a new best friend, my husband, and new memories to share. For all of this, I am so thankful.

Family Time...

2008-04-08T15:06:00.009-04:00

My brothers came for a visit this past weekend. It was great. Check out this amazing gift Josiah gave me as an early mother's day present. He painted it in his art class. Isn't it great? He's a wonderful artist! And thanks to Jordan for the groceries!! They cooked us an awesome dinner Saturday night. Mahi Mahi, roasted peppers and pan fried potatoes! With Snickerdoodles for dessert! Yummo!

I love my brothers. They are so laid back and a lot of fun to be around. Jordan and I have gotten much closer since I got married, which I am very thankful for. Josiah and I, well...let's just say that kid could get away with just about anything in my book. He's just too hilarious!

Also, look at the awesome shorts I got for Trey to wear when he's about 3 months. (Just in time for summer...) They are too cute!
I'm glad Jordan finally made it to see Trey. I think he had a good time being a new uncle!

hair nightmare...?! part 2: Little "Joey" Dirt

2008-03-28T11:30:00.004-04:00

I realized something terrible yesterday...could it really be possible that my 4 week old child already has a mullet? Even more so, how is it possible I let this happen?...Now, i'm torn. I want to get rid of it, but I can't cut his hair. He's still so little! I mean, I could probably put it in a ponytail! I've decided to share this with you for a good laugh, but I think that we are going to keep it there a little longer until I don't feel like a terrible mom for getting out the scissors..or am I even more terrible for leaving it? I'm sure all the Christmases will tell me to leave it, (especially Mike) but what's a mom to do? This is so not cool! (He's starting to cry right now...I think he's embarrassed)

I failed to mention...

2008-03-26T16:37:00.002-04:00

There was a slight accident in my previous blog...I failed to mention that we also went to see Trey's "amazing uncle Andy". Please forgive the mishap!!!! ha...

Practically Perfect in Every Way...

2008-03-26T15:39:00.003-04:00

Not to brag, but I think I have an angel rather than a newborn...or are they the same thing? Since the weather was so nice, we decided to brave it and go take a walk to see our friend Lindsey. Trey was asleep, but woke up in her office and did great. Then we went to another office on campus to see some other friends, and he still did GREAT! (I was so nervous that he was going to get fussy!) We walked home and he didn't make a sounds until we were about 20 feet away from the door. It was my fault though. I had kept him out too long and the poor thing was hungry. I just got online to check something, and this is a picture of him sitting by me. He sat this way perfect, for about 45 minutes. How precious...!

hair nightmare...?!

2008-03-25T12:24:00.003-04:00

So I need to know what you all think about my new color job! I have basically always had my hair highlighted, and have loved it, but its just too expensive and time consuming to keep doing. PLUS, the only person I trust to do it is in Gainesville, and its a little difficult to keep going there for my hair. So...I thought I would go to my natural color. I sucked it up and went to a salon here. The thing is, is that I told the girl twice, "Please don't put color on it that has any red in it..." She even said, "of course not..." So...when I got home, my hair was basically red. NOT my natural color... ok, it was brown, but with some major red tones. Robby likes it, so he says... no, I think he really actually does. The picture you see is after a massively good shampoo done by me the next day. Lots of the red washed out, but still! I think it might be alright, but should I call and get them to redo it, or should I leave it? I want honesty here...

oh boy!

2008-03-23T14:17:00.001-04:00