Wonderful Weekend!

I got the BEST treat this weekend! Instead of staying in T-town and celebrating homecoming festivites, I drove to Birmingham and spent the weekend with my sweet friends Carey (our gracious hostess), Dani, and Jaillene. They are the girlfriends I have had the longest. We grew up with each other in Atlanta and I just think it is so much fun that we still get together every now and then and stay in touch. God has truly blessed us with our friendships and it has been amazing to walk through so much over the years with such sweet sweet women of God.

I am so thankful for my sweet husband who stayed home with the kids
(he did call in some reinforcements, but still he did a great job) and missed the Alabama game to make this possible for me. Isn't he great? I certainly think so!!! It really was such a great time. Here's a preview of what we did most of the weekend...







We also talked a lot. I didn't sleep late, but I stayed in my pjs and didn't shower until Sunday morning. We also loved on this little guy.

Jaillene brought James, her 4 month old and he was so precious!

It was the perfect girls weekend and I will post pictures of my sewing projects once I put the finishing touches on them (buttons, monograms, etc).

Classic

Here is a glimpse into my little Diva's personality. You can see just how dramatic she is (and totally cute of course)! Don't forget to scroll to the bottom and stop my music player (sorry, I know that's a pain).

Remembering...

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

It has been a little over 2 years since my pregnancy loss and I joined the club that no woman ever wants to be a part of. In many ways, a distant memory...and yet, the emotions are sometimes still so fresh and real. I will never forget.

I will never forget the surprise of seeing 2 lines on a test in August 2007.

I will never forget the immense joy of a completely natural pregnancy even it meant I would have babies 13 months apart.

I will never forget the sound of that rapid heartbeat and the bright flash on the screen at 6 weeks.

I will never forget the way my heart dropped at the sight of blood at 9 weeks.

I will never forget the sight of a still dead baby on the ultrasound screen.

I will never forget the face of my doctor telling me it was over.

I will never forget the complete emptiness after waking up from a D & C

I will never forget the pain and grief that followed for many months.

I will never forget the community of believers coming alongside me.

I will never forget the nearness of my God as He carried me through.

"All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness." Psalm 25:10

Today, I am grieving and praying with all of those who have experienced loss that we would be able to truly trust in the promise above whether it's in the small skinned knee type of suffering or the big loss of a baby suffering. I have several friends who have recently experienced a miscarriage so I have been burdened recently for them as their grief is so new. I am so grateful for a faith in the only One who can provide comfort, peace, and hope when things are hard. I can't imagine suffering without Jesus.

You can go HERE, HERE, and HERE to read more thoughts about my miscarriage.

Playing Together

As Abigail gets bigger, all 3 kids are playing more together. It's really cute. Monday night, they created a tunnel between the couch and ottoman. Abigail just followed the other 2 and did exactly what they were doing, squealing the entire time. Of course, Samuel and Ellie Kate loved that she was doing it with them too! Of course, there are also now plenty of times that they don't get along and are all screaming at each other. But for now, I'll only post the fun pics:)

Keeping Up

IS HARD TO DO!!!! I feel like I can barely catch my breath these days. I have 2 birthday parties coming up and I know that's a big part of it.

Anywhoo...we have been busy as usual. I wanted to post some pictures of our little weekend to the hunting land I told y'all about. It was really fun! So, the family that owns this land imports all kinds of exotic deer from around the world....to hunt. Kind of like this...

and this...


Samuel enjoyed fishing and playing with Harvey, the dog. I mean, he did this ALL day both days we were there. We definitely have an outdoorsman on our hands. He is just in his element doing anything outside.

This was the view from our super nice cabin. That's the "main" house and "barn."


I love these of Ellie Kate playing in front of the door at the main house. The lighting combined with my awesome camera and her blue shirt really made her beautiful eyes stand out! (I swear, the only editing I did was to make this picture a little sharper as it was kind of blurry for some reason)

Last week as we were getting ready for a family walk, this little baby squirrel came out of nowhere. And it followed us. It was really cute and I've never seen anything like it. The baby crawled up samuel's leg and would not let us leave our driveway. It scampered behind us as we walked onto the street and let me tell you Samuel was so concerned about the little thing getting run over that Jeff loaded it up into a cooler and walked it to the end of our neighborhood where some woods are and let it out...then he quickly ran off so it wouldn't follow us. I think he probably took the poor thing away from it's momma, but what do I know? It really was a cute little thing...

Samuel has always wanted to catch and/or touch a squirrel. Well, all his dreams came true when this little one showed up on our driveway...

This weekend, we finally painted the kitchen and the cabinets. I was SO over the faux finished walls and dingy cabinets. Now, you aren't going to be able to tell a big difference in the picture with the cabinets as I just basically painted them nearly the same shade, but you have to believe me that they look so much better!!! Before I painted them, they were all beat up, dirty, and you could see the brush strokes from whoever painted them last. It drove me crazy!!! I am so happy with how everything turned out. I have always wanted to try to leave some of the cabinets open so I did! The paint color is a little greener than I anticipated, but I still like it pretty well. What do you think?

BEFORE





AFTER

Oh, and the ONLY way we were able to pull off the painting was because we were kid free for the weekend!!! Thanks to Jeff's parents and my parents for helping out!

UPDATED to add...I am also VERY thankful to Jeff and his help!!! I know that painting the kitchen walls and the cabinets were not his first choice for things to do on a big football weekend! But, he was a trooper and I definitely couldn't have done it without his help!

11 Months!

I know I say it every month that goes by, but it truly is hard for me to believe that this little peanut is 11 months old! Abigail is the cutest thing ever and I can't even believe how much I love her! 11 months is so much fun. She is growing and learning so much so fast!

So, what is this little munchkin up to at 11 months?

- Loves to play pat - a - cake and peek - a -boo
- Puts her hands in the air above her head when you ask "How big is Abigail?"
- Says "mama" and "da-ee" and we think she knows that us!!!
- Pushes her little walker around, but doesn't care one bit about walking by herself or standing by herself (she is very cautious)
-Is still a mama's girl but is getting a little braver with me leaving her and letting others hold her
- Will eat just about anything and everything you put in front of her
- Is still a great sleeper
- Gives the best hugs
-loves to hug on her stuffed animals and baby dolls
-Sleeps with a little teddy bear blanket
- Is just about the happiest baby ever!!!
-Wears 12-18 month size clothes and weighs 20 lbs

Crazy Busy

I can't believe it's been 6 days since I posted on here! That could be a record breaking streak on this blog! Ha! Life is keeping me busy I suppose. Everyone got sick last week with bad colds and they are still lingering around this week. I have been doing a lot of blog makeovers and working on holiday cards. We had fall retreat with the Alabama students this past weekend. All of that in the midst of normal every day life that has to happen with 3 kids...homework, laundry, meals, cleaning house, etc.

Anyway, I did upload my Christmas Card collection to Uniquely Yours last week. So, go check them out!

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the weekend away. We went to one of our student's family hunting farm. It really was amazing and I am going to blog all about it sometime this week. But for now, here are the 2 big kids playing on the porch swing...

he just gets more handsome every day...and I am so in love with this kid!

looking up at mama....this is the trick for getting "sparkly" eyes