Birthday Boy!!!

Joseph turns "2"
Every little kid needs to go to Toys R Us on their birthday. Joseph got a cool hat, balloon, and they announced his name and how old he was over the intercom. People all over the store told him "Happy Birthday." I don't know about him but it was exciting for me.





Even though we are experiencing some of the "terrible two's," he is still a great joy in our family. We are amazed at how he operates. He is a little boy with a little vocabulary but he knows what you are saying and can do whatever you ask him to do. For whatever reason he chooses not to say many words right now. But that is really OK, in time I will want him to hush and dream of these days of little words.

He's got a great big smile that can make you smile, and I love that. He's so friendly it's almost scary. He will walk up to anyone and let them hold him if they offer. Maybe that means that he will be a friendly little-guy all the days of his life.
Don't get me wrong....he can be a stinker. Just like a few minutes ago he went right up to his big sister and hit her for no apparent reason. But he does that...comes up and hits you. Is that a boy thing?? I don't know.

He has had many bumps and bruises this year. His poor head has had many falls.... he is only 25 pounds and probably 15 of it is his head. He has a big head for a little boy. When he was 15 months old we took him to Scottish Rite for a CT scan cause even the Doctors were concerned about the size. He was "off the charts" as they say. But our Great Physician is greater than any test or doctor and everything came back normal. His last well check showed that his head has not grown since around 15 months. So they believe his body will start to catch up with the size of his head.
It wasn't long after that when he was 16 months old and I was pregnant, my water-broke at 28 weeks and that night I went to the hospital and did not leave the hospital till after I had our baby. That was 4 long weeks in the hospital and many times I thought that since Joseph was so young that he would forget who his mommy is. But every time he got to come to the hospital, he knew exactly who I was. I sometimes wonder why our family had to be separated for that time in our life but the outcome was well worth it. Plus, God's Word tells me in Psalm 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."
We got reacquainted after I got home, well..... after Jena got home, since we were home-bound with Jena for about 4 months. Thankfully he still takes a nap and he likes for me to rock him. That is always a sweet time, unless it's really late and I'm tired and ready to get to bed myself. I'm just being honest. Then it's "close your eye's and go to sleep....NOW!!"
It's getting time for potty training, he nods his head that he is ready so we shall see here in the next week or so. I got to get myself pumped up for it. I already have an extra bottle of Resolve and just need to get the pull-ups and we will be ready to go. I hope...
All has turned out well and I have my Lord and Savior to thank for it and so many other things in my life. Joseph moves up in Sunday School this Sunday and will also go to the Mother's Morning Out program at Central in August, but just for 2 days, that's all I could handle.
Give Joseph a big "High-five" when you see him!!
Blessings to you!!

Jaci's year as a Kindergartener....

It seems like yesterday that we were all getting ready to walk out the door on her first day of school and she says, "Come on family...lets go to kindergarten." And that's just what we all did. Now the year is over and she graduates to 1st grade.

Jaci received many awards....
~Accelerated Reader award
~Running Award-37 laps
~Awesome Art Award
~Music Award
In her classroom,
~Friendship Award
~Learning over 100 sight words
~For being a Great Line Leader
We are very proud of her and all her accomplishments.

At her friends birthday party at Snip-its, she got the "Diva" look, and let me tell you, she was proud of it. It lasted for Sunday and Monday for school. You can't see it but glitter is all over her head. Just had to throw that in there...






Thinking back at the first of the school year Jaci experienced new things. She had a great first day of school..I was relieved. I was more worried about her carrying that big lunch tray without spilling her milk and going to the bathroom with me than I was about school work. Now the second day (no..I'm not going day to day) while she was in the bathroom waiting at a door, a girl swung the door open and Jaci got hit in the face. So I was ready to come and get her when her teacher called to tell me what happened. She had to have some ice but recovered quickly and she was not devastated like I was. It took me a couple of days to get over. I was ready to sign up for bathroom monitor.

Within the year she:
~started Awana at Pray's Mill
~Played soccer (not my favorite for her)
~we had the flood and missed many days of school
~Had to be without her mommy for 4 long weeks
~Had her skin tag removed from her ear (her wishes)
~Got a new baby sister in November and mommy got to come home
~Had some snow days that meant no school
~got pink-eye twice
~got strep three times
~got her 1st "boyfriend"
~got her 1st phone call from her friend (not the boy)
~Lost her great-great aunt Ora Belle
~She got to sing in her 1st Children choir
~She and I got to go to our 1st mommy/daughter tea
~played softball with the Lil Angels
~Had her 1st trip to the Varsity and Braves game (she walked the field)
~The last week of school she missed two day because of sickness.

I think she had a great year and I'm so thankful for the teacher she had, Ms. McLendon and Mrs. Wessinger, and we are praying for her 1st grade teacher...whoever that may be.

Our little princess is growing up way to fast for me. The summer will not be long but I pray that we make the best of each day we have no matter what we do.
Blessings to you!!

My Mother's Day....

My Mother's Day was a great day. After waking Jaci up to get ready for church, she ran and gave me a card that she had made. On one side it has a picture of me and my body is the shape of a triangle with very long arms (the more to hug her with), and on the other side it has her words, "I love u cos u are sbeshll and cos u are shet" translation, " I love you cause you are special and cause you are sweet. Papers like this are priceless. I'm going to have to get a large tote to be able to keep all these special papers and things in. There is no way that I can throw it away.
I had an awesome time at church!! My Sunday School teacher preached our lesson about "Divine Purpose." He really hit on how we worship the Lord. I have heard a lot of people say that they are not getting anything out of the services, but it is their own fault. We have to prepare ourselves for worship before we enter the doors of the church. If we have not prayed and said I'm going to church to receive a blessing, then we normally don't get the blessing. Our attitudes are not right. We may not care for the messenger but we are missing the message with that type of attitude. Sunday School was Awesome, the music was Awesome, the special music touched my heart. I wanted to shout!! And yes the message was Awesome too!! I needed to hear all the things that I need to work on for my kids. Here lately..I have sweat ed over the small stuff and I need to stop and enjoy my blessings that God has given me.

Jaci~ does test my patience with her, but she is beautiful, thoughtful, caring, tender-hearted, and very sweet. She is asking questions about salvation and I believe it will be soon. This is something I can not chose for her. I have prayed for this since she was in my womb but this has to be all her. Her understanding and her decision. It is hard to believe she will be 6 this July. We are trying to plan a Disney trip for her but will go in November when it it cooler!!

Joseph~ is starting to have his own attitude problem. He will cut his eyes at you and give you a look...I'm not sure where he gets this. But we will have some work to do. He is a boy with a small vocabulary. He used to call me "MA" but now it is "Mom ma". He makes me laugh, he helps with the laundry, dishes, vacuuming... some things I don't want much help on but I grin and bare it...sometimes. It is hard to believe that he will be 2 in June. Time to plan a party....

Jena~ was dedicated yesterday. I can't wait to see what type of person she will be. I could call her "smiley" b/c she smiles at me all the time. She laughs...i love to hear her laugh. She rolls over, kicks her feet like she is going somewhere and it won't be long. She may be the adventurous one...I say this based on how she came into this world. It is hard to believe that she turned 6 months old yesterday. Time to get pictures made.

I feel very blessed and honored to be a mother. I remember the days when I wondered if I ever would be a mother. I sat through many Mother's Day services, holding back tears and wondering why not me. I remember my 1st pregnancy. Joey and I couldn't believe we were finally going to be parents. But in a matter of weeks that excitement turned into sadness to learn that I had miscarried. Not understanding but knowing that God had a purpose and a plan for our lives but almost a year later we were pregnant again. Being very cautious and not telling anyone till I was 3 months along and then July 7 Jaci Dalana was added to our family after 8 years of trying to have a baby. What a blessing the last 6 years have been and now we have not just one but three blessings from God. He has allowed for me to stay at home with these children and I am very grateful.

And last but not least....my mom...was able to come to my house for her Mother's Day and eat lunch with us. That was a blessing, knowing that I almost lost her in March. She is doing great and we hope to have her home by the 17th.

Thank you my sweet babies for calling me momma, ma, mom, mommy and sometimes "Hun"
I love you all very much!!

My Little Man looks little compaired to those ladies in front of him. He says, "Bull" every time we walk outside. He wants to see the cows all the time. Sunday he was 22 months... and he peepeed in the potty!! We did the dance but he was with his daddy when he did it. I told Joey that he was going to potty train him. I get the girls and he gets the boy...sounds
fair to me! He also went once today, he seems excited over his accomplishment. He is so sweet and loving and he blesses my heart. I want to say that for now...he is a momma's boy!! He is starting to say more words every week and it will be neat when he makes his first sentence.




And Jena...sweet Jena... cackles at her brother. Here he is showing her how the glow worm works. He loves and kisses on her all the time. He will be a great "Big Brother".
I changed her formula again and it seems to be better with spit up. I could not take the excuse that some babies spit up a lot. There is a reason for it and I say find the reason and fix it. I was going through so many bibs and burp rags, washing everyday just to make sure I always have some clean. Course around here now, I have to do one load a day just to keep up. Jena turns over a lot now and the way those legs are moving.... it won't be long and she will be crawling. I say by 7 months she will. We shall see....

The Milestone

It is amazing to think back to the night I went to the hospital, not knowing what was going to happen to my unborn child, who for some reason wanted to try and come into the world at 28 weeks. So many days and nights have past since that night but it is still fresh on my mind.
Today we have a beautiful baby girl....Jena Danyel. She brings a smile to my face every time I look at her, she has blessed my life so much. She is feisty, strong and willing to not let her pre-mature status stand in the way. Yesterday at Poppa and Nana's while I went to the dentist, she turned over from her back to her tummy and then again after we got home and Jaci was able to witness the great accomplishment. Both times I was not present. Even though I was excited, I was sad that I had missed this milestone.
But....I was not going to miss it again. I got her in the floor to play and I waited for her to try and sure enough it was not long......and she did it and I saw it. She turned over!!! She looked proud of herself and I surely was.
There is one thing for sure....she does not like being on her tummy. Once she is on her tummy she is trying to turn back over. It is kinda funny. I really didn't think she would accomplish this so fast. I looked back in baby books last night and Jaci turned over at 13 weeks and Joseph was 4 months old. So she truly is doing well for herself. You never know she might decide not to let this prematurity thing stand in the way. She may be sitting up, crawling, standing, and walking all on own before 9 months just like her sissy. We shall see.....

My Mom....

I went to see my mom tonight. I haven't seen her since Easter Sunday. I keep up with her through my dad who goes everyday faithfully to see his bride. Dad wanted me to come and paint her nails for her, red that is, to make her feel good. She always likes her nails painted. So after making some arrangements and eating dinner with my family, I took off to see my mom. She looked good. Sitting up eating her supper. She didn't have the bedhead that you normally get from laying in the bed and I told her her hair looked nice. She just smiled and said "hello baby girl."
After her dinner I filed her nails and painted her nails on her shaky hands. She didn't normally shake so it must be from all the trauma. Her arms, legs, face are not affected from the stroke, only her left eye and her memory. She is able to walk a short distance with a walker. She has short term memory lose and Dr's say it can take 6 to 8 months before her eye's and memory get back to normal.
My prayer is that it doesn't take that long. It is the simple things that we take for granted everyday....just remembering how to lift yourself off the bed, and how to pick up a fork to eat with. My dad has been quizzing her on things like her birthday, when they got married and the date. While I was painting her nails I asked her how many kids I had...she said 2. I asked her what their names were and she forgot Jena. I asked her when I was born....she took some time to think, so I gave her multiple choice and she got it right. It's September 8th, ....just saying!! But I asked her what year I was born in and myself having to think just a little bit but she said 2008. So please help me and my family to pray for her memory. God can heal her brain from this trauma that He has given her. Pray for my dad as he is exhausted but will not miss a day for fear she will not get the proper treatment. Not sure when mom will get to come home but everyday is a step closer. Knowing that it was time for me to leave, she simply said, "Bye baby girl."

IT"S HARD.....

It's hard ~ to go to the hospital to see my mom.
It's hard ~ to see her in pain
It's hard ~ seeing how tired my dad is
It's hard ~ knowing that you can't help them yourself
It's hard ~ knowing how she feels to be laid up in bed for days and days
It's hard ~ seeing tubes coming out of her from all ends of her body
It's hard ~ knowing the financial burden this is on my parents and I'm not able to help
It's hard ~ not being able to go and see her everyday
It's hard ~ getting a babysitter just to go and see her
It's hard ~ when her grandkids want to see her and can't
It's hard ~ knowing how she feels to not to be able to wash your hair
It's hard ~ when she talks and sometimes it doesn't make sense
It's hard ~ to leave knowing that she has many more days to go

Life sure can be hard on us...

John 16:33 tells us, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Even through our hard times, we can some how find rest in knowing that God will help us get through it. Praise the Lord for all the progress my mom has made. I give you God all the glory!!

Blessing to you