The Whitakers

God Will Provide

2011-03-23T22:27:00.001-07:00

My how time flies! It was 6 months ago today that Jon Thomas made his big arrival into this crazy world. He has brought so much joy to our family, and I absolutely could not imagine our lives without him. He is our "miracle" baby. For those of you that don't know, I Found out on October 8, 2009 that the baby I was carrying was not a viable pregnancy. I was absolutely devastated-it had already taken us almost a year to conceive this child. Then, one week later, my grandfather passed away. I was still going for blood work every other day, and after a trip to Gatlinburg to take a break from the blood work, my labs showed my levels had actually doubled meaning the baby was still growing, however, it wasn't growing where it should be-it was in my Fallopian tube. My wonderful doctor knew we wanted more children and were already having a difficult time conceiving that he made the decision to do a form of chemotherapy known as methotrexate instead of removing my tube. It was not guaranteed to work, but he wanted to give it a shot. Part of this treatment was you could not try to conceive until all the methotrexate was completely out of your system. I don't want to say I sunk into Depression, but I definitely was not me for the next few months. I grieved more than I thought was possible for a child I never even saw. One of my best friends had a baby a few days before Christmas and it took me one month to even see the baby. I have never hurt like that before, and as I sit here typing this, all the same emotions and tears are coming back. Then, in February, I went to the doctor to see if it was ok to start trying again. I was so ready to move forward and get my old self back. They did a sonogram to make sure everything looked ok, and I was completely shocked when they told me I was 6 weeks pregnant. Certain things have to happen for someone to get pregnant and those things never happened. I was 100 percent sure that God has placed that baby there because there is no other explanation for it. What came next was just as shocking-the due date was October 8, 2010. That's the same day I found out I was miscarrying the year before. God had suddenly replaced what would have been a day of mourning for me with a day of new life. God must have really big plans for Jon Thomas!

Tonight, I told Brother that when I was pregnant with Jon Thomas, I worried I wouldn't love him as much as rollins and Grady because I just didn't know how I could find that much more love inside of me. I am absolutely amazed now, by the depth of my love for that sweet little boy. There are not words to describe just how much I love him. If there is one thing I have learned in life, it's God will provide.

On another note, Brother and I were eating at KFC today, and I wAs feeding Jon Thomas mashed potatos on my finger, and I felt something on his gum-it was his first tooth! I think I got more excited about that than rollins and grady's first tooth. That's the little nub on the left side.

Jon Thomas's Little Surprise for me

2011-03-22T20:18:00.001-07:00

After raising two babies, you become pretty familiar with developmental skills and milestones. Rollins was sitting up at 5 months and walking at 8 months, while Grady walked at 11 months. I always knew that not all babies walked that early, but I thought they were all sitting alone by six months. So, I have been concerned about Jon Thomas and his ability to sit up or should I say lack there of. I work with him everyday, but he just falls right over. This afternoon, I got my little baby newsletter, and wouldn't you know, it was on "signs that your baby may have developmental delays". I thought, ok, this is a sign. Of course the newsletter stated that a baby should be sitting alone by 6 months, so as soon as I got home, I told Brother maybe it was time to take JT to the doctor about his development because he couldn't sit up. I said watch how he falls over, then I proceeded to sit him on the bed. To my shock and amazement, he just sat there. he was looking all around like "what's the big deal?". I ran and got my phone to get a picture and he was still just sitting there when I got back. If you all could have seen him yesterday when i was working with him, you wouldn't believe it. I guess this is just JT's way of telling me to chill out because he has this thing under control.

My Little Piece of Heaven

2011-03-21T20:46:00.001-07:00

I feel like most days I take my life and family for granted. I get so tied up in daily routines and trying to get orders filled that I don't take the time to enjoy my wonderful family God has blessed me with. I had a full day planned today and was stressing over how I was going to get everything done, and on the way home from car line, Grady asked me to play outside with him-normally, I would have said, not today, mommy has lots to get done, but before I could think about it, something inside me blurted out, "I would love to!". It wasn't until Grady said, "will you really?" that I realized just how much I was focusing on things that didn't really matter and was missing out on precious time with my children.

There is nothing in this world that makes me happier than those 3 precious babies. They are my heaven on earth, and I vow not to take them for granted and to make the most of every minute God gives me with them.

Test

2011-03-20T20:33:00.001-07:00

Test blog from I pad

The Big Addition

2010-09-27T08:07:00.001-07:00

So, I went for my weekly checkup on September 22. I didn't sleep the night before because I had stayed up finishing my collegiate orders for Kennedy James, so I just assumed that was why I felt so bad. I was 37 weeks, and I was hoping that my doctor would schedule an induction for the next week. They were going to do a sonogram to check his size and see how much longer I needed to wait. I still had so much to do--my house needed a good cleaning, bags needed packing, and the baby needed a name. I thought surely I could get it all done in a week.

I had been having headaches, dizziness and swelling, but I contributed all that to being on my feet too much and over exerting myself with all the sewing and mommy duties. For all of you who have had a baby, you know the first thing you do when you get to the doctor is pee in the cup then have your weight and blood pressure checked. As I am sitting there having my BP checked, I notice my nurse's eyes get real big and a look of concern covers her face. She asked if I was feeling ok, and I said, I am just really tired and I have a headache. She checked it again--I had been through this before with Rollins, so I knew what was coming next. She looked at the protein strip in my urine and said, "it's loaded". I immediately started crying. I wasn't ready to have this baby. There was no sonogram, just the doctor telling me to go home and get my bags--I begged him to let me wait a few days because my brother and sister-in-law were having their baby the next day, and I still had so much to do, but he reminded me of the seriousness of my situation and said there were no other options.

So, Brother and I make a mad dash home to try to clean what we could, pack bags for 5 people, eat dinner, get the kids situated for the next couple days, and get back to the hospital. I had so many mixed emotions--I am a planner by nature and I don't like losing control of a situation. I was scared about the health of the baby and myself and worried about the children feeling left out with the new addition.

We had one last family picture made as we left the children at church with my parents on the way to the hospital. This picture has come to mean so much to me now, and I am really thankful we took the time to smile one last time as a family of 4.

Once we got all the monitors on that night, my nurse asked me if I was feeling anything, but I wasn't. She said I was having regular contractions and was already in labor. I called my mom and told her to come first thing in the morning because I didn't think this would take long since i was already contracting without pitocin.

The next morning, Rollins missed school and my mother brought her and Grady to the hospital. Rollins had been asking during the whole pregnancy if she could be in there when he was born, and I had no problem with it at all. A boy in her class kept telling her that my stomach was going to bleed and i was going to cry, so she was very worried. I have very easy deliveries, so I wanted her to see that my stomach wasn't going to bleed and it didn't hurt. She was such a sweetheart and sat by me to hold my hand. She has such a big heart to be so little!

I still wasn't feeling my contractions, but according to the monitors, they were getting very close, so my doctor said I better go ahead and get the epidural. As soon as I got it, I told all my family to go get some lunch because I was just a 4 and it would probably be a while. About 30 minutes later, I started feeling the contractions and they were pretty bad so I told my sweet nurse that I thought I needed a booster in my epidural. She said she would get the anesth., but checked to see where I was dilated to first. To our surprise, the baby had crowned! I called Brother while she called the doctor. The doctor made it to the room first, and I told him I was not having the baby without Brother being there, so he said he had another one to deliver and would be right back. Finally Brother arrives, along with my grandparents and the kids. My dear friend Valerie, who was also my nurse, kept telling me to breath through the contractions and not push--which was very hard to do. The other labor was taking longer than normal and I was begging Valerie to go ahead and deliver him herself. Evidently, the doctors don't want the nurses to deliver so she made me wait.
Finally, he arrived and all it took was 3 good pushes. It all happened so fast once he got there, that I didn't even realize that my mom, my grandmother, my husband and both my children were there to witness this little miracle being brought into this world. It was so special to have them all in there. Also, in the middle of me pushing, my Brother calls to tell us his daughter had been born. They ended up being 16 minutes apart. Harlie Kate was born at 12:30, and Jon Thomas at 12:46.

The cord had been wrapped around his abdomen cutting off his oxygen, which caused him to be so purple. I didn't even know it til later that night when Brother told me how scared he was when he saw them. I went back and looked at these pictures and it took my breath away.

Once they gave him oxygen, all his color came back, and he looked absolutely perfect!

Our baby, who at this point still didn't have a name weighed 8lbs 2 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Rollins and Grady were so excited to finally see him!

Our first family picture!

A Little Update

2010-09-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, so yes, once again I have failed in my attempt to update my blog, but since we are about to become a family of 5 in a few weeks and so much is going on, I want to, yet again, try to do a better job. I guess what has really prompted my desire to write is Rollins. She started Kindergarten in August, and she comes home with so many stories, concerns and interesting thoughts. How else to share them, but through here?

So, everyone that knows Rollins, knows about her heart. She is quite possibly the most caring and loving child I have ever seen. Now, that's not to say that she doesn't have a mean streak in her-especially when it comes to Grady, but for the most part, she is very nurturing and kind hearted. She has gone to my mother's nursery school since Jauary 2007, and everyone there comes from similar backgrounds and all have loving homes to go home to after school. With the start of kindergarten, Rollins noticed immediately that there were kids who didn't have everything they needed. One day she came home and said, "mommy, there is a boy in my class and his mother won't get him a nap mat, so can we make him one?" When we are packing her snack, she always wants to pack extra for the kids whose mommies forget their snack, and just recently, she has me sending her with a dollar for water everyday. Water is only 50cents, but she says there is a little girl in her class who doesn't have water and she buys her water. Now, might I remind you that she is only 5, but she has already become a cheerful giver. She absolutely loves helping her classmates and I think it's something most adults can learn from.

Today, Rollins comes home and says, "mom, school isn't for me." She had this pitiful look on her face and she just tucked her head in my arm. Holding back the tears, I asked her what had happened to make her so unhappy with school. She said, "mom, my friends are being mean to me." I asked her what she meant, and she just shook her head and cried. We crawled up in her bed, and I tried to explain to her that some of her friends had a lot more to deal with than she did. I told her how some of them only have one parent and some don't get to eat supper or have toys to play with or have new clothes to wear. I also explained to her that not everyone got to go home to a mommy and daddy that were nice to them. I said sometimes that makes the kids sad and not nice, but we should always be nice to them, because we might be the only person that is nice to them that day. What happened next, is one of the reasons I absolutely adore this little girl. She asked me if she could get some of her clothes and toys and take them to the kids in her class to help them be happy. I told her we would talk to her teacher and see who needed anything and we would give it to them. This made her smile, and she said, "they will really like that." Now, yes, it does hurt me that she gets her feelings hurt by kids being mean, but I have comfort in the fact that she now understands why everyone isn't nice, and hopefully, she won't let it affect her like it has been. I am so proud of the little girl she has grown into and I pray everyday that she keeps that innocence and caring heart.

More Spring

2010-05-07T19:01:00.001-07:00

My mother's nursery school recently took a trip to the local Dominos to make pizzas. All the kids love this field trip! Since this was Rollins's 2nd year to go, she knew all the answers to the questions and got to make her pizza first. They made her into a ghost, which she thought was so funny.

Grady, however, was a little unsure about the ghost thing. He has been very clingy lately and wanted to be held the whole trip.

Here is Rollins rolling out her dough.

After putting on her sauce and cheese, she added her all time favorite topping--mushrooms.

They helped the kids place it in the hot hot oven.

Here's the class minus Grady because he didn't want in the picture.

Rollins also attended a birthday at Pump it Up, which she absolutely loves that place! We took Grady's nursery school class there for his 3rd birthday in January, and let me tell you--it was the easiest party we have ever thrown. They do everything for you--all you have to do is show up.

She had just as much fun playing with the balls, as she did on the inflatables.

Rollins has really enjoyed all she is learning in Gymnastics and took full advantage of the mats they had there. She is doing a headstand in this picture. She also just recently got her back roll--something we were all so proud of because she has worked so hard on it.

Friday of last week, it was finally warm enough to get the slip and slide out. Ann Daniel had come to play with Rollins, so they couldn't wait to get the Bikinis on and take a run.

Grady lasted much longer than the girls. He would have stayed out there all day.

The kids are so ready for summer and can't wait to pull out the big waterslide. I just hope that Brother will get us some dirt and grass for our backyard, so we don't have to bother the neighbors with all the water toys in the front yard.

Brother came home with a surprise for Grady this week. He LOVES golf, and his drive goes across several yards. To keep us from chasing balls, we now have the net. Brother and Grady can hit together since Grady is left handed. While I was outside watching Grady, Rollins had a surprise waiting on me inside.

We had been to the grocery store earlier in the day, and somehow, Rollins convinced me to buy her one of those frozen strawberry creme pies. Little did I know, she thought she could just eat the pie all at one time.

A little update--I am exactly 18 weeks today and feeling pretty good--a little tired, but I can't complain. We went to the regional softball game this morning to watch Katie Marie and the Wildcats. They won 5-1 and are playing again as I type. Rollins and Grady took a 4 hour nap this afternoon because they were so worn out from the game. Hopefully the girls will advance on to State next week. Go Cats!

Spring is here!

2010-04-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

Rollins with her Jesse Doll Easter Sunday

Grady and I Easter morning

Rollins at Luke, Jack and Abby's Birthday

Grady and Rollins at their school Easter Party

So, it's been a while, and if you haven't noticed the baby ticker, we are expecting a baby boy October 8! After all the events of this past October, I had pretty much given up hope of ever having another child, but I was in shock after a doctor's visit in February, where I found out I was 6 weeks pregnant. If you have ever had a miscarriage, you can imagine the fear I had every day. I dreaded every doctor's visit, because I was afraid of receiving bad news. Today I am 16 weeks, and everything seems to be going great. He is an active little guy with a strong heartbeat. I am beginning to feel more at ease and am finally able to embrace and enjoy this pregnancy.

Gatlinburg continued

2009-10-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Sweet Grady wanted to have his pictures made too so he crawled on this rock and smiled so big.

They are finally getting to the age where I can get a decent picture of them, but sometimes, they can still be difficult.

This is a perfect example. This would have been such a great picture, but Grady decided to be difficult. Oh well.

Luckily, my mom was with us, so Brother and I were able to get our picture made together several times. Usually it is either me or him with the kids while the other takes the pictures. There was this waterfall off the road that was so beautiful. I just wish you could see it better in this picture.
The colors weren't at peak yet--we were probably a week too early.

Our last night, we went to the Dixie Stampede. I wasn't too sure what to expect, but everyone said we just had to go. Let me tell you, if you have never been and you have kids, you have got to take them--it's a little pricy at 46.99 a ticket, but it does include your meal and show. The kids weren't too sure about not having a fork to eat with (I never let them eat with their hands), but they did a pretty good job. I have never seen them sit that still during a meal. You couldn't take pictures during the show or I would have plenty to show you the expressions on their faces. One of the male performers threw Rollins a carnation, which you notice in the picture. She thought she was so special. After the show, you can meet the performers and horses.

ok, so it's not letting me add any more photos so I will continue in another post

Gatlinburg

2009-10-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know my last blog was about lack of commitment and how I was going to do better at posting, and guess what, I didn't. Sorry. Things are starting to slow down a bit, so I thought I would get back to blogging. For those of you that didn't know, these past few weeks have been extremely difficult and trying for our family. I miscarried our 3rd child on October 8, and my grandfather, Pop Neal, passed away on October 15. I never understood the emotions that go along with a miscarriage until now. I don't think anyone can understand until they go through it themselves, but luckily I have a couple of wonderful friends that have been through this and offered words of encouragement on a daily basis, and to that, I am ever so grateful! The death of my grandfather only fueled my emotions, so my wonderful husband planned a trip for our family along with my parents to Gatlinburg. He booked the cabin at 1:30 AM on the day we left. I love last minute trips--they are so exciting, but I ended up staying up til 4 in the morning packing.

This was our lovely cabin 'Afternoon Delight'. It was between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge so it was a wonderful location.

I don't know if you can see, but there is a hot tub in the background. Brother and I were so excited to have the hot tub, but the first night we were there, we heard something outside the window. To our surprise, there were two raccoons on our porch. Brother was so excited and started feeding them cheerios. I told him there was absolutely no way, I was getting in a hot tub with wild animals!

We rode the chair lift to the top of the mountaing and the kids loved the snack shop that awaited them.
Since my parents were there, Brother and I were actually able to get a picture together:)

Unfortunately, Brother dropped the camera while we were there and the lens broke, so here is our family picture taken with a broken camera--I so wish it was in focus, but oh well, it will have to do.
While in town, we ran into a man on a motorized wheelchair that looked just like Santa. After we started talking to him, we found out, he was "santa" and even gave us one of his business cards.

By the second night, my parents had arrived, and I was feeling a little braver about getting in the hot tub. The kids joined us and had an absolute blast!
We hiked to Laurel Falls since it was the only stroller friendly trail in the park. There was a beautiful water fall and bridge at the end of the trail. Rollins loved posing in front of the falls. While my mom was taking a picture of Grady and I, I said, "look, there's a bear!" She thought I was just saying that to get Grady to look at the camera, when infact, there was an actual bear. It walked up to one of the hikers and took his bag of food. I was amazed at how calm the bear and hiker were--I would have freaked out.

Here is a picture of the bear getting the bag of food. Notice how the man is just standing there!

We stopped all along the way to take pictures. I would love to have a creek like this going through my backyard.
Ok, so I am not done, but it is 1 in the morning and I have a 9 am doctors appt in huntsville, so I must get me sleep. I will finish the rest tomorrow.

Lack of Commitment

2009-07-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

OK, so my last blog was about how I was going to do a better job on blogging, but guess what, I failed again. I have come to the conclusion that there is just way too much going on in my life and I need to slow down a bit. Here it is 1 AM and I am in my daughter's bedroom with her and her first sleepover company eating beanie weanies watching Peter Pan. To many, that's not exactly an accomplishment, but to me it is. All my life I wanted to be a wife and a mother, but not just any mother. I really wanted to raise Godly, loving children that enjoyed spending time with me. It wasn't about what career path I chose or who I associated myself with--it was about the children I would bring to this earth and the relationships I would develop with them. I am so proud of them, and even though they are just 2 and 3, they are amazing kids. I try to spend as much time with them as possible making memories that will last a lifetime. I am not a big fan of daycare unless you have to work. If God has blessed you with being able to stay at home, I think you should take total advantage of it. Now that Rollins and Grady are older by my standards, I am able to take them more places alone and I am really enjoying this new found independence the three of us have. It is quite exciting to be able to wake up and say where would you like to go today--Chattanooga, Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham? My kids are as adventurous as I am, and I am so glad they like to travel on a whim as well. I am especially looking forward to this school year. They will be going to nursery school on the same days (3 days a week for 3 hours a day) so I can get some much needed sewing in for Kennedy James Clothing, and the other two days will be our "fun days". I can't wait to see what activities we will come up with. I am sad, however, that this will be Rollins last year at home before she starts kindergarten. I try not to think about it too much.

I will be posting pictures and brief comments from the past months over the next few days so you all can get up to date with what's been going on in the life of the Whitakers.

I am back!

2009-02-28T21:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I know most of you probably thought I fell off the face of this earth, but that's not the case. We have just been extremely busy since Christmas, so in an effort to fill everyone in on all the exciting things going on, I will be blogging quite frequently to get caught up.

I am startng with Rollins's first haircut, and yes, she is 3 1/2 years, and her hair has never been touched by scissors. She has never wanted to get her hair cut but it was down to her bottom when wet and beginning to look a little frayed. I finally convinced her to pay a visit to Mrs. April by telling her she could pick out ANYTHING she wanted to wear. Well, she comes downstairs with this tacky red $20 Christmas Dress she got off a bribe at Target--I do not like "fancy" dresses. I prefer smocked or heirloom dresses for Sundays, so this dress had not been worn except in playing around the house. I couldn't believe I was going to let her wear it in public and to make matters worse, Christmas had passed over a month ago at this point, but I thought, you do what you've got to do, and she wore the dress. I took some pictures before we left, and she enjoyed modeling for me in her fancy red dress.

Rollins hopped right out of the car when we pulled up, and I thought, this isn't going to be that bad afterall. She ran right to "pink building", but soon stopped at the door--Oh no, she was turning back--the red dress failed me, and she had changed her mind. I was pleading with her to walk through the door--I was already holding Grady and had the camera in my other hand, so I couldn't carry her in. It was at that point I realized it was all my fault--for 3 years I have threatened her with her life if she cut her hair, and when she wouldn't let me brush it, I would say, well I guess I will have to cut it all off. She associated getting her hair cut with getting into trouble. How was I going to explain to her that this was a good thing. She cried and cried and I had to call Brother to meet me down there so he could help with Grady, and I could hold her in the chair.

This was absolutely pitiful. Your first haircut is suppost to be exciting and here the day we had waited on for 3 1/2 years was filled with tears. It broke my heart.

Rollins has made it perfectly clear that she does not need anymore haircuts--I don't know how we are going to handle this in the future, but we will cross that bridge when we get there. Til then, I let her use scissors more freely and without the fear of getting in trouble because I know now that she will never cut her own hair.

Carly's 4th Birthday Party

2009-01-15T22:24:00.000-08:00

When Brother went to work at Northwestern, we were fortunate to meet a couple families who had little girls Rollins age there. One of these was Carly. They don't see eachother that much because they live in Gadsden, but they always enjoy their time together. For Carly's 4th Birthday, she had a gymnastics party, which Rollins was so pumped about. She said, "mom this is a girls only birthday so dad and Grady can't go." She all about "girl only things". Here is a picture of Rollins in the pit.

Here is Ally and Rollins after running down the tramp to jump in the pit. Ally's father also works with Brother. They are only a few weeks apart.

This was Carly's Princess Cake. Rollins said she wanted a cake just like this one. We are planning a trip to Disney World in February, and Carly and Rollins will be making a visit to the Bippity Boppity Boutique so they can be a princess and hopefully eat in Cinderella's castle provided we can get reservations:)

I wish we had a gym in Guntersville where you could have birthday parties. Rollins does gymnastics in Huntsville at Southern States. She absolutely loves it, and I think this is such a wonderful idea for a birthday.

Rollins Update

2009-01-10T22:14:00.001-08:00

So, many of you have called to check on Rollins, so I wanted to let everyone know what is going on. We went to the doctor last Wednesday just to make sure everything was ok and that this was just a freak thing. Dr. Boggess said he believed she passed out from a lack of oxygen because she was crying. However, I did share something with him that I hadn't really discussed with anyone til now. Rollins has this thing she does where she will be playing and all of a sudden go in this daze. I can say her name, and she doesn't respond. I can wave my hand in front of her eyes and she doesn't blink. Then after 10 to 30 seconds, she loosens up and starts laughing. I had always thought she was doing this on purpose to be funny. She sometimes does it multiple times a day. Dr. Boggess has another theory, though. He said it sounds like typical petit mal seizures, and asked how long she had been having them. It's been going on so long, that I honestly have no idea. He said he wanted to get her to a pediatric neurologist because this can really affect her ability to concentrate when she starts school. I told him how Brother has been saying he thought she had ADHD because she can't concentrate and looses focus very easily. If this diagnosis is correct, this could explain her lack of concentration.

Of course as soon as I got home, I got on google. I found out that many times these seizures go undetected for months and these type seizures don't have that "confusion" phase that happens after most seizures. Rollins is able to go right back to what she was doing before it happened and has no remembrance of what happened during the seizure. In most cases, they outgrow them by their teenage years and even though they can't be prevented, medication can be taken to help lower the frequency.

I have to be honest, I am not upset about this at all. I know we have been through a lot with Rollins, and this just seems like another bump in the road. It could be so much worse--I had friends that would have grand mal seizures--that would absolutely terrify me. I know God isn't going to give us more than we can handle. He has already done wonderful things with her Gastritis, and she is a healthy 34 pounds (25th percentile) 3 year old. Grady, too, is getting much better, and is now 27 pounds (25th percentile) and will be 2 in two weeks. We are even planning a trip to Disney World in the next couple months. I am very anxious to see how this goes since neither Rollins or Grady have been away from home since last Fall when we went to Auburn. For those of you that don't know, their Gastritis and Esophagitis is much worse when we travel. They also will not even spend the night with my parents. It's really sad when your 3 year old says she doesn't want to stay in a hotel because it makes her throw up. I am keeping my fingers crossed that all the excitement of Disney will trump these disorders!

Anyway, I will keep you all posted on Rollins appointment with the neurologist. She is such a special little girl with a heart of gold. I am so blessed to have her!

Grady has melted my heart

2009-01-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

For those of you with second children very close in age to your first child, you might have noticed that they don't do things as quickly as the first--or maybe it's just my children. Rollins was talking up a storm by her 2nd birthday. However, Grady has kept his thoughts to himself. He'll say Roll Tide, Hold Me, Golf Cart, Aubie and then of course any one syllable word. He turns two syllable words into one syllable by just pronouncing the first syllable. Like Rollins is Ra, Mommy is Ma, and Daddy is Da. I have been working with him on saying I love you, but he never would even say I, he would just hug himself when I would say I love you. This past week, all four of us were in bed watching a movie, and I whispered in Grady's ear, "I love you!" He turned to my ear, and whispered back, "I love you!" Then gave me a kiss! Now, this is the only way he will say I love you, but he will only do it to Brother or me. My mom has tried so hard with no luck. I guess God kept him from saying it for so long, because he wanted it to be special, and that it was!

Answered prayer?

2008-12-29T21:09:00.000-08:00

Ever since our children were born, I have tried to convince Brother that a christian education would be extremely beneficial to them. He saw nothing wrong with public schools and I will agree that we are very fortunate to have an excellent public school system here in Guntersville. He and I both attended Guntersville from kindergarten til graduation and had wonderful experiences. He went on to Auburn and I to Lipscomb. There was such a huge difference in public and private educations. I am so thankful for having the opportunity to be surrounded by people who believed in the same God and had the same values as me. God was a part of every class you attended and we had uplifting chapel everyday. I just really wanted Rollins and Grady to share some of those same experiences. Well, the school I want to send them to is in Huntsville, and Brother said it makes no sense to drive there everyday when there is a wonderful school here in Guntersville.
I had pretty much given up my argument, when Brother got a call one day from his boss. They were wanting him to relocate to Huntsville. I didn't think much of it because I know how he said he would never leave Guntersville. We talked about it and weighed in on the pros and cons. The pros were endless. What better way to grow a business than to move to a much much larger city? However, the cons were leaving our families, all of which are here in Guntersville. Also, Rollins has already formed some wonderful friendships and I would hate to take her away from that. So, we really didn't talk much about it through the holidays, then the call came this morning. They had to know today if he was going to relocate. I didn't try to persuade him one way or the other because I wanted him to make this decision--I honestly just put it in God's hands because I had no idea myself what to do.
Well, he took the relocation. I have to be honest, I almost cried when he first told me but I have to be supportive and trust that God is working through this with us. Since our house in on the north side of Guntersville, we are going to stay here for a little bit to see how everything goes. If we see that this is where God wants us, we will then move. We have already started looking at real estate there, but have no idea which part of town we would even want to live in. We have decided to keep the lake lot and probably build a cabin so we would have some place to stay when we come visit.
This is exciting but very scary. We don't know that many people in Huntsville, so Brother is going to have to do a good job of networking. Please keep our family in your prayers as we face many important life decisions in the next several months.

The scare of my life

2008-12-28T21:05:00.000-08:00

Today was suppost to be a restful day at home. After a very busy and eventful Christmas Holidays, I was looking forward to just spending time with Brother, Rollins and Grady. We had some friends come over to bring their daughter, Ella, to play with the kids and jump on the trampoline Santa brought us. My neice and her friend also stopped by. We were all standing around the trampoline talking, while the kids were jumping. All of a sudden, Rollins starts screaming. Brother said she landed on her back and he was in a panic because he thought she was really hurt. I got her off the trampoline, and I was holding her like you would hold a baby, trying to decide what to do. All of a sudden, she immediately stopped screaming, her body went limp and her eyes rolled back in her head. Brother was standing right there with me when it happened, and I screamed, "oh my God!" and started running to the house. I have seen someone have a seizure, and that was exactly what happened before they started convulsing. However, this only lasted for a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity, and by the time I was almost in the house, she was back crying. We laid her on her bed and after we determined she hadn't hurt her back, Brother said he was going to take the trampoline down, which Rollins, who was still crying said, "no, I want to jump!" I can't tell you how bad this scared me today. I have never really thought about how to handle a situation like this when it involved my own child. I took all the first aid and cpr courses as a part of my health class in college, but I don't think I could have recalled any of it, if I were to have needed it today. I still don't know what happened to Rollins, but trust me, Dr. Boggess will definitely be getting a call this week. Words will never be able to describe the feeling that overcomes you when your child goes limp in your arms. It's by far the scariest thing I have ever experienced.

This is a picture of Rollins jumping on the trampoline. Brother has now decided not to take the trampoline down, because Rollins loves it so much. Accidents are going to happen and you can't go through your life avoiding everything. I just trust that God is in charge and he will take care of me and my family. Brother and I have both been very upset all day about it. Neither of us could get enough of her hugs and kisses tonight. Thank you so much God for taking care of my baby today!

Rollin's Dance Show

2008-12-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

Rollins's dance class allowed the parents to come in and watch this past Monday and I wanted to post a few pictures. For those of you that know Rollins, she is a very energetic and outgoing child. Once she gets warmed up, she will talk, dance and sing and never get tired. Her attention span is not the best in the world, so dance has been quite a challenge. Gymnastics, on the other hand, has been wonderful for her because you are constantly changing what you do and it's more of an individual sport. However, Rollins absolutely loves dance, so I continue to let her go, even though she disrupts class with her quirky ways. As soon as we walked in the room, she said hey ___ to everyone she knew. When she called out to Grady, she said, "hey grady grobes!" She even said, "hey julie ann" to ann daniel's mother. She was so excited to see everyone, so she got up and started dancing around the room. They hadn't even started, yet she was already getting told to sit down. I couldn't hide my face, because everyone knew who she belonged to--you can't miss her red hair and bubbly personality from the time she walks in the door. Anyway, this is probably the only picture I have of her doing what she is suppose to.

I did manage to get a couple shots of her participating, but notice the child next to her on the left is standing--I guess Rollins was doing her own dance.

I love this picture because you can tell she is really trying.

This is after the program, while they are suppose to be sitting while Mrs. Jane talks. Rollins, however, is working on her facial expressions. I really shouldn't complain about her disposition because I couldn't ask for a happier and friendlier child. However, I do think she might be better in the acting and singing classes they offer. Until then, we will stick with dance so Rollins can watch herself in the big mirrors.

Amazing Faith

2008-12-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

Amazing Faith I have to say that today, I saw God in a way that I had never seen him before. Brother's uncle Mack has been in and out of the hospital the past two weeks and within the last week, his condition began to deteriorate. He developed Pneumonia, ARDS and coded Monday morning. Not knowing if he was going to pull through, Brother, Rollins and I headed to Birmingham this morning. Once we got there, we realized how serious the situation was. His chances of surviving the ARDS was 10%. I think everyone knew the inevitable was going to happen very soon.

If you do not know this family, let me share a little bit about them with you. Mack is an elder in our church, he is on the board of directors at Lipscomb University, and he is just an amazing Christian leader, father and husband. His wife and children share in his love for God and they are all wonderful leaders in the church. I have been fortunate enough to know them my whole life. I started babysitting all his grandchildren from the time they were infants, and I had the wonderful opportunity to watch them grow into the young women and men they are today. This family is focused on God and they have a special gift of music.

While Rollins and I went to the other waiting room to get a snack, I noticed another family in there that you could tell was going through the same thing as the Whitaker family. Not too long after I got back in our waiting room, Kim, Mack's daughter-in-law, walked in with the other family and introduced them to everyone. It was at this moment that I saw God's presence in that hospital waiting room. Joe, Mack's son stood up and said, "let's sing Beulah Land". We all stood up, joined hands and began to sing--Joe is an amazing singer--he is our songleader at church and he did the music for our wedding. His voice is like an angel's. It was hard to hold back the tears, especially as I watched Diane, Mack's wife, sing her praises to God while her husband was taking some of his final breaths. Here are the lyrics to the song. They are very touching especially considering the situation.

I'm kind of homesick for a country,

To which I’ve never been before.

No sad good-byes, will there be spoken,

For time won’t matter, anymore.

Beulah Land, I’m longing for you,

And some day, on thee I’ll stand.

There my home shall be eternal,

Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land.

I’m looking now across the river

Where my faith will end in sight.

There’s just a few more days to labor,

Then I will take my heavenly flight.

Beulah Land, I’m longing for you,

And some day, on thee I’ll stand.

There my home shall be eternal,

Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land.

There my home shall be eternal,

Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land.

Beulah Land,Beulah Land,Beulah Land,

Sweet Beulah Land.

At the end of the song, our preacher, whom Brother and I both adore, Philip Bradley, led a prayer, praying for the two families. At the end of the prayer, Joe led us in one of my favorite songs, A Common Love. I realized that God brought these two families that have never met before together and to share a common love, God's love and to give eachother peace. The words of this song tells us that although we may be strangers, we have so much in common when we have God in our lives. I think Joe does such a wonderful job at picking just the right songs to sing. I wanted to share the lyrics to this song as well.

A common love for each other,

A common gift to the Savior.

A common bond holding us to the Lord.

A common strength when we're weary.

A common hope for tomorrow,

A common joy in the truth of God's Word.

Brother was right out the door and said even the nurses stopped to listen and he said a couple of them got emotional. To me, this is a testament of this families amazing faith in God. Even in the lowest moments, they are able to give praise to God and know that he is their savior. I can only hope and pray that Brother and I can raise a family like this. We had a talk on the way home about how we wanted to make changes in each of our lives to be more like Mack and Diane.

Uncle Mack lost his earthly battle a little after 5 this evening, but he has won the most important battle, and now he has eternal life with God in heaven. Even in his last moments on this earth, he was touching individuals he didn't even know. I am so proud to be a part of this family and get to have the experiences like I had today. Despite the sadness of the day, I learned so much about faith and God's love.

Uncle Mack, you will be missed by so many, but please know that your example lives on and will continue to touch so many because you left a legacy with your wife and children. I know they will continue your good works.

My clothing blog

2008-12-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

OK, so it is in the infant stages, but I hope to grow it very very soon. I wanted to go ahead and share it with you all so you can be apart of something very special to me. I have been sewing since I was 14 and I love making clothes. With the birth of Rollins and Grady, I have really developed a deeper appreciation for handmade original clothing. I have been making things for friends for quite sometime and now I am working on a complete spring line. I am going to start by doing craft shows and offering the clothes through the blog. I love creating custom clothes too so I will continue to work with individuals on developing beautiful pieces. Please check out my blog www.kennedyjamesclothing.blogspot.com. Tell all your friends with children as well.

What a wonderful day!

2008-12-12T23:14:00.000-08:00

Today was a wonderful day! I woke Rollins up this morning for school, because I always let her wake up when she wants to which is usually around 10 or 10:30. She was the leader today so I wanted to make sure she got to enjoy all it has to offer:) She let me put her hair in braided pig tails and she was so proud of them. After lunch at McDonalds we came home and I made some phone calls, but when I got off the phone, I couldn't find Rollins. I looked all over the house for her, and I finally found her sound asleep in her bed. She was exhausted from having to get up early. In the mean time, I get a call from Vera Bradley (keep in mind, we sold the shop back in April). They said they needed my current address, because they had a check they needed to return to me. I asked them what they were talking about, and they said I had overpaid my account back in March and they needed to return the money to me. I thought it was probably 10 or 15 dollars, but I was shocked when she told me how much it was for--how could I have over paid that much? Anyway, I called Brother and told him, and needless to say, he was ecstatic because that just paid for our "Santa". I also got several more orders for clothes and that always makes me happy because I absolutely love getting to sew. I really miss working and being able to contribute financially so this gives me a little more purpose now.
Another highlight of my day was getting to visit with two wonderful high school friends, Kate and Tegan, and their lovely children, Langley and Tripp. We left Rollins at home because she was still asleep, and Grady and I ventured over to Mrs. Sachs. It was so nice visiting with them and the kids played wonderfully together. I wish we could all get together more often. So many of our friends have children the same age and I think it is so neat they get to grow up together, like we all did.
So, we return home and Rollins is still asleep. I told brother we had to wake her up, or she wouldn't go to sleep tonight. We took the kids to Bruce's for dinner, which Grady slept through, and when we were done eating, we drove around looking at Christmas Lights. Brother remembered seeing on the news about Arab's park, so we drove out there. It was beautiful. They have all these little scenes around the walking trail. The first picture here is from when we first got there--we didn't have coats, hats or gloves, and it was 29 degrees!

So, we decided it was just too cold, but the kids wanted to stay, so we took them to Wal Mart to get coats, hats and gloves. Rollins was so proud of her 15 dollar pink coat and Hannah Montana hat and gloves. Grady, who had never worn gloves, actually kept them on and he picked out a dinosaur hat. They were so excited to be there and were being so sweet to eachother--even holding hands! I had several more pictures of them at the park, but for some reason, it won't let me upload anymore, so you can just enjoy these two for now.

Santa Claus

2008-12-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

I have already made several trips to the mall this year in hopes that Grady might get over his fear of Santa. Last year was Grady's 1st Christmas but he was almost a year old, so he already was aware of his surroundings and was not fond of Santa at all. Rollins, on the other hand, has always loved Santa and we always get the best pictures of her with him. So, this past Saturday my parents did their Christmas packages at Generations Footwear and I had planned on taking just Rollins. Grady has been so sick lately and he had been to the doctor Friday and had congestion in his right lung, but they didn't think it had developed into pneumonia yet, but they were treating it like it was. So he was already cranky, but Brother had a bunch of guys coming over to watch the Alabama/Florida game. I thought I would do Brother a favor and take Grady with me. For some reason, as soon as we walked in, Grady walked right up to him. I couldn't believe it. He sat in his lap and smiled for his picture--He never tried to get down, and he just kept looking at him smiling. I was so proud of him, and I just wanted to share these sweet pictures with you all.

What were they thinking?

2008-12-03T22:11:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Brother, Grady and I went to dinner at a local eatery and I noticed a very pregnant woman come in--atleast 8 months along--she was alone and told the waitress she was meeting a friend. The waitress asked her if she could go ahead and get her something to drink. She ordered a glass or water and a corona. I thought I was going to fall out of the bench. I couldn't even get it out of my mouth to tell Brother. What in the world was this pregnant lady thinking, or even more so--what was the waitress thinking who gave her the bottled corona? Her friend later came in and also ordered a beer. When the waitress came to check on them, she asked if there was anything else they needed and the pregnant woman said, "yeah, a cigarette". I am still in total amazement as I sit here and type this. It's one thing to do this in the privacy of your home, but how in the world can it be legal for a public establishment to serve alcohol to a pregnant person? Is there not some law against this? Anyway, I couldn't help but overhear her telling her friend about her recent doctor's appointment where her doctor told her that her baby seemed to be distressed. I would be distressed to if I knew I was coming into this world to a mother like that. Does she think the corona and cigarette would take the baby's stress away? Ok sorry to go off on a rampage about drinking pregnant women. I just get so frustrated with all the careless and irresponsible people having babies when there are wonderful people out there trying so hard to conceive a child that they would love more these other people could ever imagine. It just doesn't seem fair sometimes.

What have we taught our kids?

2008-12-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

With Rollins being three, she is really getting into Christmas and beginning to understand it rather well--atleast we thought. It seems like every commercial that comes on is for some toy, and every commercial just happens to be something else Rollins says she wants. At first, I started making a list of all these things, then Brother and I started to realize that all she knows about Christmas is that Santa brings her lots of gifts and all she has to do is ask him for them. Well, tonight, Brother and I got a little discouraged with all the "oh, I want that too". So, Brother explained to her that not all kids would get gifts like she does, and it would be really nice if one day she could go through her toys and pick out some to give them. Rollins happily said, "o.k., I will". Well a couple minutes later she walks back in the room with an arm full of her favorite toys, and said, "here some toys for the boys and girls". I did everything I could to hold back my tears. She could have picked out the toys she never played with anymore, but she wanted to give them her best toys. Tonight, I was humbled by my 3 year old. We are suppost to give our best not only to the needy, but also to God. I am probably the most guilty of putting everything in front of God. I say my prayers after everything else is done, I go to church if the kids wake up in time, I skip on Sunday school because I don't want Grady to cry, and I only read my bible if I have time. I think we get so caught up in everything going on around us in the world, that we fail to realize why we are even here. I am making a promise to myself and everyone reading this, to put God first and give him nothing but the best of me. Thank you Rollins for teaching me that. Your pureness is one of the many things I absolutely love about you!

Way to busy

2008-11-30T20:18:00.000-08:00

You know, it's funny. When we sold the shop back in April, I thought I was going to have all this time on my hands and have a spotless house, empty laundry baskests and endless time for what I love most--sewing. Well, was I wrong? You bet. My house is messier, the laundry piles are higher, and I am so backed up with my sewing projects. I would have never thought that my life could possible be busier without a job, but somehow it is. I can't even tell you what consumes my day, but something does.

So, seeing as how I am way behing on posting, I thought I might try to bring everyone up to date on the Whitaker household. We have abandoned the Tigers temporarily. After the Vanderbilt game, Brother went and traded our Auburn tags in for Curing Childhood Cancer for him and Breast Cancer research for me. He said he wanted his money to go for a better cause. My poor little ones just don't understand why they aren't in auburn every weekend--rollins wants to move there. Here is a picture from her last game to attend this season.

I guess the big event of October was the birth of my brother, Jon's son, Christopher Cash LeCroy. He was born October 22 at Gadsden Regional weighing 7lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long. Rollins and Grady have fallen in love with their new cousin. Rollins wants to hold him all the time and claims that he talks to her.

Also in October, we attended Carsyn's 1st Birthday. This is the daughter of Brother's cousin, Clark and his wife Cassie. They live in Birmingham and had her party at Overton Park, which Rollins and Grady loved.
Oh how I wished we had parks like this in Guntersville that you could just walk to. I have begged Brother to move to Birmingham, Huntsville or Nashville, but he just can't leave Guntersville. I love big cities and the small communities you find within them. There is such a variety of things to do and I think it would be wonderful for the children. As for now, I guess we will just stay in Guntersville.

We also took a trip to the Pumpkin Patch with Rollins and Grady's nursery school. Rollins absolutely loved the pony ride, which she wouldn't do last year. Grady wouldn't even walk in the rink with the ponies. He has developed a lot of fears right now, and he has become very clingy. I am not really sure what has brought this on, but hopefully, he will grow out it. We can't even go to Sunday school because he won't stay in his class. He immediately starts crying and throwing up. It gets very frustrating, but his doctor said to make him as comfortable as possible in public places so we try to do that. However, Grady did love the petting zoo. He thought the animals were the coolest things at the farm. In fact, he was the last on out of there. I am so glad he enjoyed them.I absolutely love this picture. I have no idea what they were talking about, but knowing the two of them, I am sure it was some deep conversation. I love watching Rollins and Ann Daniel together. It's the sweetest relationship I have ever seen between two children. They genuinely love eachother and can't wait to see eachother even when they have only been apart for a few hours.
Here is another picture of Rollins and her favorite cousin. Everywhere we go, we have to pick up surprises for baby June Bug as rollins refers to him.

On November 12 I turned 30. I have to admit, that it was kind of depressing, because it's another decade passed. My 20's were fantastic. I graduated from college, worked in the corporate world, lived independently, got married, and had two children. I felt like I accomplished so much. Anyway, for my birthday, Brother and I had dinner with our dear friends Stewart and Kate White at my favorite restaurant, Polly's Chop House. We had a wonderful meal and even more wonderful conversation. I am so thankful to have a friend like Kate. We don't get to see eachother that much during the school year, but we make up for it in the summer on the lake.

I just thought this was a cute picture of Grady. It's finally getting cold here, so now the kids have to wear their warm clothes to go outside. They absolutely love being outside and the only thing Rollins wants for Christmas is a trampoline. For those of you who have never seen our backyard, you are not alone, because we haven't either. There is a nice slope all the way to the golf course. We have never even been back there. The kids just have to play in the front yard. So Rollins Christmas present is going to end up costing us a lot more than we bargained for seeing as how we are going to have to build a back yard now. We hope to get started this week. I am just as excited as the kids, because I like being outside as well.

When Rollins was born, my mom became like her second mom. I often wondered what would happen when we had a second child because I called Rollins my mom's child. Well, when Grady came along, my grandmother took him over. She would come to the shop everyday just to hold him all day long while I worked. She was the only one that could get him to sleep by holding him and he recognized her voice everytime she walked in the shop. I am so thankful I had her there to help me. For the 6 months I breast fed him, she would come to us, then she kept him at her house when he started taking a bottle. Since we sold the shop, he doesn't see her everyday, but he hasn't forgotten about here. This picture was taken at Soup day at nursery school. He just loves his grandma!

I thought this was a precious picture of Rollins, Ann Daniel and baby Cash. I think rollins and AD just adopt eachother's family. Rollins even calls AD's grandmother, MiMi.

Oh how they love eachother!

Finally, I will tell you about this picture. I enrolled Rollins in gymnastics with my old coach in Huntsville at Southern States Gymnastics. Brother thought she might be too young, and I didn't want her to feel pressured to do something she didn't want to do, so I told him we would just try it out to see how she likes it. As a former gymnast, I can see talent, and I knew Rollins had it, but I wanted her to find out on her own. I have been absolutely amazed at how well she has done. Her coach couldn't believe the upper body strength she had, which happened to be my weak spot. The gym she is at is extremely competitive, and I just hope she chooses to stick with it. Her coach has started making her do 2 boy style push ups if she falls off the beam, but I have noticed that no one else has to and they fall off everytime they walk the beam. Her coach talked to me after class one day and said she does that because she knows Rollins can do it without falling off instead of her just trying to go down the beam as fast as she could. When we got home, I told Rollins to tell daddy what she has to do when she falls off the beam, she held up 2 fingers and said, "i have to do 2 pushups". Then she showed him how she did them. He thought it was mean, but he just doesn't understand. Last week, she didn't have to do a single pushup, though. My brother, Jon, loves to do stunts with her because you can do anything with her, because she is so tight. You can do full extensions with her while she is doing a cheer and she never even falls. I have to admit that I am so proud of her. She has definitely impressed me and gone far beyond my expectations.

Last Weekend continued

2008-10-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

So, I only got through Friday on my last blog, so I am going to wrap up the weekend.

Saturday, some Auburn friends of ours came over to watch football. They have a little girl in between Rollins and Grady and they love when Ella gets to come over and play. Rollins and G were getting a bath and Ella wanted to join in.

Rollins and Grady wore one of their fall outfits to church last Sunday. They looked too cute so I had to get a picture. They are getting much better about posing for pictures together.
After church, we went to Huntsville to get Wii. Here is Brother playing Wii Cheer that we got for Rollins. It was so funny to see him trying to be tight and do all the correct motions.

A nice weekend at home

2008-10-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

It seems like we have been going and going all fall, but after Auburn's loss to Vanderbilt in Nashville last weekend, we decided not to go to Auburn this weekend, and after watching the game Saturday night, we were so glad we stayed here.

I posted a video last week of Rollins dancing and singing Bow Chick a Wow Wow. I just had to include a picture of her getup she put together for her performance. Her style just cracks me up.

We were finally able to wear some new fall clothes. They loved their new outfits!

Somehow the month of October snuck up on me and I had all these Halloween outfits for the kids and to make it worse, Fall Break is the month of October so they lose one week of getting to wear their halloween clothes to school, so Friday morning, I woke up and made Grady and outfit to match Rollins dress I made earlier. I thought they turned out pretty cute. It's amazing how much they love clothes I make for them. They are so proud of them and tell everyone, "my mommy made this." It makes me proud too!

We also attended the Guntersville versus North Jackson Football game Friday night. Guntersville played a great game, but ended up getting beat by one point. Tegan came to the game with Kate and it was really good getting to see her. Rollins and Grady absolutely love going to football games, so I don't know what we are going to do when football season is over.

I am going to post the pictures from Saturday and Sunday hopefully tomorrow because I need to get to bed. Have a great night!

What a wonderful day!

2008-10-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

There is not really one particular event that made this day so wonderful, but, a culmination of things. I woke up this morning a bit tired, but excited to take Rollins to gymnastics--she loves going and I get to spend the rest of the day with her--it's just girls for a whole day. On the way to Huntsville, I got to talk to my dear friend Tegan about Organic Eating. With Rollins and Grady's disorders, I have been researching ways to help ease up some of the symptoms. I am willing to do whatever it takes, to make their life easier. She is such a blessing because she and her husband and her 1 year old all eat organic. This is such a source of information for me since I know nothing about cooking organic foods. We are hoping to sit down tomorrow so she can teach me everything she knows. At gymnastics, Rollins did so well. She is really progressing and I am so proud of her. Her feet are always together and toes pointed. Her coach said she is a natural and is amazed by her strength, especially in the arms. I was always stronger in my legs, so this is surprising to me. I guess it's because of the 7 gallons of milk we go through at our house a week:) Afterwards, Rollins and I went to Bridgestreet to do a little shopping and have lunch at Rollins's favorite restaurant, Red Robin. Rollins has become my best shopping buddy. She loves to pick out clothes and try them on in the dressing room. Today, I was trying on a dress, and she put her hand up and said, "oh mom, you have got to have that!" It makes me smile just thinking about it. We spent about 45 minutes in Limited Too so that she could pick out a couple necklaces and bracelets. She kept wanting "ear sticks" or what I call earrings. I told her she would have to ask her daddy for that one. Anytime we go to eat, she has to order by herself and today she ordered cheese pizza, prench pries and dip and sweet tea. Waitresses always get a kick out of her because she is so dramatic and acts like she is an adult. Last Friday night, the whole family went to Red Robin, and as we were walking back to the car, Rollins said, "wait, we have to go shopping!" It cracks me up how much she is just like me. Our final wonderful day happening was tonight at dinner. Grady has gone a couple days without vomitting, so he finally ate like he used too. I was so proud of him. He had maccaroni and cheese and corn, and Rollins put her fork in his meal to get a bite, and he picked up his plate and went to sit at the big table. It was fine with me that he didn't want to share because I wanted him to eat as much as little tummy wanted. Rollins has been doing great! She did however, have a few vomitting episodes two nights ago at my parents house. Her voice seems to be getting even scratchier, so I hope she doesn't have more acid damage. We go back to the doctor this month, so I am very anxious to ask him many questions. Mainly if this is genetic. I would love to have more children, but if this is genetic, which it seems to be, I just don't think I can go through this with another child. I am praying that it is just a fluke that they were both born this way. I also want to change Grady's medication since his spells are getting worse and he is having difficulty swallowing his food.
I feel so very blessed to have wonderful people in my life to help with Rollins and Grady and give them the same love I give them myself. My parents are wonderful to them. They love them more than they love their own children and I am so proud to say that. My grandparents have also become a very special part of Rollins and Grady's lives. It brightens the kids faces as soon as they walk through the door. I really didn't have great grandparents that I saw on a regular basis so I think it is so neat that they have developed such a close relationship with them. Also, my brother, Jon and his beautiful wife, Jackie--they have been so good to Rollins and Grady. They are so good to me and Brother and will always keep them if I am ever in a bind or they will even call up and ask if they can just come get them and take them somewhere. They are expecting their first child anyday now, and I know they will be wonderful parents because of the love they have shown for Rollins and Grady. And finally, I am so thankful for Foster, our precious babysitter and friend. She is the only person I trust to stay the weekend with my children and take care of them the way I would. People like her are a rare find. I truly do believe God is a good God, and I don't thank him enough for the wonderful people he has put in my and Brother's life.

War Eagle?

2008-10-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

OK, so I grew up an Alabama fan, went to college in Nashville, and married an Auburn fan. I really never had a preference, but I will admit that I would take Brandy and Hillary's side when debating with Tegan and Ashley at lunch in junior high over whose stadium was bigger--I still don't know the answer, but I am sure Brandy does. So, when Brother and I got married, he left me no choice in who to pull for. He grew up a "dye hard" auburn fan. The year we got married, we went to most of the games and Auburn ended up undefeated. Every Auburn/Alabama game I have gone to, Auburn has won, so I will say, I felt like I have been on the winning team's side. However, this past weekend, really threw me for a loop. I was so excited to go to Nashville because so many of my college friends are still there. William went with us to the game, and we picked up my friend Caryn, who cheered with me in college as soon as we got to town. We met up with two of my pledge sisters, Melanie and Ashley at a neat little restaurant called Rotiers downtown. Everything was going wonderfully! We got to the game and it was a little hot so we didn't go to our seats til right before the game. Auburn gets off to a great start scoring 2 touchdowns in the first quarter. They miss the second extra point and Brother looks at me and says, "that will be the deciding factor in the game." I told him he was crazy. Well, he was right. It was like Auburn just left Nashville after that. Brother was so disgusted. He kept wanting to leave, but my naturally optimistic self kept telling him they would pull it off. We all know the ending to this story so I won't go there. We were suppose to spend the night in Nashville and meet up with my friends after the game, but instead we came home after cheese fries at Outback. Brother has said our days of attending Auburn games are over--atleast til Tony Franklin is gone or something miraculous happens. My poor little Rollins will be heartbroken seeing as how she is the biggest Auburn fan I know. Her best friend, Ann Daniel, who is also 3 called her last night and told her to wear her Auburn cheerleader uniform to school today, so ofcourse she did and so did Ann Daniel. They are both so proud to be for Auburn. Maybe by the time they are old enough to know what's going on, Auburn will be back on their feet.

2008-09-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Here is Kate, Langley, Grady and I at the Guntersville Homecoming parade. Langley and Grady are 2 weeks apart.

Here is what we've been doing since football season began--going to Auburn. The kids love it and Rollins truly believes she is an Auburn Cheerleader.

This video is too funny. It exemplifies Rollins perfectly. She is so much fun and she keeps us in stitches. I have no doubt she will one day be some kind of entertainer. Her imagination and love for attention amazes me.

Rollins is always dancing and here we are at the Auburn/Tennessee game with our friend the McCulley's. Julie Ann went to school with Brother and I, and now Ann Daniel and Rollins are the best of friends.

Here they are watching the parade.

Prayer Request

2008-08-25T22:53:00.000-07:00

June of 07 I had my 3rd knee surgery to replace the metal in my right knee with Kevlar, which I already had in my left knee. The physical therapist tore the kevlar apart a week after the surgery by stretching it too far, but we didn't know it at the time. I never recovered from the surgery and I started training with a trainer in February because I just thought I was really out of shape and that was why my knee was still hurting. I was running 30 minutes at a time and my knee never did get any stronger. I could leg press over 100 pounds with my left leg, and couldn't even do 5 pounds with my right, so I eventually went back to my surgeon for his opinion . He said there was a new procedure where they could put an anchor in my bone and it was virtually indestructable. I agreed to give it a shot. So, last Thursday, Brother and I ventured back to St. Vincents for my 4th and hopefully final surgery. Dr. Adkison gave Brother the pictures from my knee, and sure enough the last surgery he had done, had been totally ripped apart and here I was doing all this running on it. It's a wonder, I didn't damage it any worse than I did. He has now assured me that I will be able to run as much as I want when I recover. I won't know what to do when I can run without pain. I had gotten so used to the pain that it was normal to me. So, as I sit here with my leg properly elevated, watching Alvin and the Chipmunks with Rollins and Grady, I ask for your prayers--not for me, but for Rollins and Grady. For those of you that are close to us, you know about their vomitting problems. For Rollins, this has been going on since she was 9 months old. In the past 2 1/2 years she has gained 7 pounds--that's it. She looks great and normal, but she can still wear a size 12-18 months in pants. When Rollins was born, she stayed in the 100th percentile until she got sick. Now she is in about the 10th. Grady's vomitting started in June. It's only been two months and he already has an umbilical hernia from the strain. It breaks my heart to see them have to go through this. Neither one of them want to eat because they know what will happen. Together they go through an average of 9 gallons of milk a week. This is where they get the bulk of their nutrition. They also enjoy eating popsicles. Grady's rib's have already started poking out and he has gone from the 50th percentile to the 10th as well. They are both being scoped Wednesday morning at Huntsville's Womens and Childrens hospital. This is also Brother's birthday. Neither one of us want them to be scoped, but we know that it's the only way we can help them. Rollins voice has changed and become scratchy, so they are checking for damage to her esophogus as well. Hopefully, it's something they can grow out of and we can all rest at night knowing they are ok. In the meantime, please keep them in your prayers. I will keep everyone updated on the results.

Fertility

2008-08-12T22:54:00.000-07:00

So, I know that I have been really bad about posting this summer. We have been so busy and have hardly even been home, but I just really felt compelled to post tonight. I have a couple of friends who are going through fertility treatments right now and I just wanted to share my story so that they might can find hope in conceiving a child. For those of you who don't know, in July 2002, I went to the doctor because of unbearable headaches--I am not talking migrains or headaches that can be taken care of with tylenol. I am talking about head aches that would leave me unable to function. The MRI found an arachnoid cyst on my left temporal lobe resting against my pituitary gland. The only hope I had in making the pain go away was to have a craniotomy to remove the cyst. By leaving the cyst in my brain, I could suffer an anurism(sp.?) at any moment and not to mention all the complications that arise from the pituitary gland. I didn't produce hormones because the pituitary gland controls the thryoid gland. The doctors told me it would be pretty much impossible to conceive without hormones. Everything pointed to surgery. Here I was, 23 years old, totally supporting myself with a great job in Birmingham. My life was just starting. This would change everything. I would have to quit my job and move in with my parents so they could take care of me. Then, not even two weeks after my diagnosis, Brother proposed. All I could think about was how I wanted my hair, not a wig, when I got married. I asked if I could postpone any thoughts of having surgery, and I found a doctor at the Kirklin Clinic who thought he could control the pain. I had two nerve blocks (Brother said an epidural is nothing compared to the needle that would wrap around my skull) which never worked. I was taking 7 medications a day, one of which I had to take through my nose and ended up eating up the inside of my nose. Nothing seemed to work. Not to mention, I was taking more hormones than my post menoposal grandmother. Brother and I had already decided that we would either adopt or have the surgery after we got married so that we could have a chance at having a biological child. Four months after we got married, I ended up pregnant. I had monthly blood work for the past 2 years and my hormones never even registered. The doctors office called right after I took the test to let me know that they needed to increase my hormones again and they thought I was crazy when I told them I was pregnant. They said there was no way. I went out and got a few more test--all different brands and they all said the same thing--the impossible had happened. I had heard wonderful things about Clinic for Women and Dr. McMichens so I decided to give them a shot since all my doctors were in Birmingham and I wanted to have the baby in Huntsville. I was so thankful for that decision. I honestly believe there is not a better clinic in the world. They were so receptive to my concerns about the cyst since most of them rupture during child birth. The day I was induced, they gave me nubane before they ever started the pitocin and then they gave me the epidural as soon as they started the pitocin. I wasn't even dilated when I went in, but because I was at such ease, I dilated to 10 in 3 hours and had a baby after 3 pushes. Because of the low stress and comfortable environment, my cyst held through just fine. Amazingly, even through the pregnancy and after, I never could produce any hormones and nine months later we got surprise number 2--I was pregnant yet again. I have never taken any type of birth control to this day. Grady is 18 months now and I really felt like God knew we needed these children. There is not a doctor anywhere that can explain how I got pregnant--I just tell them it was because God sent these children to us as a blessing. They have taught us more than anyone else. They have shown us what Unconditional love means and how to find happiness in the simplest things. Brother and I both needed that. He had been through so much with the loss of his parents in 2001 and I really believe Rollins and Grady are angels he sent to us to help ease Brother's pain and restore his faith. God knows us better than we know ourselves and he knows what we need. We just have to give our life and faith to him and he will provide us with everything we need. For those that God chooses to be adoptive parents, it's because there is a child out there that really needs them and their love. Sometimes, it might just be that his time is not our time, and as hard as it is to understand why, we just have to trust him.
It is so frustrating to see unwed young girls having children they don't want when there are wonderful Godly couples exhausting all efforts to conceive a child. There is no other explanation except for it all being part of God's plan. If I can give any advice to anyone trying to conceive--Trust in God. He is such a good God and he will bless you in ways you would never expect. Just look at us!

Summer 2008

2008-06-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

This summer has been pretty low key so far, but we are enjoying it much more this year now that Rollins and Grady are getting more independant. We have spent most of our free time at the lake with our family and friends.

Here is Rollins and Ann Daniel on the barbie jeep at the McCulley's. Rollins loves Ann Daniel to death and they play so well together. I am so glad she has atleast one girl her age that she really likes. It just seems that everyone else her age is a boy. There were only 4 girls in her nursery school class this past year. I don't know what was in the water when we had her but she is definitely in the minority.

Brother got us a 2 person kayak for the lake so we can take the kids for rides. I thought he was crazy, but we have really enjoyed it. Not to mention, it's pretty good exercise for both of us. Several of our friends got one too so maybe we can all go on rides together. We are also planning on taking it to the beach with us. I don't know how confident I am of my paddling skills in the ocean but it should be very interesting.

This picture is so pitiful. Last year we had a pool at the boathouse, but it somehow flew into the lake over the winter, and we had not gotten a new one yet. It was really hot, so Rollins wanted to go swimming. Brother got the bright idea of filling the cooler with lake water (our water line had also busted over the winter, so we didn't have fresh water) and let that be Rollins swimming pool. She didn't mind at all. I will say that she is usually good at making the most of every situation. She stayed in the cooler all day.

Grady is still not too fond of the lake. We are trying to get him used to the water. He loves the swimming pool but I think he feels the same way about the water as I do. I have never been a big fan of lake water. Hopefully by the end of the summer, he will be swimming all over the place like his big sister.

End of school for Rollins

2008-06-06T19:16:00.001-07:00

Rollins had her nursery school program and it was quite funny. She hadn't had a nap that day and I was real interested in how she would do. She came out, sat in her seat, of course beside Ann Daniel, and sang her songs. I was so proud of her!

Then, they began to sing, "Oh be careful little hands what you do" and Miss Rollins decides she has a booger that she needs to get right in front of everyone. Everyone was laughing so I joined in.

Then, Rollins just gets bored and decides to lay in the floor. Why is it the teacher's grandaughter has to be the worst behaved when all the parents are watching?

Here she is being "Day One" on the days of creation. She did this beautifully, so she was beginning to renew my faith in her.

And finally, here she is getting her diploma. Notice how we started the program with a bow and ended it, without one. I do not know what her deal is, but it drives me crazy because she would rather her hair hang in her face.

This is a great shot of her and Ann Daniel from the last day of school. They have become such good friends and I love to watch them play together. They are so sweet and sincere with eachother and they get so excited to see eachother. I am sure this is just the beginning of a very long friendship. What is so neat about this is that Brother is the one that introduced her parents back in college. Ann Daniel's mother, Julie Ann, was from Guntersville. Brother had a friend, Chris, at college who graduated with Clark, Brother's cousin in Birmingham. Brother brought Chris home with him spring break and that is how he and Julie Ann met. Now they live here.

Rollins had a wonderful school year and I can't wait for Grady to go next year. She is such a social butterfly and has developed so much as a result of her schooling. She has made some precious friends and I am looking forward to next year when they all come back.

May Update

2008-05-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

I am going to try to update you on May in several post. Jim and Whit threw a birthday party for on of Auburn's quarterbacks, Neil Caudle. They rented out the cabins at Gunters Landing and invited a lot of Auburn people. This is a picture of Brother and Tommy Trott who also plays for Auburn. For those of you that know Brother, he loves his Auburn tigers so he really enjoyed the party. Bishop Black out of Decatur played and Crawmama's catered. I will have to give it to Jim and Whit, they really know how to throw a party.

I will have to admit that I felt a bit strange at the party. There were all these people that I grew up babysitting. I was definitely the oldest and the only one who had had a child, but I guess I can still hang with the young ones.

Also in May, was GHS graduation. Here Rollins and I are with my niece Whitney. We love our Whitney, and I am glad she is staying here for atleast another year to go to Snead. There were four of the cousins that graduated--Whitney, Joseph, Raechel and Lindsay. Even though it's Brother's family, I grew up babysitting Joseph, Raechel and Lindsay. I will have to scan some old pictures and put them on here. Rollins and Grady did so well. They both sat through the ceremony and clapped for every graduate.
We went to Mack and Diane's afterwards for a graduation party. Brother is really lucky to have such a wonderful close family and I feel so blessed to be a part of it.

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

I have so been looking forward to Mother's Day. Rollins has been telling me Happy Mother's Day all week. So, Saturday we had a babysitter come (this was the first time either of the kids had ever seen her, so I was nervous how they would react, but they were both asleep when we left) and we went to dinner with Kate, Stewart, Tim, Foster, Tim and Darla. It was so nice getting to get out without the kids. We never got a call from Haley, the babysitter, so we just assumed the kids were still asleep, because I knew it would probably freak them out to see a stranger in their house and no mom or dad, so we went to the boathouse after dinner. We got home about 10 and they were both awake and happy as could be. Rollins felt a little warm and by the time we got into bed, she was running over 103 fever. We put medicine in her juice and when we woke up the next morning, it was still 102.9, so we skipped out on church. I was really sad because I always love the mother's day sermon. It makes me feel good and I really needed it right now. Anyway, we gave Rollins more medicine and about two hours later it was just like the light turned on. She sat up and wanted to get a shower, and I thought she was over her little spell, so we got ready and decided to meet my family for lunch. We got to the restaurant and Rollins wouldn't even talk to anyone and for those of you who have been around her--that is totally out of character. She kept her head on my shoulder the whole time and I could tell she was running a really high fever. We couldn't figure out what was going on and Dr. Nixon said as long as she was drinking plenty of fluids, she should be ok. Her fever ended up at 104.2. Brother and I were both scared to death, so we got her a suppository (she had to have them when she had pneumonia and they worked pretty well) she slept til 4:30 and once again she woke up in a great mood, so we decided to attend Senior Sunday for Whitney at church. I have never been more proud of my daughter as I was this night. She usually spends church in the nursery, but there wasn't one, so I was anxious to see how she would do. She stacked the song books and sat on them right between me and my grandmother. She sang with us even though I had no idea what she was saying and she would put her arms around us and lean over and kiss us. After we sang "The Greatest Command" (which was sung at our wedding) she said out loud where everyone heard her--"Mom, that was a great song!" Everyone just laughed. Rollins truly is an extraordinary child. she has such a huge heart and she knows just what to say when someone is feeling down and she is only 2. I have babysat and taught so many children, and I have never seen anyone like her--she is truly a gift from God. I honestly believe God sent her here as an angel on earth. She senses when I am having a bad day and she will come to me and say, "mom, it breaks my heart to see you sad, I love you! and it's going to be ok" and then give me a kiss and wrap her arms around me and hold me. If every child could be like her, this world would be such a better place. But back to Mother's Day, we watched a video of the seniors growing up and Whitney had pictures of Jim and Mary. When they came up on screen, I told Rollins, there is your grandfather or there is your grandmother, and it felt so strange to me, because she has no idea who I am talking about, and I don't even have any stories to tell about them. It really makes me sad, because I know how much Bother loved them and how much he wishes they could have seen Rollins and Grady. They meant so much to Capper, Whit, Jim, Whitney and Katie, and they get to have all these memories to take with them, and our children never even got to meet them. I know it really bothers Brother, and I just wish so badly that somehow, God could let them meet. They truly were wonderful people and I want Rollins and Grady to know that.
So, even though Mother's Day was filled with sickness, it was a blessing. I am constantly reminded of how wonderful my life is and how lucky I am to have the most precious children in the world. They have given me joy beyond anything I could have ever imagined and it just keeps getting better. I just pray that I can be a loving and supportive mother to them for the rest of my life, and maybe, just maybe, they can one day look back, and say, "I had the best mom in the world and I know she loved me". If that can happen, then my work here is done and I will feel like I have lived a complete life.

Sorry it's been a while

2008-05-09T22:23:00.001-07:00

So, I know it has been a few months since I last posted, but a lot has happened since then and we have been extremely busy, but I am making a commitment to posting more often. As most of you already know, we sold Grady's on Gunter back in March. I was so ready to home with Rollins and Grady, so it was such a blessing. Brother thought I would get really bored at home because I am the person who always has to have something going on. However, I have managed to find plenty to do. I can't tell you how many birthday parties, wedding parties and baby showers we have been to in the last couple of months. We also went to the beach for a week for my brother's wedding. It has been wonderful not having to worry if everything is ok at the store. My stress level has gone down tremendously. Rollins and Grady have really enjoyed having me home to. We are finding all kinds of activities we enjoy doing together. One thing is fishing in the ponds around our house. We have found an awesome pond for bream and another couple for bass. As a matter of fact, Brother and Tim (Foster's boyfriend) are fishing as I type and it is 1 in the morning. We had planned on building a house at the boathouse, but we are really beginning to think we might just want to stay out here because we love playing golf and having the pool and fishing. They are also fixing to start serving dinner at the clubhouse, so we are really pumped about that--their food is excellent. So, I guess we might just build a cabin at the boathouse, so we can still have a place to stay if we want to go to the lake.
Here is a picture of sweet Grady at one of the ponds by the house. That is cousin Whitney in the background. Rollins and Grady love when she comes over.

So Rollins is becoming very opinionated when it comes to clothes. She wears dress up high heels and always carries a purse. Well, I have had a kidney infection this past week, so Brother took her to school. On this particular day, she picked out her own clothes--they were size 18 months that I had pulled out to pack up because they were too small. You could see her diaper under her skirt, so I told her the only way she could wear it, was if she wore big girl panties, and she did. She is so stubborn. She has no interest in potty training even though she knows what to do and ask for a diaper when she needs to pee, but she decided that for this day, she would use the bathroom like she is suppose to just so she could wear some short skirt with pockets.

Here is a picture of Grady on the motorcycle Uncle Jon gave him for his 1st birthday--it is so dangerous, so he can only ride it when we are with him, but that is ok, Jon and Jackie just found out they are having a boy, so I can get them back.

And finally, here is my little fisherwoman. She is growing up so fast. I want her to stay this age forever. She is so sweet and loving and has a deep concern for other's feelings. I could not have asked God for a better daughter. I am so thankful for her and the joy she brings to all our lives. I love you so much Rollins!

Don't worry, I am so proud of Grady too and I am sure when he is able to communicate, he is going to impress us with his kindness as well. He is my little tough guy. He can knock the mess out of his head and never even cry--he is so happy all the time. He plays so well by himself when rollins is at school, and I can get so much done. He gives the best hugs in the world and has the sweetest laugh. Grady has given my grandparents a good reason to stay in this world for a lot longer.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-02-29T13:44:00.000-08:00

February must be a popular month for birthdays. We have had atleast one party every weekend. Here is a picture from Rollins first Tea Party--It was Ally Carr's Birthday. Rollins thought she was so big because all the girls were in the 1st Grade. In this particular picture, all the other girls were running around screaming that there was a ghost, and Olivia Griep and Gracie Harrell got in the Rose Petal Cottage to keep Rollins safe.

This next picture is from Ann Daniel's 3rd Birthday. She had a safari party with live animals including a kangaroo, monkey, fox and snake. Rollins absolutely loved it! My mom went with us because I had Grady too.

We also found out that Grady's excema is not allergy induced, which I was kind of hoping it was, so I could atleast know what to do to prevent it. It is absolutely breaking my heart to see him in pain, but hopefully it will get better when the weather gets warmer.

Also, I just finished my 3rd week of working out with Amanda Bradford at Therapy Plus. She is killing me with her cardio, but I need it so badly. I am so out of shape and hopefully by summer, that will all change. I have lost about 7 pounds so far, but I have a lot more to go.

Brother and I are trying to take time for ourselves because everything this past year has been focused on Rollins and Grady (which is not bad) but we just need "us" time as well, so Brother's wonderful niece Whitney has been babysitting for us one night a week so we can go to dinner with friends. Last weekend we went out with Kate and Stewart to KC's. It was wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed the company. However, right when we got our food, Kate's phone rang and it was her mom telling her Langley had thrown up. As soon as she got off the phone, my phone rang. She said, "wouldn't it be funny if they were calling to tell you Grady threw up?" Well, she was right, so our night was cut short, but atleast we got out. This weekend, one of Brother's friends is coming up from Cullman with his new girlfriend. I can't wait to meet her.

Jon and Jackie's wedding plans are coming right along. The invitations came in today, so I have to get them printed so they can get them in the mail. I think it is going to be beautiful and hopefully much warmer weather than we are having now.

Valentine's Day

2008-02-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night before Valentines Day was rather exhausting. I had so much to do for Rollins party at school the next morning, and Grady was so sick. He had not held down any foods for 3 days, and the on call doctor told us we needed to go to the ER to see if he needed fluids. So, we skip out on the church valentine party and take Grady to the ER. Brother stayed in the car with him til we got called back because you can only imagine what all was sitting in the waiting room in the middle of February in Marshall County Alabama. After over an hour we get to go back there--they said his fluids were good, but they were worried he might have the flu or strep. He has been so irritable lately, and for those of you that don't know, Grady has been battling a number of ailments lately. We go to the allergist Monday for more allergy testing, so hopefully we can pinpoint what is causing all his problems. He is so behind on his vaccinations because we can't get him well long enough to go to the doctor. Anyway, after 4 hours, we get to go home still with no answers--just a "we'll call you with the results"--well it's been 2 days and still no results! After we got home, it was about midnight, and Brother couldn't wait to give me my present(which I was under the impression we weren't doing gifts). He had gotten me a smoky quartz David Yurman necklace--I absolutley love Yurman and he is so sweet to get me something in it
for every occasion. I still had to go to wal Mart because Brother had gotten into my valentine candy for Rollins class, so finally at 3:30 I get to lay my head down for a few hours.

Here is Grady Valentines morning getting into his candy. His favorite thing was the big frog balloon. He carried it all around the house with him.

Here is Rollins Digging into her candy when she got out of the bath--notice all the nerds in the floor. I had to vaccuum them up last night. She has this thing for emptying contents of boxes onto the floor, but never cleaning them up.

Here is Rollins at her Valentines Party at school. She loves going to "Miss" Kim's.

I love this picture--this is such typical Rollins--acting goofy

Here is Rollins and her little friend Ann Daniel. They are 2 of the 4 girls in her class, and there are 14 boys! Atleast they can have their pick. Rollins loves playing with Ann Daniel and they are so sweet together--they hold hands when they walk in the hallway and "Miss" Kim says they get into these conversations with eachother that are just so cute. By the way, this is one of the outfits I have made her recently. I am trying to get back into sewing.

On another note, my little Brother Jon is getting married April 12 in Gulf Shores. I never thought he would get married, but I was wrong. I wish them the best!

Grady's 1st Birthday

2008-02-13T09:01:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Grady's 1st birthday a week ago. He is finally walking--much later that his big sister did, but I guess since he is a boy, it just takes longer to learn things:) I just can't beleive how time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday Rollins was celebrating her first birthday. Here is a picture of the cake I made for the party--the theme was sailboats because I still had his birth announcements that I never sent out, so I used those for his invitations. Here are some pictures of us singing to him, him blowing out the candles and then opening presents.

My First Ever Blog

2008-01-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

OK, so I thought MySpace was a neat way to keep in touch, but after viewing many of my friends and family's blogs, I wanted to join in. I don't really know where to start, but I guess I will give you the basics. Brother and I are living in Guntersville, Alabama, although I would be open to moving anywhere, he wants to stay here. We have two beautiful children-Rollins who was born July 2005 and Grady was born January 2007. Rollins is my mini me--she has the curly red hair and the attitude to go with it. Grady is my sweet innocent child, although I will say, he is learning a lot from his big sister. Rollins is at the age where she doesn't miss a thing and you have to be extremely careful with what you say. She like to repeat everything later on when she is talking to someone else. She learned to count in Spanish before she could count in English--thanks to Handy Manny. She knows all 5 dance positions, can sing any christmas carol you request, and is already a backseat driver constantly telling us to watch out. She has a whole entourage of baby dolls that go with us everywhere. She puts them in their own carseats, carries a diaper bag with bottles, diapers, cell phone and camera, and has to have them wrapped in blankets. We have to take their pictures when they do something new (Rollins stands behind me and makes them smile). Brother and I just love to watch her--she cracks us up everyday with something new. Grady, on the otherhand is our homemaker--he likes to vaccuum, cook, and have his hair blowdried. His isn't walking yet, but he can stand forever. I know he can do it if he would just try, but I think he enjoys crawling. However, he can get to the top of the steps within seconds. He has already given me several mild heart attacks when I turn my back for just a second.

Brother works as a representative with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and loves his job. I have a gift shop in town, but would love to be home with my children. I really miss getting to see them all day--they are only this age once, and hopefully one day soon, I can be home with them. We do try to make the most of the time we have together. Rollins and Grady travel with us pretty much everywhere we go. This past summer, when Grady was 5 1/2 months and Rollins wasn't quite 2, we took them to Milwaukee for Brother's annual meeting. We spent a couple days in Chicago beforehand and took Rollins to the American Girl Doll Store. It was such an awesome trip. We drove the whole way taking 3 days going up there, but did it all in 1 day coming home (we even managed to get a stop in to The Rainforest Cafe in Nashville so Rollins could blow out the candles on a volcano for her 2nd Birthday). Out of all the places I have been in my life, that was the best trip ever because it was just our family--a lot of people thought we were crazy though--Grady had never even spent a night in anything but his crib. I really hope we can do that again one day.

Anyway, I plan on keeping this up and trying to fit in time to let everyone know how our family is doing.