Saturday, July 23, 2011

Jaxon's 3 Month Photobook

Here is the photobook that I made with Jaxon's 3 month pictures:


Thursday, July 14, 2011

Happy Birthday to my Best Friend!

Today is Aunt Jenny's birthday!

Happy Birthday Aunt Jenny!!

I have always believed that God brings the people into your life that you need.  God knew that I would never have a sister...instead, He gave me someone better.   One day almost 20 years ago, God gave me Jenny!

Jenny is my children's Godmother, my should to cry on, my first phone call when I need to talk to someone (other than Larry), my sounding board, my advice giver, someone who celebrates happy moments with me and grieves in sad moments, my number 2 on speed dial (number 1 is reserved for Larry), my favorite Target shopping buddy, the mother of three of my favorite kids in the world (besides my own), the person who I can be myself around, the person who loves me for me, the person who knows me better than most and most importantly, my best friend.

Jenny is intertwined in most of my childhood memories.  Meeting outside her house the summer we both turned 12 years old.  We shared countless hours on the phone.  We spent so much time at each other's house that we considered each set our second parents.  We had pool parties and sleepovers.   We learned how to drive together - me in my parent's Mitsubishi Eclipse and her in her dad's Izuzu Truck (both parents thought it was important to learn how to drive a manual car).  We watched as each other went through high school relationships and comforted each other when those relationships failed!  We went to homecoming and prom together.  We cheered each other on as we graduated high school.  And we watched as acceptance letters came in from different colleges.  We watched each other grow from little girls into young women.

Our friendship doesn't end with childhood memories and it didn't end with graduation from High School.  Today, Jenny is just as much a part of my every day life.  She is there for me on days that I am missing my parents - knowing that she doesn't need to say anything, just knowing that I need her to be there for me.  She flew to Alabama the day after Jaxon was born and watched with me as he lay in the NICU.  We talk or text daily.  She is involved in my life and the lives of my children.  They know her and they love her - something that is so precious and important to me.  We are navigating our lives through motherhood and adulthood...together!

And our future is already planned.  Girls trips to escape the stress of everyday life.  Laughing as our kids go to school, sharing our worries when they begin driving and watching with pride as they all graduate high school.

I am so thankful that God gave me this friendship.  I am glad that He knew that I would need someone like Jenny by my side, not just through the good times, but also through the bad times.  He knew that our lives would be rocky, but our friendship would help us through those difficult times.  He knew that our laughter would be great together and our memories would be treasured.  He knew that instead of giving me a sister, He would give me a best friend!  And for all of that, I thank Him!

Jenny - Happy 32nd Birthday!  We love you and we are so lucky you are in our lives!  Thank you for being a part of my past, my present and my futures.  Thank you for loving my boys just as much as I do. Thank you for giving me two beautiful nephews and one gorgeous niece!  Thank you for being there for me and for knowing me the way you do.  You are the best friend a girl could ask for :)

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Bowling and Heaven

Today we took Alex bowling for the first time.  He had a great time!  Not only did he love rolling the ball down the lane, but he really loved running back to see the animation on the tv screen about the pins.  Jax had a great time as well, he slept for the first half and then woke up and watched us bowl.

A funny little story about it - ever since the tornadoes that went through Alabama, Alex has been terrified of bad weather.  In an effort to ease his fears, we have been telling him that thunder is just God and his angels bowling.  We even try to incorporate our angels into it.  For instance, we tell him on a really loud boom that Pa Larry must have got a strike because it was really loud or when it is just a little rumbling in the distance, we tell him that Grandma Kathy probably threw a gutter ball.  He loves that :)  Well, when I first mentioned going bowling he kept telling me that he did not want to go.   I wasn't sure why - he had never been so he had no idea whether he would like it or not.  Eventually he told me that he did not want to go bowling because he was not ready to go to heaven.  He said when you go to heaven you don't come back and he did NOT want to go bowling there.  Poor kid :(  I explained to him that we were going bowling near Daddy's work and that they have bowling places here on Earth as well as in heaven.  I felt so bad for him for being so worried.  My poor little guy!

Here are a few pictures from our adventure:

Getting ready to bowl:


This kid knows how to rock the bowling shoes!  How cute does he look?

Putting Alex in the computer:

Sleepy Jax:

Picking out a bowling ball:

Bowling with Daddy for the first time ever:



It took awhile to finally get down there :)

The next time bowling...he tried it "granny style"!  Worked much better:

Thank goodness for bumpers:

Love this one:

High-five for Daddy:

Happy Jax:

Sarah and Larry:

Alex:

Sunday, July 3, 2011

First Stitches

I know that little boys will get injured and little boys will get hurt, but when it happens to YOUR little boy it just breaks your heart!

Today, we took Alex to the Bridgestreet.  They have a fountain area where little kids can run around and and play in the water.  Good idea, right?!  It started out great.  Alex was having fun, playing in the water and being silly.  In an instant it turned out not so great.  Larry and I looked down at Jaxon's stroller to move it and the next thing we know is Alex runs up to us, telling us he has fallen down and with blood gushing from his chin.  Larry, being the quick thinker, grabs a diaper and holds it to Alex's chin so the blood doesn't get everywhere.  Eventually, we calmed Alex down enough and we were able to look at his chin and realized that it was cut a little more than what a simple band-aid could handle.  We quickly left Bridgestreet and headed to the ER.

At the ER, they numbed him up and stitched him up.  He got 2 stitches on the inside and 6 stitches on the outside.  The nurses and doctor kept commenting on how well behaved he was and how brave he was being.  He just laid there and let them stitch him up like it was something that he has done everyday.

A little funny story about the whole incident:

While we were waiting to be seen by the doctor, another lady came into the room.  I forget what exactly her title was, but ti was one that I didn't recognize.  She told us that she wanted to ask Alex a few questions and explain to him the procedure that he was about to have done.  This is how the conversation went:

Lady:  Hi Alex, I work here at the hospital.  Can you tell me what you did today?!
Alex:  Mommy, what did I do?
Me:  Alex, tell her what happened.
Alex:  I fell down and hurt my chin, right Mommy?
Me:  Yes, Alex.
Lady:  Alex, where did you fall down?
Alex: Where did I fall down, Mommy?
Me:  Alex, where were we?
Alex:  At the fountains.  Right, Mommy?
Me: Yes.

You get the picture.  I was so afraid this lady was from child protective services checking up on us.  All the while, Alex was asking was asking me for reassurance.  I was hoping she didn't think he was being coached in any way.  Fun times.

Turns out the lady works with the hospital and explains to kids what is going on - in ways the child can understand.  She told Alex he would be getting blue strings in his chin to help heal him and showed him a doll that had blue strings in it.  He was able to touch and feel the strings - which helped calm him down a little bit about it.  She also told him that he needed to stay very still so the doctor could put the strings in.

All in all, Alex was such a trooper during the whole ordeal.  He only cried for a few minutes - I was so proud of him!

Here are a few pictures of our time at the fountains, before he fell down and a few pictures while we were at the ER:






At the ER: