Blue bonnetts...

trying to get a good picture of all of us is like pulling teeth...

Wish that I didn't have Lily in the car seat...heard there were snakes...yikes

sweet thomas...

My little stud...oh yea, that is an Auburn football that he religiously carries with him...daddy is hoping that it will teach him not to fumble! :-)

Riley (Thomas' girlfriend)

Helping his little sis out...

Lily is not too fond of the sun just yet...don't worry, if I have anything to do with it she will love it as much as I do, soon...

As close as she could get...

as good as it gets...

We finally took the time to take the kids pictures in the blue bonnetts..Not sure how to spell it? I just couldn't leave Texas without my kids pictures in the pretty flowers. Such a "Texas" thing to do. Not really sure if the flowers are just in Texas or why it is such a big deal to do it, but I knew I had to do it before moving. Thanks Amy, for getting us out there and such a pretty place to take them.

7 months old...a.k.a. 3 months old!!!!

Yes, Lily is 7 months old today from her birthday but her corrected age is actually 3 months old. So hard to believe that she has already been with us 7 months! A week ago she weighed a little over 9lbs! Woohoo! What is so crazy is that I have had two friends give birth to babies already bigger than that! Oouch...is all I can think of. Looking at her I can't imagine giving birth to something that big! Lily seems so big to me but of course we still get the stares and the comments about the "little baby". If they only knew...

She has become a very happy, content baby. She often just swings or sits in her bouncer and just smiles at anyone who will stop and talk to her. She is always on the move, kicking like crazy and throwing her head around to see everything possible. I keep telling her that she is never going to gain weight if she keeps moving so much. She has turned into a fabulous sleeper at night...I know I shouldn't say that because tonight she might prove otherwise. But for almost two weeks now she has been sleeping through the night and wakes up so happy. A lot of mornings I have to wake her up to eat! Crazy...Thomas was never like that! Thomas has been very good with her for the most part. He likes to get right in her face and talk to her in his sweet little baby voice. He is now getting interested in trying to pick her up...yikes! He makes up songs and sings to her in the car and continues to call her a he! Too sweet.

Today I was reminded of how differently her early path of life could have been. I became overwhelmed with emotion wondering why? Why did God allow our baby to do so well and why my friend's baby is still struggling? I know I will never have a concrete answer so for now I will continue to praise Him and thank Him daily for being so faithful in healing our precious miracle baby. I know that I did nothing to deserve it but am so thankful we serve a gracious and merciful God. Each time I look at Lily I am also reminded of all of you and your faithful prayers and for that I will be forever thankful! I pray that whatever you may be going through that you will always know the hope and peace that comes from knowing and serving God. May God bless you all!

Please Pray...

Hi, Will you please pray for my friend's baby who remains in the NICU. He is having surgery today, actually right now. They have had a very long journey and I pray that this surgery is successful and that their stay in the NICU is almost over. I am quickly reminded of how blessed we are and so grateful that Lily is home and healthy. Praise God! I pray that my friend and her family can experience the amazing joy that comes when you bring your baby home. Thanks. I will keep you posted.

Rays Visit

Park Pictures with Didi and DidiPop

Lily's first plane ride

Mommy and Lily on the plane...Lily wasn't too happy

Plane ride home to Texas...Much happier Lily

Lily and I flew to North Carolina a week ago to meet Greg to house hunt. Lily did really well flying. She slept most of the flight which was so nice for me. We flew through really bad weather and to say the flight was rough is an understatement. I was just glad to be on the ground once we landed. She did really well on her first trip away from home. She was a trooper looking at houses all day long. We were so glad to get to fly home with Daddy!

Easter 2009

This picture sums up our Easter morning...too funny

Easter morning...my little cutie Thomas posing for the camera

Elivs grin Lily...

Lily's first Easter outfit...

Sleepy bunny...

My two handsome men...

the best picture we got of the two of them...maybe next year...they match if you can't tell!

One happy moment for Lily that day...

One last palm tree picture before we leave them behind and head for the mountains...

Mommy and Easter Lily...

Could've been cute...Lily just wasn't having it that day!

Lily's first Easter wasn't exactly picture perfect, but they never are, right? It didn't matter that I got up early, tried to prepare everything the night before, I still wasn't ready for pictures etc. until it was time to leave for church. So we will get pictures after right? Wrong. It started storming and raining really bad right when church ended. Greg finally made a run for it to get the car for the rest of us. Needless to say he was soaked from head to toe, so the family picture went out the door as well. Oh well...

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday worshiping our Risen Lord and remembering the amazing hope we have in Him.

My mom is Famous

That's right, Helen is a true fashionista...setting trends at the Masters. Follow the link where they compliment her outfit. Pretty fun!

Helen at The Masters!

Quick update on our crazy lives...

Flower Power...

Daddy and Lily time...

Smiling at Daddy...

Loving Mommy and Daddy's bed...

Thomas checking out Daddy's new ride...4 door Jeep Wrangler...

My middle name is officially Crazy!! I constantly feel as if I have been in a tornado and back again. We have our house on the market and trying to constantly keep it clean and picked up is totally exhausting. With a 3 yr. old who loves to throw everything everywhere every day and having a baby with all sorts of chairs and swings, makes for a lot of picking up and hiding. Greg is also traveling almost every week and we are trying to find a house in North Carolina. Not to mention all of the regular day to day stuff that comes with raising two kids. Needless to say, some nights I am just living for the moment when both kiddos are safe in bed!

I have to share some funny things that Thomas has said lately. He is very chatty these days and acts as if he is 3 going on 13. He really thinks he can do everything himself and gets really angry when you try to help him. I don't even remember the terrible twos, three is way worse and overrides anything that happened at two! Today at the park he told me he wanted to play "hide and secret" with me, instead of hide and seek. He also calls everything fun a park. The airport is called "airpark" the inflatable jumping place is called "jumping park" swim lessons is "swim park", and so on. Tonight we ate at Chik-fil-A, and the big dressed up cow came walking through. At first Thomas started yelling "Hi Dog, Hi Dog" I quickly told him that it was a cow. He said "Hi Cow" The cow came over and Thomas started laughing and said to the cow, "What in the world cow, what in the world are you doing here?" I of course got a good laugh. Not sure where he picked up on that one. Too funny. I have got to start writing things down, because I am forgetting so many.

Lily is doing well. She had a checkup 2 weeks ago and weighed 8lb. 6oz, so hopefully we are over that now. We will have to break out the Wii Fit again and see. She is doing better sleeping. Getting up usually once during the night. She is smiling all the time and starting to coo some. She is very nosey and curious these days. She loves watching Thomas and T.V. Medically she is doing great. She is still on the same reflux and BP meds. We don't go back to the doc until mid May, yikes. We haven't gone that long without seeing a doctor!

Hope you all are doing well!

What's for dinner...

Before...

After...

So, last week I decided to cook dinner. Shocking, I know. Greg was home from a week of traveling so I thought I would make homemade cornbread, a southern living recipe for new potatoes, salad, and grill some fish. Greg walks into the kitchen from grilling the fish and immediately makes a face and said "what smells?" I of course was offended and said thanks a lot for that! Anyway, during the preparation/cooking I lost the key to unlock the cabinets. I was getting annoyed and blaming Thomas and Greg for taking it. When dinner was ready and I went to pull the cornbread out of the oven, I noticed a weird mushroom shape "thing" hanging from the rack. Greg quickly chimed in "that is what was smelling, not your cooking" trying to redeem himself. But we still didn't know what it was. So after dinner, I forgot all about the unidentified object in the oven and went on about the evening and into the weekend. Two days later, Greg went to warm some leftovers in the oven and quickly realized that we didn't clean the object, so he reluctantly went to wipe the object free and all of a sudden I heard him dying laughing. What he found was the burnt tot lock that I lost during our dinner preparation. I had put Thomas some chicken nuggets to cook and the key stuck to the bottom of the pan without me knowing it. So we got a burnt lock...as evidenced by the before and after picture!! Maybe I should stick to the simple dinners!! Just a glimpse into my crazy life these days...