Cocoa Beach

Our family just arrived home from a spending four days in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Our youth were there for Beach Retreat and Jim and I were asked to speak to the middle school students. It was a great week and we were very blessed to be apart of the camp.

It was a LONG drive that divided into several days of travel. Our kids enjoyed Florida but I think Jake is the only one I can classify as a beach bum like his mommy. I wanted to share a few pictures from our "vacation."

19 weeks Update

This is a recap of the past few weeks.

June 1- Tonight Jim felt the baby kick. It was so fun. His face was priceless. This is the earliest that he has been able to feel any of the babies move. Keep kicking baby. I sure do love you.

June 4- This pregnancy is so very similar to my pregnancies with the boys. I think the only difference at this point is my eating habits. I really crave cereal for dinner most nights and nothing is ever appealing, not to say that food doesn’t taste wonderful it just isn’t appealing when I look at it or try to decide what to cook each night.

Today was my 19 week visit. We were able to do a sonogram today. It was so wonderful to see the baby again. The brain, heart, stomach, kidneys, and bone growth are all fabulous. We saw ten little fingers. We are blessed with such a healthy little baby and we couldn’t be more thrilled to hear the good news. At this point we know the baby is healthy and weighs approximately 12 oz., which is a little less than the boys but we also had the sonogram a week earlier. We can't wait to see if you are a boy or a girl!

Here is a 19 week prego picture.

Soccer Twenty-Ten Comes to an End

This year's soccer season ended in May after so many rain outs. I didn't know if we would ever be able to finish the season. The boys did great and Judd found his soccer position, GOALIE! He stopped 6 goals in the last few games. It was so exciting to see him stop the ball and kick it back on the field. He was so excited. I hope that I never forget his face the first time he stopped one, since I didn't get a picture. This is one of him getting ready.


We had the team party at our house and Judd finally received his first trophy! He has been asking for this trophy since the first practice. Does he look excited?

Look at Him Gooooooo!

Today was an exciting day in our home. Judd reached a great milestone today. We are so proud and so is he!

For a few weeks, Jim and I have been debating whether or not Judd could ride without training wheels. We believed that he had the balance but we weren't sure if his legs were long enough. Well today we had to work on his chain that kept coming off so Jim decided to remove the training wheels. Judd jumped on and with a little help starting he was riding down up and down the the drive way. By the end of the day, he was riding and turning around in the cul-de-sac. He is doing so well and we are so proud.

16 weeks

May 14- Today was my 16 week appointment with Dr. Miller. She said that I gained 5.5 pounds this month. I guess it was time to add on a few more pounds. I heard the baby's heart beat again and everything seems to be going so smoothly. As of right now, I am still wearing my regular clothes. I am sure that I will start wearing my belly band soon enough.

Motherhood is a Gift

As I was looking for pictures of past Mother's Day I realized that I am not very consistent at taking pictures on this particular day. It seems that I take them only when one of the babies are being dedicated. ( I am sure that I have one from 2005 but it is on a CD hidden away somewhere or was that before digital photography:-))

Mother's day 2007


Mother's Day 2008


I intentionally made everyone wait until we got home from church to take a picture with mommy. Of course, Anna Kate has already pulled her hair down and bow out, Jake's shoes are off and the sun is to bright for baby Judd's eyes.



This is the life of this mother and I would not trade it for anything in the world. The days are draining but the memories, hugs, kisses, and I love you mommy make it all worth it. Just as I say to the kids when I am praying with them, I am so thankful that God chose me to be their mommy. Motherhood is a great gift.

Secret Conversations

The boys started sharing a room in December and they absolutely love it. As they grow older, I know that they will share many secret conversations with one another, but last night Jim and I were privileged to over hear this conversation between the boys.

This is just a little background information. Last Thursday the kids and I were out running errands when Jake started talking about people going to heaven. This is the conversation:

J: "Mom, we they die they will all go to heaven."
M: "No buddy, not everyone goes to heaven?"
J:"I know, just the people that have been...baptized."
M:"No buddy, not just baptized. You know that."
J: " I know, just the people that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior."
M: "Yes"
J: "I have done that."
M:"Really, what did you do."
J;"I said a prayer."
M:"Really"
J: "No, I didn't say a prayer. I just did it I know I did."
M: "Well, when daddy gets home we will talk to him about it some more."
J: "Ok"

When Jim got home I told him about the conversation but we decided to wait until he mentioned it again before asking to many questions.

Fast Forward to Sunday morning: Jake was running a fever and we had family in town so I took him in the service with me. During the invitation he raised his hand. I asked him why he was raising his hand and he told me because daddy said to do it. I didn't say anything else. On Sunday night, he went back in the service with me and once again he raised his hand to receive Christ during the invitation. This time Jim saw him and told me to talk to Jake again. I asked him if he knew why he was raising his hand this time.

He said "Daddy said if you want to accept Jesus as your Savior then raise your hand."
I said "Do you want to do that?"
He responded "Yes"
Me: "Let's go talk to daddy."
Jake: "No" (He is very nervous about going in front of the church.)

Back to the secret conversation"
Jake and Judd are lying in the bed and we hear Jake say to Judd, “Do you love Jesus? Do you want to go to Heaven? Then you have to say this prayer. ‘Dear Jesus, I want to go to Heaven. Forgive me of my sins and come into my heart. I want you to be my Lord and Savior. I’m sorry for the sins I did. I love you Jesus. Amen.’” Jake was adamants that Judd say, “I love you Jesus.” Judd tried to say, “I like Jesus” a couple of times but Jake would not accept it. He said, “Don’t you want to go to Heaven?” Then, Judd tried to get Jake to repeat words after him and Jake said, “No Judd, I’ve already done that. I’ve already asked Jesus into my heart.”

At this point, we are still to praying that the Lord will continue drawing Jake to HIm. We are planning to sit down and talk with Jake in a little more detail very soon. This is just a very exciting time in his and our lives. Keep praying.....

Family Fun

This weekend we had a special treat. Jessica and Rabun came to visit us from Georgia. They arrived on Thursday night and stayed until Monday morning. It was a great visit and loads of fun. At times we would be laughing so hard we couldn't breathe, mainly because of the words Jessica uses, especially when she is prego.

Friday morning we got up early and went to the zoo again. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our time at the zoo. This week we saw all of the animals that we missed last week.

Here are a few pictures from the zoo.







It rained all day Saturday, but it cleared up after nap time. We decided to start a fire and roast marshmallows. All of the kids really enjoyed the marshmallows.



Sunday morning we took a few pictures of the girls before going to church.



It was a great weekend and we cannot wait until their next visit. Hopefully, Uncle Dan will be able to come!

Sprinkler Fun

It was very warm a few days last week. The boys wanted to run through the sprinkler. They had so much fun until they realized just how cold they would be after getting wet. When Jake wanted to warm up he would go lie down on the concrete in the sun. It was a fun afternoon. As you can tell, babygirl didn't want anything to do with the water.

Soccer

This soccer season has been a lot of fun. Jim is coaching both of the boys. Jake and Judd are able to play on the same team this year and we have enjoyed watching Judd learn to play. Jake is also learning more, honestly, he is learning the difference between winning and losing this year. He has finally caught on to the concept.

My life is a Zoo!

Last week I bought a year membership to the Memphis Zoo. I debated if I wanted to spend the money but it really is the best deal for our family if we plan on going more than once.

Today was the big day. We packed the kids and all of our stuff and set our for the zoo. First we had to stop by the doctors office for my 12 week appointment. After a very quick visit and a great report (great heartbeat and losing four vials of blood) we set off for the zoo.

Anna Kate LOVED the zoo. The boys seems to enjoy it but they whined more than we expected. We spent an hour looking at animals stopped for a picnic lunch and then went to find the elephants.

This was a great day of family time!

Anna Kate's 2nd Birthday

On April 9th, our baby girl turned 2. Can you believe 2?

Isn't she just so precious!

She was not feeling well on her birthday. She ran a fever of 101 and 103 all day. She was just miserable and so were we. Thanks to Motrin she was able to enjoy the rest of the day and all of her presents. Thank you Stuart Adams who invented ibuprofen in the late 50s. (grin)

She was serious about blowing out her candle.

We ate KFC and then she ate her CAKE and ICE SCREAM! She loved it! This is her new smile that started the day before her birthday. It is hilarious!

She got a new kitchen and a lot of food.

Hamburger anyone?

Chef Anna Kate is taking orders!

I love this little girl!

Things that make you go hmmm....

Hmmm......I wonder if this is what the author had in mind when this verse was written.

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. Proverbs 25:24


Actually he was fixing something on the roof. He is my hero!