Happy Valentine's Day!

I still can't believe that eight years ago today the man of my dreams asked me to spend my life by his side. So much has changed since that Valentine's day so long ago. Yet so much is still the same and feels just like it did then. There is no one else I would rather spend my life with. I wake up everyday and go to bed every night with someone who loves me unconditionally. Who sticks around even when I'm not so pleasant, who cares for me and would do anything for me! He has given me two beautiful  "extra" daughters whom I love as my own and who are growing into amazing young women. He has also blessed me with three absolutely adorable children... our blond haired blue eyed little heart breaker, our blond haired blue eyed little doodlebug, and our "turning" blond haired blue eyed little perfect baby girl. Life just couldn't be better.

Long ago I asked and prayed for God to show me what to do with my life. What His will was and His purpose for me. He gave me this incredible husband, a true example of a man of God. And He had planned all along for me to be a Mommy to these little gifts I have. I am determined to show my husband, my children and my family just how loved I feel by doing my best at what God has planned for me. This song by Steven Curtis Chapman  "I will be here" means a lot to Chris and I. The words they just stand out to us and we feel this way so much through life. Take it to heart and really hear the words.

Yes, I truly feel loved everyday. I don't need Valentine's or anything special on this day. I'm grateful for my life, for every minute of everyday that I get to spend with the ones I love. My husband, our babies, our families. So, Happy Valentine's Day to all! May you feel loved and special everyday not just today!

                                 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Thank you to my best friend and my partner for life! Thank you God for giving him to me!

Josiah & Savannah's Birthday Slideshow!

We've been so busy lately!  I feel so behind in sharing all of the special things we've done with the kids. I'm trying my best to keep up with the current activities we're doing and I'm slowly going to have "little blast from the past" and share older pictures and videos! So to catch up a little...the kids birthdays were great! During the late midnight hours of nursing Eliviah, I learned how to make a video slideshow and I finally figured out the best way to share and post them! I hope you all enjoy it! We've been so busy since their birhdays back in November and December. We had a wonderful "White Christmas", a very peaceful New Years and now we've just enjoyed a week of being "Snowed In"! (check out those pictures in previous post) 

My goal is to get Eliviah's newborn portraits up to share next! She is already 4 months old! Today! Happy 4 Months Eliviah! I worked hard on taking alot of great shots of her and I can't wait to share them! But for now the big siblings birthday party is what I have to share!

Hope everyone is enjoying the new year! Miss eveyone and love you all! Let us know what you think of the slideshow!

Snow Heaven 2011



Welcome 2011! We had so much fun in the snow today! We sure missed Daddy though. He is "snowed in" at work. We miss you Daddy, hope you enjoy the pictures!
Be safe and get home soon. We love you!
Love,
Mommy, Josiah, Savannah, and Eliviah!
  

Josiah, Savannah, Eliviah before digging in the snow :)



Savannah eating more snow!!

  



Our "Snow Angel"




Their favorite was to just sit on the sled and eat snow!




Our kiddos on the sled! I'm not sure why but our camera took the pictures with pink lines going through it, it may have been too cold for the lens, I don't know but our snow was just white, until....




I gathered what spray bottles we had in the house and filled them with colored water, and let the kids "Spray Paint" the snow!





They had a blast!!




He did this at least 20 times! Savannah took a ride with him twice and thats all she wanted! It was super fast!




She loved both times she went! It doesn't look like it though!





Josiah was awesome at sledding down our hill!




She said "My nose is cold Mommy, I done!"




Eliviah's already seen snow twice now and she's only 3 months old!




Our deck had 11-12 inches all over!









Most of our front and back yard was between 7-9inches in different places!





Okay, an update on our snow heaven ! Daddy finally made it home safe and sound! He was snowed in a hotel by his work for almost a week! The kids were so excited when he got home! We ran outside to play in the snow together! Here's the rest of our "snowed in" pictures. And a little note from me! ~Chrystal



Our babies ready to go out and play!

Just a thought, but instead of feeling frustrated or complaining because we're still snowed in, why don't we realize all those times we asked God to give us a break? He has answered. He has given us all one and we're complaining. Take the time to read a book to your kids, read it 300 times even if its the same one! Play in the snow like a kid, and come inside to drink hot chocolate & get warm! Sit back on the couch with your loved ones & play a boardgame, read the Bible together, act out a family play, there are a million things we can do, and when you run out of things to do, start them all over again...who cares that it has been a week!! Enjoy it,because next week I'm sure we will be complaining because we have to get out!



SnowMan Fred!



Eliviah's 1st Snowman!



Savannah LOVED the snow the first couple days, but then the ice came and it wasn't fun to her anymore! Such a summertime girl she's ready for the pool!

On the other hand Josiah could do this everyday!

Such a good big brother! Always helping his sister through the snow and ice!

Making snow angels!



Josiah in an Igloo! How cool!





We went on a  nature walk to see what little animals were coming out to play in the winter wonderland and I asked the kids to look for animal tracks in the snow. Josiah was so excited when he found "A really big snake track!" He was even more excited when he found another "Big snake track" right beside the first one! He couldn't believe how big they were! I had to let him down easy when I explained to him that they were actually 4 wheeler tracks in the snow :)



Daddy sledding is the best!

He loved that Daddy finally made it home!!

This is what happens when your snowed in and your brother does your hair!

SnowMobile ~ Werner style!

Winter Nature walk!



Showing off her snow boots!



Happy New Year's Eve!

Well....I would love to sit down and write out all the events of the past few weeks and update our blog with a few slideshow pictures of the kids. But with the three of them there just isn't enough time these days. One night soon I might be able to stay up long enough to really update. But for today we are heading down to Grandaddy's for a much needed visit! What a wonderful year it has been! We were blessed with our new little one and so many other countless blessing this year. We sure are missing Grandmother but know she's in a much better place than us. Happy to watch all of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren! Thank you Grandmother for giving us such a perfect name for our baby... "Little Louise"!

Can't wait to stay up late tonight with my three lovely babies, my wonderful hubby and my Grandaddy, Mom, and little sister Laura! Fairburn here we come!

Happy New Years to everyone! Be safe and blessed this year!

Love,
Chrystal
(Mommy to the three screaming kiddos you can't hear on screen, lol)

Happy Birthday to our Sweet Savannah Grace!

Happy 2nd Birthday Savannah Grace! It's here already! I feel like the days with our babies are just going by way too fast! I don't know why but sometimes my emotions get all mixed up on their birthdays. I'm so excited for them and watching their faces with all the birthday excitement, how happy they are that they have a "special day"....but then I get sad too. I'm sad that the days of my precious baby time is going by so fast. I want to see them grow and experience all the new things in life that await them, but I really... yes I really could be happy if they could just stay little forever!

Our sweet little Savannah is turning into such a big girl... I miss her baby days already. She is and has been so independent for so long now that its like she's grown up way too quickly. She talks in sentences and very very clearly. She has been doing so since she was about 14 months old! I'm sure its from being around her big brother and learning everything from him. She has learned to climb and go down the stairs without holding on. She has been also doing that for months when I realized, hey she doesn't sit down to come down anymore. I think she learned it on her own when I was pregnant with Eliviah and couldn't always carry her. She adores baby dolls, anything and everything to do with being a little mommy. It started back when I was about 5-6mths pregnant with Eliviah. I would talk to her about the baby and how she would help me one day. And from then on she has been baby crazy! She changes her baby, she feeds and nurses her baby, she puts her baby in the car seats, she even gives her babies "pop-pops" lol. She also loves to play dress up, if she can change clothes a million times she will. She loves SHOES! She will put on shoes and walk all over the house, her dress up shoes, Daddy's shoes, Mommy's shoes, brothers shoes, anybody leave shoes laying around and she will put them on :) She still has her paci, I can't bring myself to take it from her. She has been hiding them in all sorts of places throughout the house. She isn't dependant on them, she really just has them to sleep with. But part of me wants to let her have it until she's ready to give it up because it still gives her a little baby look :) She probably would have been completely potty trained 6 months ago because she is so smart. But I was slacking in that department. I still haven't put enough effort into potty training. I think once all of the holidays are over it will be the best time to get to it. I was afraid to start to soon and when Eliviah got here she would regress and want diapers again. So again I just keep putting it off. Definitely something I need to do!

Savannah is so pretty too, she just glows and her eyes light up a room when she smiles. I love her to pieces. It's so hard to put into words how much she means to me. She is our middle child. She is my first little girl. She is named after our favorite most beautiful place where we were married! Savannah, Georgia. She is my little mommy. Always right behind me, always helping me with my mommy duties. Always lovingly ready to help with anything. She is our sweet little girl and she is growing so beautifully!

I can't imagine what my life was like before her. She has made such a big impact in my life in her little 2 years! She brightens my day each morning when she jumps up leans over her crib and smiles behind her paci and just says "Goodmornin' Mommy"! Ahhh makes my heart melt....

I rocked her to sleep last night. I don't usually do that. Occasionally when we've had a late night or something I may rock her, but its very rare. She has always gone down to sleep very easily on her own. All of our kids have thank the Lord! But last night was my last night to hold my little one year old before she turned two. As I rocked her and played with her soft blonde hair, she looked at me and grinned from ear to ear. She said in a whisper...."Morrow's my birfday Mommy?" Yes, sweet girl tomorrow you will be 2 cause its your birthday! She just smiled again through her little pink paci and closed her eyes. Fast asleep she started snoring right away. I laid her down in her crib, covered her just right and turned her little musical sea horse on a lullaby.

Our baby girl is 2.... We love you sweet girl! Thank you for being such a great daughter. You mean the world to us! We hope you enjoy your day! I'm going to make your Birthday Breakfast now, chocolate chip pancakes here she comes!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy
Josiah, Eliviah, and Big sisters Leigh & Macy!

Where did November go?

Wow, this whole month of November has just flown by. We had so many family things going on this month it all just happened so quickly! We took lots of pictures of everything so hopefully we will remember and it won't be such a blur :) First of all I went back to "work" on November 1st, watching my good friends Jamie and Brianna's kids, Harley and Owen. Josiah and Savannah love having them over to play with  :) So my first week back after having Eliviah went great! Then we moved onto Showers/Bachlorette parties for my sister Jennifer's wedding. Any extra time or days before the wedding were spent making sure I had everything ready for me (I was the Matron of Honor), Savannah (the flower girl), Josiah (the ring bearer), making sure my lovely husband had something to wear...And figure out how to make sure I was nursing my precious newborn enough during all the "wedding festivities and craziness"! It all worked out perfectly and my sister was the most beautiful bride I've ever seen, so calm and ready to just be married! I felt like all of her nerves must have jumped to me cause I was so nervous! Everything went so smoothly and everyone came together to make sure their day was PERFECT! The pictures all turned out great!

We enjoyed Josiah's 4th Birthday on November 15th! I made him Choc.Chip pancakes for his Birthday Breakfast and we just hung out together at home! We went to Mountasia the day before his bday, just the 5 of us and let Josiah and Savannah play "PuttPutt Golf". We got a few free tokens since it was his birthday and we watched them play the arcade games. They still don't realize those race car games aren't really racing until you put your tokens in, so they just sat there thinking they were racing eachother when neither one had put tokens in yet! Whew, wonder how much longer we can get away with that! lol! Everything was alot of fun and Josiah enjoyed his day!

We also finally got to JC Penny's on the 27th to see Katherine our photographer to get Eliviah's newborn session done. She did a great job and we got some wonderful family picures too! Can't wait to get them back and share with everyone!

Eliviah has had what we believe is an allergy to dairy since about 3 weeks old. Or at least that's when we put two and two together and figured out that her newborn "rash" really was getting worse and I cut out the dairy in my diet and she cleared up amazingly!! I had to take her to Children's hospital in Atlanta on November 23rd to see an allergist. They did skin testing but it was inconclusive because she is still so little. They had to take blood test and it will be 2 weeks before we know for sure what she is allergic to, but so far just keeping the dairy away is working great! It's a new thing for me, but I love nursing my baby and if I have to cut out dairy for her, I will!!

Thanksgiving also came so quickly this year! We didn't plan too much this year and kind of just went with however the kids felt that day. We made it to the Parker's Thanksgiving lunch at Robert/Jean's house in Peachtree City. They really have a beautiful home and loved seeing the family all together! The food was great! We also made it to my Uncle Steve and Aunt Cheryl's house, they have a zip-line in their backyard and let me tell you Josiah and Savannah LOVED it!! He is all boy and Savannah well...she is just fearless and can and will do ANYTHING her brother can do! Happy Thanksgiving!

Since both Josiah and Savannah had big birthday parties last year, we decided a small family icecream/cake party here at home would be alot of fun for them and alot less hectic on us too ;) We had tickets to the Georgia Aquarium that I'd saved all year so we planned on taking them both to celebrate their birthdays together! We had their family party here at home on November 28th, our families came and we are so blessed with how much they love our kids! They both really loved having cake and icecream with everyone! They loved their new toys and they actually enjoyed having their birthday party together! The next morning we loaded them up in their birthday shirts/ballons and deep sea adventure toys and headed out to enjoy a day of fun at the Aquarium! They had been looking forward to it because we had given them their first "pet fish" for their birthday and they couldn't wait to see the big fish the aquarium had! We got their and it was cold/wet/rainy outside so its a good thing we were planning on being inside all day! Guess iceskating at Centinnel Park was just going to have to wait for another time :) We had so much fun with them looking at all the fish, sharks, whales, penguins!, jellyfish and all sorts of sea creatures! We tried to make it a little educational and printed flashcards of sea animals for them to learn about in the car ride there. Josiah really picked up on it and loved that he picked out the "HammerHead Shark" first and clearly stated that he knew what it was! Savannah loved seeing the pink fish, because of course they were her's because they were pink :) Eliviah is such a good baby and she just went with the flow and loved walking in her Daddy's arms as we passed all of the animals! We all had a really great time.... we can't believe are babies are growing up so fast!  Here it is the end of November 2010, and we have a four year old, an almost 2 year old, and a 2 month old already! God has blessed us with beautiful, healthy children and we couldn't be happier and more thankful for everything he has given us and entrusted us with! We truly are blessed!

Here comes December! This week we've got to get our Christmas cards and Birth Announcements out! Hopefully everyone will forgive us for sending them out together and forgive us if they are a little late :) Looking forward to celebrating Savannah's birthday here at home on Thursday and then taking her to Pigeon Forge to see all the pretty Christmas lights!

Sending our love to everyone and hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! On to December, hopefully it won't be quite as crazy as November ;)

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Four years ago today my world changed. I became a Mommy. The very best day of my life. There are no words that can even describe how incredible that day felt, even as dramactic as his birth was. I was taken back by so many emotions and completely in awe of this little baby that was depending on me.Our little boy was in the NICU and all I wanted to do was spend every minute I could right by his side. There I sat in my hospital room, unable to even get close to him. My incredible husband brought pictures, and little videos of him to me, but it just wasn't the same. I was appreciative of that but theres no way to describe the heartache I felt knowing he was in the NICU "alone" without his mommy. I wanted to scream at every nurse, every person trying to help me. That all I wanted was my baby to hold. Hours, and hours went by....finally at 9 hours old I got a glimpse of my precious baby boy Josiah Christopher. And from that moment on my life was focused on him. He was ours, he was mine and I was in heaven. Sitting in the neonatal unit surrounded by wires, monitors, lights and alarms I held my first baby for the very first time. He was perfect in everyway and I couldn't imagine how my life was unfolding. We brought him home almost a week and half later, on home NICU care but nonetheless home. Just in time for Thanksgiving, oh how thankful we were! Nurses came and went everyday for another 2 weeks from our home. But everyday he got a little stronger! Finally we were home, no nurses, no wires no "extras" just us and our firstborn!

I look back now and realize how much has changed. I thought I had patience before becoming a Mommy :) I thought I was ready to lead, teach, love and care for my baby. Little did I know he was the one teaching me. Josiah has taught me how to be patient. He has taught me how to love more unconditionally, how to care for every need and forget my own. How to get up at any hour in the night just to check on him, how to make everything I could think of safe for his little mischievous toddler days. How to make a gourmet meal out of absolutely nothing in our pantry :) How to laugh so hard while he learned how to walk in socks on the hardwood floors. How to sit back and relax and just listen to him giggle with his Daddy in our bed. How to get sharpie marker off of his cute little cheeks. How to rush to the Children's doctor without panicking when he needed his first stitches. How to laugh about absolutely nothing. How to learn another language, toddler language. How to potty train and survive! How to let go and let him learn things on his own. How to sing Jesus loves me over and over again. How to love his Daddy even more. But most importantly my little baby, turned toddler and now turning into a Big boy has taught me more about my faith in God. My faith is stronger, my Savior gave me this precious gift. Why me I've asked God over and over. Why do I have the honor of trying my very best to raise this child of yours? It's because He loves me. And because He loves me I'm putting my faith in Him that we're going to raise this baby boy He gave to us, to one day be a strong, faithful man of God. Thank you Jesus for giving us such a healthy, happy, and loving little boy. I can't believe he is four years old today. It has just flown by! Please God, help us to raise him to honor you in everything he does. Help us point him in the right directions because we need your help! We need you to guide us so we can guide him!

I love you sweet boy! I can't wait to enjoy our day together! Starting with his favorite chocolate chip pancakes! And ending with his first GA Tech Basketball game with his Daddy and Big sister Leigh! I love you Josiah Christopher and I'm so proud to be your mommy! Thank you for letting me hug you, letting me love you and for giving it right back to me! I'm so blessed to be a mommy to my 4 year old!

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Savannah, and Eliviah. And big sisters Leigh & Macy!

You make our days shine!!

Daddy & Buddy Time

Today was the day before Josiah's birthday and I tried to spend as much time with him as possible since I'll be at work tomorrow, on his birthday. When we went to Mountasia yesterday, he took his tickets and "bought" a mini-parachute w/ this alien looking figure on it. I don't think he know what is was, he just liked the wierd looking alien. Anyway, we get home and throw it off of the stairs and watch it land a few times and the strings from the parachute start tangling and then it would just plumit to the floor below with a thud! So today, I remember when I was little, begging my dad for one of his old handkerchief, clean, but old, so I could make my own parachute. I would "borrow" some of his washers, nuts and bolts to weigh it down and throw it as high as I could until I got tired. I decided to show Josiah how to have some fun without going to the store and spending a lot of money on some plastic thing that would probably break after a short while. I got one of my old T-shirts, cut out a big circle, and let him help me draw something that looked like a spider web on top. Then we took some string and tied it to the the edge of the cloth circle.  Next we tied the ends of the strings together and he put the nuts on the ends of the strings to weigh it down.  Here's the best part, I showed him how to roll it up and throw it as far as he could off the deck on the back of the house and I was down in the yard to pick it up and toss it back up to him to do all over again. His face lit up when he saw the chute open and float gently to the ground. He had a big grin on his face as he yelled, "WOAH! Did you see that Dad?".  Priceless. We did that over and over until he got tired of throwing it off the deck ... just like me.

I love you, Buddy! ... Daddy

A "single" Daddy night!

Well, here I am, a "single" dad this evening. Chrystal has a girls night out at her sister's bridal party shower and I had daddy duty with Josiah and Savannah. Its fun hanging out with them, they are so entertaining. Its amazing how their little minds work, and so funny watching them work. Nana (Chrystal's mom) is visiting and she entertained them for a bit reading them the same book over and over.  Then we ate supper (Chrystal hates that word, she says its dinner). Thanks to Grandmother, we had a delicious fruit salad, and they almost ate the whole bowl. They also ate half of my food, too. I don't know what we are going to do when they get really hungry. After cleaning everyone up and getting ready for bed, we crashed on the sofa and watched "Robots" for the ump-teenth time. I still laugh at Josiah laughing at all the corny jokes. I don't think Nana made it through the whole movie, guess she had a long day. We were all yawning and off to bed before the credits were finished.

Just got off the phone with Chrystal, they are on the way home. As much as I want her to have fun with her sister's and friends, I sure am selfish. A lot of guys, so I've heard, want to hang out with "tha guys" and do guy things, but I guess I'm wierd, I'd rather be with my wife and kids. Don't get me wrong, I like a good ball game, but I want her with me. I don't mind if she does things with others, as long as I'm at least in the next room.  As I'm getting older, I am appreciating family more. I miss spending time with my mom and dad. I remember growing up, wanting to go and do things with my friends, not caring if my mom and dad were home by themselves. Now, I love going and visiting with them, and the time just seems to fly by.  I guess that is why I love spending time with my kids, cause it won't be long before they will want to be off with their friends and Chrystal and I will be the ones home alone.

But for now, I want to do the best I can to lead all my kids in the way they should go, the Lord's way. There is a scripture in Deuteronomy 6, verses 4-9, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.^{[a] 5} Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." What an awesome responsibility, to teach someone the ways of the Lord. It is extremely humbling to think that I, a parent, have the priviledge of teaching Leigh, Macy, Josiah, Savannah and Eliviah to listen and trust in the Lord.

I was listening to the radio while I was making breakfast for everyone this morning and one of my favorite songs ("I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin) came on and I was moved beyond words. Josiah wanted to know why I was crying and it was all I could do to try and explain to my almost 4 yr old, God simply desires a relationship with us. No matter what we do, no matter where we go, God simply wants to be with us, and us with Him. And one day, when all this "stuff" fades away, God will call our name and we will rise to meet Him. What an awesome thing to behold.

Okay, enough preaching for one night, well, no not really. There can never be enough preaching, not until heaven's gates are opened wide and we all enter in. But I am tired and the missus will be here shortly. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts. I am grateful that my beautiful bride wanted to do this. Its one thing to sit and write things down, but to remember what you were doing when ... or remember what was said at that moment ... its nice to look back and remember. I love you, Baby ... thanks for remembering things!

Chris

Welcome to the World of Blogging :)

Since this is my first time ever blogging I'm not really sure how to start. As I sit here in bed at midnight, I think back to this morning and how my day started. I'm so blessed to be able to work from home and be with my wonderful children all day. Their lives are just flying by and I realize all the little things they do and say that are not written down, but I get to enjoy everyday. They are only a memory I try to hold on to, and since my memory isn't so great I decided I should start a blog of our family. We want to make a family web page, however, that requires alot of time on the computer, and right now spending time with our kids is more important :) So, here it is midnight on Nov. 9th, actually now the 10th, and I'm starting. I just nursed our precious 6 week old Eliviah and put her in her Daddy's arms to sleep. They both snore and make the strangest grunting noises... I love it. It drowns out the pecking of me typing.

Our little boy isn't so much of a baby anymore. He will be 4 on Monday, and I realized this morning that 4 years ago today I was at my OB with them telling me I needed to go to the hospital and be induced. The days of  labor and his birth are all such a blur. I really should write it all down, at least what I can recall of that special day...But until then I will reflect on the "almost" 4 year old little boy we have now. He is so funny and so full of personality. He loves and craves attention, constantly! Most of the times that he gets into "trouble" are because he is just doing things to get my attention. Which in turn makes me hope I give him enough and his little outburst are just that... outburst. He loves to sing, laugh and copy his Daddy's every move. He is always saying, "Are you just teasing me Mommy?" He is so loving to his new baby sister. He adores Savannah and is always trying to teach her something new, including how to get out of her crib. He is a great big brother, and he will tell you so. He is very "Proud" of himself, and will tell you that, too! I feel guilty for not writing down all the cute little things he has said, all the little memories of his life. Hopefully, one day he will love the pictures and videos I constantly take of him. Two little memories do come to me now. The first was nearly 2 years ago at his 2 year old check-up with his wonderful pediatrician, Dr. Fedack. It was a normal appointment and everything seemed fine. Then the nurse informed me of the immunizations he needed and I agreed. While she went out to get the supplies she needed, I tried my best to explain to my 2 year old little boy what exactly was about to happen. He nodded and said, "yes, ma'am Mommy, I'll be a good boy". Ahh those moments of still having my "only child". (I was pregnant with Savannah and due any day) Anyway, the nurse came back in, (Josiah's favorite nurse I might add) her name was Erin. She had given Josiah extra special attention from the very first appointment, which was right after he was discharged from the NICU. She proceeded to get the shots together, a total of 3.  She talked to Josiah and got him up on the exam table. He was fine until we rolled his pants leg up. He started to fight it so we just held him down and tried to get it over with asap! Needless to say he screamed and cried, and screamed and cried some more! Then as Erin was trying to apologize and just let him know it was to keep him from getting sick, he looked her right in the eyes, stopped screaming, and in the most serious voice a 2 yr old can muster he said, "Now that was NOT NICE!"... you probably had to be there to get the whole senario, but it was a priceless moment... it was adorable. Erin was beside herself with laughter and just went out the hall to tell the other nurses. It was a cute memory of a funny thing he said and did. Now fast forward a little to when he was about 3.5 years old. We were snuggled on the playroom floor setting up who knows what game (it was one of those that takes forever to set up but only 5 minutes for a 3 yr old to get bored with) and a'las he is bored and sits in my lap to snuggles as best he can in what lap I have left since I was pregnant with Eliviah. He looks at my face and rubs my cheeks with his hand and asks, "Mommy, why do you have all those sprinkles on your face?" ...."What Josiah? What are you talking about?" I asked him. "The sprinkles Mommy, they are all over your face", he said puzzled. "Ohhhh," I said. "Buddy, those aren't sprinkles, those are Mommy's freckles!" (lol) "It's from going to the pool with you so much. The sun shines on Mommy's face and makes little freckles come out." He said, "oh, okay Mommy. One day when I'm all big like you I will have those too." :)  He says a million cute things like this nearly everyday, and now Savannah is starting to, too. I feel like I might forget these precious moments with my babies one day, so thats why I'm trying to start writing (blogging) them down now.

So there is our first blog. I didn't mean for it to become mostly about Josiah. But like I said we are approching his 4th birthday and I feel like my little boy is growing up way too fast. I needed to write out a few of the cute memories I have in my head. Especially before these days of three kids, all three and under, make me loose my mind. :) We are far from rich. But I have everything I need, my kids have everything they need. My husband is an amazing man, he works so hard everyday to lead our family and I think he is doing an awesome job. Hopefully, we will be able to somewhat keep up with this blog and have a little something to look back at and recall those good ole days when our kids were little! Our post will be from my point of view and Chris'. We are excited to get this online journal started. Chris' parents came in for a visit today. His dad (PawPaw) does storytelling at local schools. He dresses up as Johnny Appleseed, and tomorrow he is  at a Cherokee County school, so they are spending the night with us. I'm so blessed to have an amazing mother and father-in-law. They do so much and care so much for us and others. They are truly an example of giving people. I hope and pray that one day I can be as good, loving, giving, and caring in-laws to our children's spouses! I don't nearly thank them enough for raising such an awesome son. I have a wonderful husband who loves and cares for me, and he does so because he was taught that way from the best!

Well, I better bring this first blog to a close and get some sleep. We are a family of 7! With three kids three and under, and next week I will be able to say 4 and under. :) We are living everyday to its fullest and trying to remember to just relax and enjoy this life with our family. Thank you God for our family, especially for our children. I'm looking forward to spending the day with my children and wonderful mother-in-law tomorrow.

We are blessed beyond words!
~Chrystal~