Jack’s 4th Birthday

My little man turned four on July 9th!  I know it’s late to be blogging about it, but now that life has settled down I’m trying to catch up!

The first few birthday parties I threw were big ones.  The last few I’ve thrown have been small ones, and I’ll admit it’s been kind of nice.  I love celebrating with friends and family, but small family parties aren’t too bad!  For Madeline’s birthday I was postpartum and still very much recovering.  For Jack’s we had just moved to Niceville and we were exhausted and really didn’t know anyone yet.  Mimi happened to be in town visiting so she celebrated with us, and we had a blast.  I actually have found that I get to enjoy these birthday parties a lot better because I’m not entertaining, cleaning, coordinating, etc.  But, I’m pretty sure the big parties will be in full swing for next year! We’ve already met so many great friends & I look forward to celebrating with them too~

For Jack’s 4th he requested STAR WARS!  He wanted everything STAR WARS and currently has a request for his new room to be decorated in STAR WARS.  It was a nice evening…we had everything decorated when he woke up from his nap and just let him set the pace.  We had cake before dinner, opened presents, then made his favorite meal “Mimi’s Roast & Rice n Gravy.”  We had so much fun just hanging out and playing with his new toys.  I felt a little guilty about not having a big party with friends, etc. until at the end of the night he told me, “Mom this was the BEST birthday ever!” 

Jack & Brad in Darth Vader disguise! Darth Vader is the current request for Halloween….so I’m trying to decide if I’ll make Madeline Princess Leia & Brennan Yoda : ) We’ll see!  I’m not sure Princess Leia is the princess Madeine has in mind!

Seriously this little boy is so dang sweet!  I can’t believe he’s four already!

Back to School

First Day of School

Brennan is almost 6 months old.  I’m dying inside.  He’s my last little guy, and so far I don’t think he’ll ever do any wrong.  He’s my baby & I’m pretty sure he will have all the characteristics of the “baby of the family.”

I watched the season premier to Parenthood the other night.  If you don’t watch it you should.  It’s a wonderful story about a huge family with side stories into each of their lives.  In the premier, Hallie, is leaving to go to college and her family throws her a going away party.  The week before she leaves her mom plans all sorts of mother/daughter & family stuff for them to do, but really Hallie only wants to hang out with her friends.  It’s not until her last day at home that she really realizes how much she is going to miss her family.  I sat on my couch and cried as I watched her get out of the boarding line at the airport and run to her parents and breakdown as she hugged them bye.  I really cried because I realized that one day my kids are going to leave me. That’s a long ways away though…

This last picture is a very accurate representation of our days! None of my kids are dressed b/c they’ve already gone through two outfits each, toys are strewn from one end of the house to another, Jack & Maddy have silly smiles on their faces, and Brennan looks like he’s trying to figure all these crazy people in his family out! I love them to death!

Life’s happenings…

 

These are pictures from my facebook that I uploaded from my phone.  I somehow lost my charger for my camera’s battery…so I haven’t been able to load all my pics on to my computer.  I have a new one ordered, so hopefully it will be here soon! 

I miss blogging.

I have been so busy lately!  Three kids doesn’t leave much free time these days.  Right now they are all three napping, so I decided to try and catch you guys up on our life these days~I should probably be folding clothes, washing bottles, picking up the house, organizing the kid’s stuff for school tomorrow & planning supper…but I suppose it can all wait.

We are doing awesome in our new life. 

Our little family is really enjoying Niceville.  The kids started school, and they love it! So do I ;)  Jack goes Mon-Thurs. and Madeline goes Tues & Thurs.  Jack didn’t start preschool until he was three, but with a deployment coming up I decided to get Madeline into a part time program in case I needed the break…or to go to the doctor, or grocery shopping, etc.  We did find out that deployment will probably not be until next summer…but part time preschool turns out to be a fabulous thing for Miss Madeline.

You see darling little girl is 2…very 2.  While we all love her dearly she can be quite the handful sometimes, especially when combined with the other two munchkins.  Preschool has been a wonderful outlet for her and she absolutely loves it.  She is such a social butterfly and really enjoys playing with other children and organized activities. 

Since they’ve started school I’ve been able to finish things that I start.  It feels like such a luxury.  With 3 little ones I rarely was able to start something and finish it within a reasonable amount of time.  Oh the interruptions!They were abundant!I find myself more relaxed now that I have some time to work more peacefully on bills, around the house, running errands, etc.  I’ve also really enjoyed just getting to hang out with Brennan and give him more one on one time. He’s an absolute doll btw!  Brennan seriously couldn’t be a better baby.  He is so easy and go with the flow! We are just eating him up!  He’s our last if you didn’t know~I don’t really like to talk about it b/c it makes me sad, but with all things considered Brad & I both know…our family is complete!

 

Jack is 4 years old.

He is hilarious and oh so imaginative!  He will play in pretend worlds of dinosaurs, army guys, cars or Star Wars anytime!  He really loves his baby brother Brennan and Madeline.  He’s become such a great helper & I have to remind myself that he’s just 4 years old sometimes! 

Brad is enjoying just being an anesthesiologist!  We were so happy to say goodbye to residency!  His schedule is so much better now, and he is around all the time!  It’s been so nice!

I guess that’s about it for today~~~I hope all of you are doing wonderful & and the new school year has been an easy transition :) Happy Fall!

Where is he?

 

I was in Corpus Christi when I knew my Dad was going to die, and then I was there again shortly after he did.

I’ll never forget the way I felt staring out into the ocean asking….

Where is he?……Where did he go?

I started out into the waves numb really…as if there was some way I’d be able to find him if I looked hard enough.  He couldn’t be gone.

I wasn’t questioning whether or not he was in heaven.  I was searching I guess for him here on earth.  It was hard for me to grasp that I could look forever, but never find him. 

Shortly before and after losing my Dad if that makes sense is when I found myself deeply searching for God in my life and really just praying to find myself closer to him. 

I’m writing this post b/c today I experienced what it was like to have complete faith in GOD.  I’m not saying I was free from fear and anxiety and tears…I’m still working on truly letting go and letting God.  I will say though that I knew I had a relationship with GOD and I trusted in his plan for me and knew that everything was going be okay even if my worst nightmare was coming true.

I found a lump in my breast a little over a year ago.  I had an ultrasound and they couldn’t find anything, but told me to come back if it changed.  Today I saw my doctor because the lump had doubled in size.  As soon as I laid down she could see it and was obviously concerned and ordered a stat ultrasound.  I left her office in complete terror.  I just knew I had breast cancer(maybe a tad dramatic but the truth.)  My appt was at 9 AM and I had my ultrasound at 1 PM, so I had plenty of time to think about the possibilities.  I can’t explain what it felt like when I was sitting in the parking lot…completely convinced I had breast cancer…and thinking…. “It’s gonna be okay…God has a plan…I can handle this…he will show me the way.”  I trusted GOD with all my heart and I almost felt guilty at how comfortable I felt in the midst of a lot of panic and fear.  It was an awesome feeling knowing that I was where I needed to be in my life with my faith & trust in God.  I am so thankful…

For all of you who are probably about to kill me right now----It looks like there isn’t anything to worry about : ) Praise GOD!