Forget it

Sorry friends...I've given up on trying to get videos on here, for the time being. I spent WAY too much time on the computer yesterday, trying to figure it all out. I actually edited a few clips from Gabe's birthday party and tried to get them on here. My computer did not like that, and told me that I didn't have enough space to save it...I've got to do some computer spring cleaning! When I felt like throwing my computer across the room, I decided that I needed to give up on the video thing for awhile. I already spend so much time messing around with photos, I just can't add something else to spend time on! At some point, I'll work on opening up some more room on my computer, I do want to figure it out, but until then, you'll have to suffer through pictures instead of videos!

I know that you are all sorely disappointed! :)

Saturday morning at the Watson's

It's 12 and the boys have been in the kitchen ALL morning. We woke up at 8 and did something really crazy...we didn't turn the TV on! This is what they have done with a box full of cars...if you can, notice that the cars are all facing the same direction, with the exception of 3. If you know my kids, you know that Gabe had something to do with those 3. He probably switched them when Sam wasn't looking!

Then they pulled out the box with the Leggo train set and have proceeded to make the kitchen floor a train station. Since I took this picture, they have added a "thing that drops down coal" (Sam), "a big train tower that I'm building some stuff on it with lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of circles" (Gabe). I love their creativity, especially when they do it together so nicely!

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit to Nashville

One Year

Today is the one year anniversary of my second miscarriage. It's hard to believe that it's been that long. On one hand, I can think about it and feel all of the feelings so vividly, but on the other hand, it seems like it was all just a bad dream and I wonder if it really happened. I remember Callie telling me that time will really heal and I won't always feel so much pain. I clung to that and have really seen the truth in that with this situation, more than any other in my life.

My 30th birthday was last year on April 20th, just a few weeks after. I was so worried that my 30th birthday would always be marked by the memory of losing my second baby. My dear husband and friends did everything in their power to make sure that wasn't the case. The week before my birthday, Neal surprised me with a last minute trip to Las Vegas to see Celine Dion (and he really isn't a fan!). He called Christy to arrange a place for the boys to stay while I was gone for two days. Christy, Stacey and Nicole all pitched in and took turns with them. We had the best time in Vegas, eating an amazing dinner, seeing Celine, and just being together. Neal was truly amazing during all of this. He listened to me, let me cry and yell. He loves me so well.

Then, when I got home, Christy took me out to dinner. When we walked into the restaurant, I saw so many of my sweet friends sitting at a table to surprise me. The biggest surprise was that Shana had flown in from Houston and was sitting there with them! At dinner, they presented me with a scrapbook. As I opened it up and started looking through it, I was brought to tears. Each page was created by someone dear to me, with pictures, letters and memories. From my nieces and nephew, my aunts, my grandmother, my mom and dad, my sister and brother-in-law, cousins and my friends. Carly, Christy, Kandice and Shana had been planning this for months, emailing everyone, putting the scrapbook together and planning a wonderful night for me. After dinner, Christy, Kandice and Shana got a hotel room and we all spent the night hanging out and looking through my book. We went to lunch in Downtown Franklin the next day and then Shana stayed the rest of the weekend and we went shopping and blew through all my birthday money. It was truly the best birthday I have ever had. I have never felt so loved in all my life. Everyone made such an effort to make sure that I knew how much I meant to them...I have a whole book filled with reminders of that!

So, when I think back to this time a year ago, I am saddened by the loss of my baby, but I am filled with memories of the love that surrounded me at that time. I am thankful for the precious lives of my two Glory Babies and for every minute I had with them. Because of them, I have some of the most precious memories and have been blessed beyond measure. I'm more certain than ever of the Lord's love for me and I have a much deeper faith in Him, for I saw Him, heard Him and felt His presence so clearly. I'm grateful knowing that they are being held by Jesus, listening to Heaven's lullabies. Christy's Watermark song says it best...

"Glory Baby"
Glory baby you slipped away as fast as we could say baby…baby..
You were growing, what happened dear? You disappeared on us baby…baby..
Heaven will hold you before we do
Heaven will keep you safe until we’re home with you…
Until we’re home with you…

Miss you everyday
Miss you in every way
But we know there’s a day when we will hold you...We will hold you
You’ll kiss our tears away
When we’re home to stay
Can’t wait for the day when we will see you...We will see you

But baby let sweet Jesus hold you‘till mom and dad can hold you…
You’ll just have heaven before we do
You’ll just have heaven before we do
Sweet little babies, it’s hard to understand it
‘cause we’re hurting
We are hurting

But there is healing
And we know we’re stronger people through the growing
And in knowing- That all things work together for our good
And God works His purposes just like He said He would… Just like He said He would…

I can’t imagine Heaven’s lullabies
and what they must sound like
But I will rest in knowing, Heaven is your home
And it’s all you’ll ever know…all you’ll ever know…

Spinning Class...

at 6 AM! for 45 minutes!


it

kicked

my

booty!


and...the instructor yelled at us - yikes!


my body is like jello

What do you think?

When Sam was born I found this picture of Neal as a baby and they looked so much alike, I took the same picture of Sam. Neal actually thought the baby picture of him was Sam! Then Gabe was born and I had to take the same picture. I got around to doing Luke's today and I have to say that he definitely looks more like Sam and Neal than Gabe does. Gabe takes after my side of the family. I threw in a picture of me, but don't think it looks too much like any of the boys. I didn't go digital until after this picture I took of Sam, so it's pretty grainy because I scanned it in. I'm so curious to see what color Luke's eyes end up being. Sam's were a darker blue when he was a baby, but have changed to a darker green (like mine). Gabe's have always been that bright, clear blue. Luke's don't even have a hint of blue in them, so I'm wondering if they will be brown. They are dark and grayish right now. I will say, that when he smiles, he looks a lot like Gabe did at this age, so he might be a good mix of both Sam and Gabe. It's crazy to have birthed 3 boys and for them to all be so different...it's so fascinating!

Me at 4 months

Neal at 2 months

Sam at 2 months

Gabe at 2 months

Luke at 2 months

My Little Smiley

Luke is all smiles these days. He even laughed at my mom yesterday...it was so sweet. I ran for the video camera, but of course, he didn't do it again.

We got a new video camera for Christmas and I'm finally figuring out how to edit...I'll post some soon.

Easter Baskets

What do you all do for your kids on Easter? I'm going tonight to get the boys stuff for their Easter Baskets. I want to avoid getting too much candy...we still have leftovers from Christmas and Valentines Day. I've got a few ideas, but wanted to check with all my blog moms to get some even better ideas!

What do you put in your kids Easter Baskets?

Do you have any fun Easter traditions?

Please Pray

With blogs these days, it's so easy to find stories of people going through horribly sad journeys. I think the reason we are drawn to these stories is because, somehow, in the midst of terrible tragedy, these people tend to bless our lives with their honesty, faith and dignity. I have been blessed tremendously through the story of Todd and Angie Smith. They are a dear, sweet couple that I have met a few times through my friend Christy. They live in Nashville, their twin girls, Abby and Ellie, are a few days younger than Sam and they have another little girl, Kate. If you are familiar with Selah, Todd is a part of that group. Angie is pregnant with their 4th daughter, Audrey Caroline. Angie started this blog when they found out at her 20 week ultrasound that Audrey is really sick and will, most likely, not make it after birth.

Put their blog in your favorites. I promise you will be blessed by Angie's beautiful writing and amazing faith in our Lord.

Pray for them.

Randomness

*Have you ever had Starburst Jellybeans? They only come around at Easter time and they are the best! The original ones are good, but the sour ones are my favorite. You can also buy a whole bag of the reds and pinks! If you haven't tried them, grab a bag next time you are at Target. Do it quick though, because they will stop selling them soon.

*I mentioned in one of the posts about Kandice that she had done my laundry for me, with Callie's help too! My washer broke last week and I had to wait until yesterday for the Sears guy to come revive it. $180 later it's working; that was money well spent. I have SO much laundry piled up, even with Kandice and Callie doing 2 loads for me this weekend. So, today has been a laundry day. I'm on my 4th load. I don't think my laundry volume is going to get any better either. With 4 boys in the house, it can only get worse. Especially when the 3 little ones start playing sports and getting stinky(er)!

*Sam and Gabe are playing soccer for the first time in April and May. We signed them up with a league at their school that only has a two month season. They have never played before, so it will be fun to see if either of them gets into it.

*Callie(Kandice's mom) has been in town this weekend and she offered to watch Sam and Gabe Sunday night so Neal and I (and Luke) could go out. We took her up on that offer and went to Carabas for dinner. I love Carabas...bread, Ceaser Salad, and Chicken Marsala with Garlic Mashed Potatoes..yummy! Then we went to Borders and hung out there for a while. Sam and Gabe were going to spend the night with Callie, but we got a call from her at 10 (yes, we were home by 10...we were home by 9) saying that they wanted to come home (Kandice lives a house away). Turns out, they had just finished their 4th (!) movie and Callie told them they couldn't watch another one and that it was time to go to sleep. She is so mean, only letting them watch FOUR movies! They had a blast with Callie and Eli and have wanted to go back to hang out with her every day! Thanks for the night out Callie! We love it when you come to town!

*I'm on a diet. Trying to lose that baby weight. After a year and a half being pregnant (2 miscarriages in there, I wasn't pg with Luke for a year and a half!), I'm ready to have my body back to normal. I've cut out all soft drinks and have been really good about not eating too much sugar...except for those jellybeans! I've already lost 4 whole pounds but I've still got a ways to go before I can fit in all my cute Spring clothes. I'm starting a serious exercise regime with my friend Stacey in a week...I'll let you know how that goes. I hate exercising!

*Luke has excema (at least I think that's what it is) all over his little face. We go to the Dr. tomorrow for his 2 month visit. I'm curious to see what he says about it and to see how much he weighs. He has really started smiling a lot these past few days. It's so sweet. He is doing really good sleeping, he went from 11:30 last night to 7 this morning without eating. He woke up at 3, but I just gave him his paci and he went right back to sleep! Yay! I'm hoping he will keep that up. Thanks in part to the Miracle Blanket from Nicole.

*I met Nicole at Target, in one of the toy aisles. Her son Mitch is 2 months younger than Gabe. We started chatting, realized we lived in the same neighborhood and exchanged phone numbers. We've became fast friends and always laugh about how Target brought us together. She has since moved out of the neighborhood, but is still only 10 minutes away.

*My parents are coming in this weekend for Easter. I'm so excited to have them here and for them to see how much Luke has grown.

*Sam and Gabe are on Spring Break this week, so I'm trying to plan some fun stuff to do. We went to the park yesterday afternoon with some friends. I wanted to take them to see Horton Hears A Who, but Sam said he didn't want to go see it in the theater because it was too loud...okay. Has anyone seen it? Should I take him anyway? We are going to our new favorite little indoor playgroud called The Monkey's Treehouse on Friday and, if the weather is nice, will probably spend some more time outside at the park.

*Time for more laundry.

The boys today

Kandice on TV

Mike and Kandice were so good today on The 700 Club! KK was rockin' a super cute jacket and looked beautiful! Mike is such a natural at this kind of stuff and sounded amazing when he sang. It was so fun to see pictures of Eli too. To read some of the interview, click here...

http://www.cbn.com/700club/guests/bios/Weavers_0311708.aspx

KK's gonna be on TV!!!

Grab some popcorn and a pen and paper...my friend Kandice and her husband, Mike (of Big Daddy Weave) are going to be on the 700 Club this Monday, March 17th. Be sure to set your TiVo's to see KK's TV debut. I know she is going to be awesome and have so much to teach us about Praying with Your Mate (the topic of the interview)! If you happen to think of them in the next few days, say a little prayer for safe travel (her mom will be staying here with their son Eli) and for calm nerves.

I can't wait to see you on TV Kandice!

and...thanks for doing my laundry!

P.S. This is the most recent picture of the two of us, I feel I must explain the reason my face is so chubby is because I was 36 weeks pregnant...or maybe my face is always that chubby? I don't know...

He's already getting picked on!

Brothers

A REAL Snow Day!

Forget all my other posts about snow...this one takes the cake! We had at least 3 inches of snow last night...it was beautiful! Saturday was a perfect day for a snow day since Neal was home, and he is much more fun playing in the snow than I am! He and the boys had a blast throwing snowballs at each other. Well, Gabe had a blast until Daddy nailed him in the face with one. After he was done crying, he told Neal with his little angry voice "I'm going to get you"! So Neal made him an extra big snowball and let Gabe throw it right at him! Sam never stopped smiling and laughing, he was totally into anything that Neal did. They slid down the hill in a Tupperware box and built a mean snowman. Gabe and I pooped out before the snowman, but we sang Frosty while we were eating lunch. When Neal and Sam came in a while later, they were both freezing. Luke slept through the whole thing of course, but I took a picture of him just to have it documented that he was here!

It was a lovely day!

Luke

Here are some new pictures of Luke. He will be 8 weeks on Monday. He is such a little sweetie...he is starting to smile and really make eye contact, which is always so fun. I can stare at him for hours...even the back of his head is cute!

It's a sad day...

Football will never be the same again. Brett Favre retired today after 17 years playing football. Neal and I are huge Green Bay Packer fans, it will be really weird to watch a game with out seeing #4 throwing touchdown passes. I'm so sad, but glad that he is going out with an amazing season behind him.

To the Country

On Saturday, we went to our friend Elijah's birthday party. My friend Renee and I were pregnant with Gabe and Elijah at the same time and they were born two days apart. We have the same doctor and delivered at the same hospital, I actually walked down to her room when she was in labor and hung out for awhile since I was still in the hospital. Renee had the party at her dad's house, he lives out in the country on about 50 acres, so it was a perfect place for a party. It was a beautiful day (rare for Nashville this time of year) to be outside. They had tractors galore, dirt to dig in with buckets and shovels, goats running around, balls, soccer goals, rocks, mud and plenty of wide open space to run around. The boys had a blast...it was really boy heaven. Their favorite part was digging in the dirt and playing on the big tractors. I had so much fun with my camera...plenty of photo ops of my boys! Neal stayed home with Luke, so I was free to follow after Sam and Gabe and snap away. I promise there were other people at the party, most of the pictures are just of my kiddos.

Gabe's Birthday Party

Since Sam's birthday party in December, Gabe has been talking about what he wanted to do for his party. He decided awhile ago that he wanted to go bowling...so bowling we went! Franklin has a really nice bowling alley with a little kid size room with 6 mini lanes. We rented that out and had tons of fun bowling with all the kids. Gabe was very serious about his bowling, you'll notice that he isn't smiling in any of the pictures, he was really concentrating! He told me later that the bowling was his favorite part. Every time he was opening a present he would say "What is this could be?" It was great. On Saturday, his actual birthday, we went to another friends birthday party (more on that in my next post) and then Sam went to spend the night at a friends. So Gabe had Neal and I to himself (Luke was here but he still sleeps most of the time), we had a great time playing Candy Land, putting together puzzles and playing with all his new toys. It was really good for him to have some one on one time with us...and Sam had a blast at Tucker's...so everyone was happy.

Happy Birthday Gabe!

My little Punkin is 3 today! This is typically when a mom usually says "I can't believe he is already 3". I can't really say that in your case. It seems like you've been 3 for awhile, you are so grown up. You've always seemed older than you really are...I guess because you are always trying to keep up with your big brother. You are such a little sweetheart. You make me melt with your sweet smile every day. I love to watch you experiencing life. You do it so enthusiastically. You are a happy soul who loves to be around your friends and family. The other day at school, as we were leaving, you said good bye to everyone we passed and almost knew all of them by name! I love picking you up from school on Tuesdays and Thursday because you are always so excited to see me and give me the biggest hug. You love to tell me all about your day and to show me the fun things you have created, you are very serious about your artwork. You surprise me each day with the things that you are capable of doing and understanding. You love to be a helper, when I ask you to do something, you will always say "sure!" and run off to do it happily. I know that probably won't last, so I'm enjoying it now! You are very determined when you set your mind to doing something. You've just mastered putting your socks on yourself, every time you do it you say "perfect!" You are full of life, love, fun, joy and laughter...my sweet boy...you fill my heart each and every day of your sweet life. I look at you and see this precious little person who could not be more perfect. You make me laugh, you amaze me with your sweet, giving spirit. I could not possibly love you one bit more than I already do. You are a precious gift from God.

Happy 3rd Birthday Gabe, we love you so much!