Brown.

Moving boxes are brown. And brown is not blue or yellow or any other bright happy color-it is blah. And when all your beautiful things that fill your home and bring you happy butterflies are packed up in brown boxes..it makes it hard to be joyful over something you were joyful about before your house was taken over by brown.

I had my first two cries the other day. I am sure many more will come. First-madysons best friend for all 7 years of her life spent the night the other night. This was their first sleep over together. They truly love each other and it breaks my heart to see her try to be so strong when I know she is so sad. 

The next cry was Monday night after our 2 year life group meet and greet. Being surrounded by friends that have loved on our family through the good time and the bad knowing it was probably one of the last times we would all be together was hard. Especially with our best buddies-the Byrds. We have been there for each other in every ugly situation you can think of and we have always seen each other to the other side. They are our girls other parents and their kids are mine and Todd's extended hearts.

The thought of us being apart is killer-but God never said His plans were easy.

As I sit in sadness for what we are leaving-I strive to make myself see the greater picture. He has great plans and we must go and seek out His will. He has opened up these doors for us to basically walk through without effort and I must stay focused on the goal-to follow God and trust Him in everything we do. I am so thankful for all of our friends-and I am blessed because of them. 

Wading in the water

I debated how to tell this story. Today-September 29th-madyson was baptized. I want her to share her reasons and views on baptism but she is already in bed-so hopefully soon she can tell you her side. But today-as a parent-I am so proud. 

Madyson has always had a deep desire to learn about God and the bible. Todd and I have nurtured this desire by making church a priority in our life. We believe that it is a great help to have a community that supports you, prays for you and encourages you. We have an amazing Family Ministry at our church and it has been with their help that madysons desire to grow with Christ has bloomed so much at such a young age.

Tonight-my 7 year old got into the water with the help of our student minister Garon (her uncle as she refers to him because he is a big part of our family)

and waded out to our pastor (who is a great mentor, family friend, and father figure to me) and so sweetly committed her life to Christ.

Then she was brought back to shore by our family minister Joseph who has been our Life group leader for the last 3.75 years and has played a huge role in helping us develop a foundation and plan on how to raise a child in a Christ-filled way. 

I am so proud of my girl and I am blessed to be apart of her life. I know God will do great things through madyson. 

...to be continued. 

A new school year!

Yesterday we started a new school year! The girls did great! And momma didn't cry!!

We woke up early-ate breakfast (they had scrambled eggs and strawberry muffins)

We brushed our teeth-and got dressed and took our annual "Back To School Photos!"

We all (5) loaded up in the van and took Madyson first. Since this is her 3rd year in school and she is familiar with her new school (since we've been there a lot the last few weeks working on PTO stuff) we went through the drop off line and let her out.

Then we pulled out of the school-and parked on the side of the road and unloaded (4 of us) and made the .5 mile hike to the next school to walk Aubrie Kate in for her first day at kindergarten! We walked Madyson in on her first day-so it was required we do the same for Aubrie Kate.

She was a little nervous-BUT she did awesome. We got into the school and took a photo-then walked down to the classroom and put her stuff in her cubby-then she sat at her table and we left.

{{Isn't Aubrie's Outfit ADORABLE?!?!!? You can Like Piper Grace Clothing on Facebook and have one made for you in a variety of fabrics!!}}
The rest of the day was.....quiet. Mia Margaret and I cleaned up-played-and watched some Doc Mcstuffins. I got a little sad because I didn't have to booties sitting next to me during the show!

Next we had lunch and then piled up and headed to the long wait of car rider line! by 3:15 I had all the kids in the car and we were headed home!

Madyson had a great day! She has a planner this year to keep up with homework and such-this made her SO happy. She loves some organization. She has a lot of friends in her class and really likes her new school.

Aubrie Kate loved it-she told me all about the new friends she made.

Today they got up and we were out the door by 7am! They were ready for a 2nd day!

I am so blessed that we live in a district where public schools really invest in our kids. This year all the kids k-6 have their own Ipad or Ipad mini in the classroom. Grades 7-12 are distributed an Apple Imac to bring home and do work. Our school district strives to make sure each child has the best teachers, every tool they need to make sure they succeed -and you can't ask for anything better than that.

Here is to a great school year!

End of summer

Summer is over. We have just 47 hours til a new school year. Both girls have met their teacher-turned in school supplies and picked out their outfits for the first day! It has been an awesome summer-busy, full of memories and lots of laughs. Here are a few favorite pics from the summer!

You don't have to be a big girl.

I am extremely sentimental today. Madyson finished up first grade. Her first 2 years of school are over and she is headed to the 2nd grade. I don't know why-but 2nd grade seems so "old". It feels like we are on the Rock-N-Roller coaster in Hollywood studios and they are about to launch us forward SO fast...I better pull down that safety bar.

As we were getting ready this morning I showed Madyson her picture from the last day of kindergarten compared to today-she got a little sad.

"Momma, my friends say in 2nd grade its not cool to watch Disney Jr...or wear Carter's clothes...or not have an ipod with Taylor Swift and Katy Perry on the playlist. They said, we are big kids now and that all that baby stuff has to go away."

I asked Madyson how she felt about this she said, "I don't want to grow up.  I like my shows and my clothes and I don't care that I don't have an ipod.

As we hugged-it made me think-when did childhood become limited to 6 years? When did society/parents make the decision that little girls have to grow up so fast?

This year my girls grew a lot.

Spiritually-They both grew with their walk with the Lord. Madyson is ready to become a Christian.She understands what it means, she understands following Christ, she is ready to talk to our Family discipleship pastor.

Mentally-They have learned so much. Madyson is loving chapter books-Aubrie Kate is focusing on early readers. Aubrie was behind earlier in the year-but she is catching up! Madyson loves math-addition/subtraction etc.

Physically-They are almost twins! both in the 40lb range-just a few inches apart-1 shoe size apart and the same size in clothes! At the beginning of the year they were a 3t and 5t now we are at 5t/6 for both.

Socially -Madyson has opened up a lot this year. Aubrie will happily talk to waiters, ask for to-go boxes and tell you all about the legend of whatever she is obsessed with at the moment. We had to take away Disney shows A.N.T Farm, Jessie, and Shake it up. The  girls wanted to "be like the characters" and smart mouth-disrespectful-boy crazy little bits were just too much for me to endure-cue Jake and the neverland pirates.

I think as parents we sometimes get caught up in the "everybody else" world. If everybody else is getting this or doing that-then my child should too. I know I suffer from this because...well...let's be honest...who likes their child to feel left out?

But as the year progressed-I really started deciding that I want my girls to enjoy being little. I want to stretch out the desire to play with American girls and dress up. I want them to enjoy snuggling and watching movies that don't have preteens making out. I want them to belt out their KLOVE songs that speak of hope and faith rather than Taylor Swift's latest break up.

One day-they aren't going to be little anymore. They are going to be big girls in a big world. I want to know 100% that before they enter that world-they are ready. That they will be able to make decisions based on morals and values and not because "everyone else is".

So sweet baby-
You don't have to be a big girl right now. It is summer. I want you to sleep late, play with your sister, run through the sprinkler, get excited over ice cream day, soak in the blessings around you.

When school starts-I want you to go in with a great attitude coming off of a fun summer. I want you to be ready to learn all the fun things you will learn in 2nd grade. I don't want you to worry about who's on the cover of the latest teen magazine-because baby there are so much more important things than that. I want to make sure that you are secure enough to be an example, a leader and to be able to feel accepted for it. 

As you prepare for your new chapter in life-lets focus on the milestones you should be focusing on. Growing more spiritually, keeping our brain open for learning,  keeping friends close that share the same values as you, and maybe finally defeat the fear of riding without training wheels.

You are going to grow up-but don't worry-I am on your side. We will take it one step at a time and we will make sure that you get to enjoy the things you like for as long as you want. Here's to summer! Now, lets go have some ice cream.

Love, Momma

Weekend Fun!

Oh what a fun filled weekend! We are all out of undies due to the lack of laundry-(but I washed enough tonight to make it til Tuesday :)

Friday-Madyson came home from school with her AR tshirt. She has been in AR since kindergarten and loved it. But this year has taken a huge toll on her (with the death of my MIL-me being pregnant-the new baby) and her love of reading really disappeared. Most of her friends got their 50 point shirts first semester-but it took Madyson longer to get motivated and to get her love of reading back! We were very proud that she achieved this! We have watched her develop and change so much this year and deal with a lot of grown up things-she is back making all A's & B's and working very hard at school again.

Friday night we took the girls camping! Now-I know what you are thinking...camping with a 5 week old. Well-lets say...we took the girls camping...in the backyard.

They have been begging to go-and we wanted to test them out in a tent-but I needed to be close to civilization with Miss Mia-so we figured the backyard was as good of a place as any! (I mean we do have a crazy family of raccoons living in our bushes...more on this later)

So we grilled hamburgers and hotdogs-built a "camp fire"-made smores and pitched a tent! Todd and the girls slept outside...and Amelia and I camped on the couch-in case anyone came wondering in during the night :)

Saturday-Todd was hunting with his friends so the girls and I headed to the country to visit my parents! It was a beautiful 70+degree day (I CAN NOT WAIT TO GET THE KAYAK OUT IN A FEW WEEK!!)

The girls fished with my dad and uncle and my mom, grandmom and Amelia went to the produce stand and to get ice cream :) Also, FINALLY-Madyson learned to tie her shoes! We have been working on this for years! And she would never "catch on" finally-we were sitting on the dam and we practice a few times and it finally clicked. I have never been so happy!

Sunday-we had our church picnic

We had a great time of fellowship with our friends. I have gone to this church my whole life-and I love being a part of it.

After the picnic-Amelia went to hang out with my aunt, Todd went to Softball practice and Madyson and Aubrie kate and I headed to the Nature Center to a first grade art show about Monarch butterflies. We have an amazing art teacher at the K-1st grade and she teaches the kids all sorts of stuff. Each first grade class of 20-25 had 5 kids selected to participate in this art show. Madyson was selected and we were very proud!

Madyson with her ribbon and artwork

Her classes art :)

After we all got home-we ran to Kohl's to get Amelia a few outfits. I had some Kohl's cash that was about to expire and never have had a baby that stayed in newborn clothing for more than 3 weeks, so I only have 10 outfits. I picked up a few more until she can finally wear 0-3!) We had dinner at Sweet Peppers then stopped by and visited with some friends before heading home!

It was a longggg weekend! But we had a great time! Coming up this week-we have a Life Group, a tball game, and lots of fun plans this upcoming weekend!!

It's been a WEEKEND~

My gracious-we had a full weekend and I am SO tired!

Friday-my parents came to spend the night with us! Todd and my dad went hunting Saturday morning so it was easier for them to leave from our house than try to meet (there wasn't a middle to meet at)

We ordered pizza, my aunt, uncle, and cousins (who moved to Louisiana) came over and the kids played. My sweet cousins met Amelia, and then when they left we watched Les Miserables.

Saturday they guys got up and went hunting-my sister and my nieces & nephew brought donuts over and all the girls (and the lone nephew) ate breakfast, got ready, and picked up my cousin and her 2 kids (4 adults and 8 kids!) and we went to the Mississippi Children's Museum!

my mom with the kids-#8 was by madyson

After hours of playing-we headed to lunch and then did some shopping. Needless to say we had lost our minds! Kids ages 13, 9, 6.5, 5.5, 5, 2.5, 1.5, and 4 weeks....

We survived the day and then came home and RESTED for church on Sunday.

Sunday we got up and had a grand day! I am so sad though-for some reason my memory card deleted over 20 photos I had taken of Todd and the girls and our family-so I have the ones my mom took to share :(

After church we headed out to the country to hang out with my family for lunch and such.

The girls got their-changed clothes and went to the lake to go fishing. (They are my girls!)

um...when did I get a kid this big?

We ate lunch-hunted Eggs-and then the rain came! We got home around 330 and took a short nap-then made dinner and watched the finale of The Bible on History. It was very powerful-and the girls really have enjoyed it. It made the whole "Jesus dying on the cross" idea very real. We have had great conversations each week about Jesus' life. I love exploring the Bible with the girls.

Today we are hanging out-relaxing. Madyson had school today due to a missed day back during Hurricane season.

This week we have our first tball game-Amelia turns 1 month old (OH MY!) and a few other fun projects...

Life with 3 kids, a little bit about Amelia and post c-section recovery.

It's been 2 weeks since little miss Amelia joined our family. I thought (for my memory) I would share how life with 3 kids girls is going-and how my C-section recovery is going!

First-the first week home was-A Lot. Amelia came on 3/3-we had planned Aubrie's birthday party for 3/7 (actual birthday 3/11)

So we got home on 3/5-Todd and the girls had their first tball practice that night. Aubrie's party was 3/7-we had family here-everyone celebrating "The A's) which left Miss Madyson-feeling very left out.

at aubrie's skating party-no I did  not skate.:)

By 3/9-She was falling apart. We both sat in the kitchen crying-5 minutes later-she was better-it took some reassurance to let her know Mommy and Daddy haven't forgotten her-It was just a big week.

Other than that-we haven't had any jealousy issues or other problems. The girls had spring break this week-and I was home all week by myself with all 3 of them. We survived. Not being able to drive wasn't fun-but we made the best of it. Aubrie Kate shared her birthday presents and we made jewelry, colored, did crafts and all sorts of creative things!

Amelia is an excellent baby. I am sure as she "wakes up" it will be more difficult. But right now she has herself on a schedule. She sleeps majority of the day-eats every 3 hours-sleeps a 5 hour stretch each night.

She only fusses when you are changing her clothes/diaper. SHE LOVES being bathed. Totally doesn't surprise me. She always stretched out in womb when I took a bath.

We have a "blooming Bath" and I love it. I know she doesn't looked thrilled in the picture but I was trying to get one without my hands in the picture-but she kept falling asleep-so this is the best I could do this time. I promise Ill get a good one when I have some extra hands.

She is still in preemie clothes-but is slowly moving up to newborn. She is very snuggley and loves to be held.

She loves her Honest Company Diapers. And I received many compliments on them in the hospital. When she thickens up we will switch to cloth diapers and use the Honest diapers when we are out and about.

Aubrie Kate and Madyson both love holding her and picking out her clothes. Aubrie will make sure you wash your hands BEFORE you touch her. She is the GermPolice.

This is my 3rd C-section and the recovery has been great. I was up 12 hours after surgery-showered the next day-pain has been ZERO (praise the Lord). I did have a little set back this weekend. Friday I decided to do the housework and did too much. I have been ordered to bed for the rest of the weekend to relax and they said that should fix the problem.

celebrating St. Patrick's day! Amelia got to come out of her sling for the picture :)

This week we have our 2 week old check up AND AK's 5 year old check up and shots =( So that should be....interesting.

I am loving having 3 girls. I find myself praising God and crying 75% of the time I look at Amelia.  It was really hard the last 4 years wanting a baby and giving it all to Him to handle. I thought His timing was wrong-and that it wasn't fast enough. But God knows. I tweeted this the other day-and want to share again: If you desire to be a mother-keep praying. God hears your prayers and His timing is best!

The race.

2 Timothy 4:7: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.

Weeks ago, Madyson and I were laying in the bed discussing death and the fight grandmomma has fought against Cancer. As my 6 year old laid beside me...with tears rolling down her face asking me, "what can I do to save Grandmomma?" I set speechless.

I have learned, as a parent, when you dont have the answer...God will step in. The verse found in 2 Timothy 4 came to mind, then the thought of breast cancer awareness month followed. I shared with madyson how in order to find a cure for Cancer, researchers needed money/funding. And one way they get this is by walkers/runners in marathons fundraise for them. Thats all it took. She asked if she could participate in a walk so she could "save the grandmommas" for other kids so they wouldnt have to watch their grandmother suffer, the way she has. How could I say no? We signed her up online and discussed raising $250 for breast cancer. I thought that was reasonable. Thanks to amazing friends and family, Madyson raised $500.

Today, we got up and headed to the state capital to make strides. My brother, sister-in-law, neices/nephew, mom, todd and Madyson were all registered walkers. Aubrie kate and I planned to cheer them on.

The race began and they were off. Aubrie kate and I found a spot near the finish line and entertained ourselves with the ipad and snacks.

45 minutes into the race my mom, SIL, todd and madyson returned. My mom (a breast cancer survivor) was walked out, my SIL had bronchitis and the cold air wasnt helping and todd and madyson had to help them get back.

I could tell Madyson wasn't done and to be truthful, I was frustrated Todd didnt keep going with her. ( I know hormones...) I asked her if she wanted to finish-she said she did...with me. So 5month pregnant momma took her by the hand and we cut over to the 1mile sign where they had left off and hand and hand we walked (with daddy)  the rest of the 2.2 miles. the whole time I prayed for no contractions and heart problems. I knew Madyson needed to finish this goal for grandmomma and for her own mental being. One thing about Madyson is she processes things like an adult. The weeks leading up to the walk, she kept telling me..."Im going to tell grandmomma how I am helping find a cure for Cancer so when you are a grandmomma you wont have to be sick like her."

We got to the 3 mile marker....it wasnt much longer til we were done. Once she finished, she said..."I finished the race"

Yes baby girl, you did.

We headed out for lunch at the diner and then home for a nap. We had been home a few hours when we got a text from Todds stepdad....

"You might want to make it to the house today...moms not doing good."

Todd and I left the girls with my mom and headed over. When we arrived, we were heartbroken to find she is no longer able to communicate, having a very hard time swollowing, and fading...fast.

We have hours, days, maybe a week left with Grandmomma....and all I can think is..."She has fought the good fight."

Madyson finishing the race. Pictured with My mom-cancer survivor.

The race of life is a difficult and challenging one. Sometimes, in order to finish the race we need to start over. Sometimes, we just need to keep the faith. In Hebrews, we are told "..... let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." The race God has planned for me is different than the race God has planned out for you. May you run your race with endurance and faith, always fighting the good fight.