to meade

when i look at you i can't imagine a more beautiful creature has ever been. and yet i felt this way at the birth of your brothers. there is just nothing like the birth of a child. after His Son, is there any greater gift on earth that God could have given me than to be your mother? i frequently am overcome with tears by how much i love you. before one has another child, it is normal to wonder, "is there room in my heart to love another like i love the children i already have?"
the answer is a resounding "YES!"

you are perfect in every way. every tiny little feature. i'm trying to just relish each second and yet i'm sad because each day passes so quickly and i can't make them stop. soon you will be 2 weeks old. where did these first weeks go? i am sure i'll soon be asking the same question about your first year. your daddy is just giddy. he can't get enough of you and is constantly coming up with ways to engage you so that you'll stay awake a little bit so we can see those deep, questioning blue eyes.

so far you are a very laid back little man. you only cry when you are hungry or having your diaper changed. you have made the funniest little noises and expressions and gestures. daddy and i could stare at you all day never needing to get up and do anything else and be perfectly content.

we are very excited about having a baby at the holidays. what a festive time of year to have a precious new life! we had a very relaxing stay in the hospital with you. one blessing of having a c section is that you get to stay an extra day or 2! we have been richly blessed that our stays at the hospital have been sweet and restful. that is something i don't take for granted. we got there at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday and didn't leave until noon on Saturday. it was like a vacation for mommy and daddy to just dote on you and focus on the newest member of our family. you had many sweet guests come by to meet you for the first time. you are so loved!

when we left the hospital, it was decorated w/ beautiful trees, wreaths and plants that were not there when we were admitted. we were ushered out to a brisk cold day with gorgeous autumn trees lining the exit from the hospital. your brothers were so excited to greet you when we arrived home, they both climbed into the car to peek at you before we had hardly put the car in park! they want to hold you all the time and we have loved seeing the family that God has given us all together in our house. your grandparents, a friend and your uncle were also here to give you a big greeting when we arrived home. we promptly placed you in front of the christmas tree to begin the paparazzi session! you've almost gotten to the point where you don't flinch at the sound of the shutter! by the time you arrived home, you had already had approximately 700 photos taken of your sweet face, hands and feet and that's just w/ mommy's camera! no one will be able to say that our 3rd child's birth and homecoming was not as documented as the 1st two ;)

we go back and frequently check on you in your bassinet and watch you sleeping. we marvel to each other, "there's a baby sleeping back there!" our hearts are overflowing with love for you and prayers are offered constantly in thanksgiving for this new life God has given us at this time when we celebrate the birth of our Savior and King.

i love you,
mommy

football players are tuff!

I met some friends for brunch this morning and when I got home I found these 2 tough guys in my back yard playing football with their dad. They are ready to show little brother #2 the ropes!

A Day at the "Punkin" Patch

This year we took the boys to a different pumpkin patch slightly closer to our house and the boys loved it! I think it may have come out ahead of the rest due to the cool hay maze it had! They jumped and bounced and wrestled w/ Daddy and didn't want to leave. I'll try to post punkin carving and halloween photos when I have more time.





and they're off!

with their finds

"bert" the pumpkin. the boys don't really watch sesame street anymore, but when s saw this pumpkin he thought it was shaped like bert's head. he was so excited about carving a face to look like him.

waiting for g to make his leap

the boys could've stayed in the hay maze all day!

this one is a little blown out b/c i forgot to tell jamie what setting i had the camera on. oops!

g riding "gravy train" the pony

s riding " trigger"

Great Idea!

How smart is this? This site offers these bumpy name labels for sippy cups and bottles. They won't wash off or fade like stickers and they make it very easy for you and all of your child's caregivers to identify which cup is his or hers. I had lunch w/ my friend Amanda and sweet Anna Caroline the other day and she told me about these! I'm off to order some for G and the new little guy on the way.

i heart fall.

fall has always been my favorite season. here in the deep south we don't get much of one, but i'll take what i can get as reprieve from the oppressive heat. we usually plan a trip somewhere else in the south, where they do experience more of a true fall, and it's always so much fun. some of my favorite memories are from those trips. a few of the things i'm looking forward to this fall:

• the cooler breeze that just gives that extra energy...you can almost smell fall in the air on these days
• baking pumpkin spice bread to take to friends
• it's birthday month for me and jamie!
  
• a weekend get-away w/ the hubby somewhere in the mountains. we try to do this every year around this time, but this year it's also our last minute get-away before becoming parents of 3!
  
• alabama football-it's exciting again!
• pumpkin spice latte's at o'henry's!!!
  
• helping my boys choose halloween costumes, pumpkins and planting mums
  
• the beautiful trees-i hope we do get at least a little color this year...
• the return of THE OFFICE ;-)
• and best of all....the arrival of our new son!
  

so if you are looking for some fun activities to do this fall, here's a list of some of our favorites:

of course, a trip to asheville is the best if you can swing it,
hitting the blue ridge parkway in ga or nc for the fall foliage and lots of fun shops
and antiquing along the way, having a wine and cheese picnic on one of the look-out spots on the blue ridge parkway or on the county roads between gadsden and chattanooga,
old baker's farm pumpkin patch, site-seeing and staying at b and b's in chattanooga and mentone, fall festival at mentone, vulcan aftertunes, cocktails in the gardens (B'ham Botanical)-see activeculture.info....just to name a few. happy fall y'all!

*the beautiful daisies are from my sweet friend lauren---to enjoy...and to practice photography on!

Did Ginny tell ya? She's 30!

the "care bear stare" centerpieces

act of congress-well partially anyway...gin's friends and our new favorite local band

old roomies

new roomies

Ginny is 30!
She celebrated in style with friends at The J. Clyde. It was a fun night! I thought I'd post some pics from the bash for all you friends across the ocean or across the continent.
(about the title, ginny, i couldn't resist ;-)
Love you Friend!
Welcome to the 30 Club!

Tag! I'm it.

So, I've been tagged by my buddy Ginny who is thirty, flirty and thriving, may i add ;)
Boy! Would it be simpler to use my middle name on this, but since i LOATHE my middle name i shall not...

J-Just in time...that's usually when I roll in somewhere. Will I ever be on time again?

E- Against my husband's "Encouragement" to do so, I will not be including "Erotic" as my "E" characteristic. Let's keep it family oriented here.

So, I will say "Extroverted" i am not...though Jamie thinks the longer we've been married the more toward extroversion and away from introversion I have moved...and he's done the opposite! I so love people and I used to come home drained from parties and get-togethers b/c I generally get energy from alone time...but now more often I come home jazzed b/c I'm getting energy from people more. Funny....

S-Searching. Searching for just the right name for the little man growing inside me. I have roughly 9 weeks left to name him. Never has choosing a name taken so long for us...or really just finding the 2 that fit together best. I love him so already and I'm ready to call him by name.

S-Shutter speed. With each click of the shutter I try to capture an expression or moment that is singular and special to that time....and I enjoy getting to learn and explore through this creative outlet.

I-Impatient. Do I need more patience in my life! Whether it's with decorating the house, potty training, or just showing my children the patience that my heavenly Father shows me, I need more, more, more!

C-Caring. There are many, many things that I am not good at-like diligence for one....but one thing I think I do ok at is caring for people when I see a need and being thoughtful and attentive to them.

A-About to pop. And I'm only going to get bigger!

That was difficult! I now tag Kate, Angie and Libby! Have fun ;)

Festival Fun

the other day we met up with some friends of ours for the ross bridge hometown festival and the kids had a blast! i think the giant sinking ship slide was their favorite...that thing was steep!
my favorite part was watching my little rock-climbers! they were too cute w/ all their gear.

the vomit express...but they loved it!

now....this thing....who designed this, i ask??? it was a giant dragon that the kids crawled through and came out this end!

we laughed so hard at this....

\
and what made it funnier was the giant fan that blew them and a huge burst of air out of it!

grocery shopping w/ 6 kids~fear factor ain't got nothin' on this....

ok...you have got to check out this ebay listing. my friend kate who is an extraordinary mom to four found this and posted about it...i couldn't resist sharing it as well.
if you are a mom who needs a laugh, check it out.

i only have 2 and one on the way, and while my experience can't begin to compare w/ the comments she gets, i still get the occasional stare-and i live in a part of town where people are having more and more kids-4 is not abnormal! or the question, "is this one a girl?"
"no? another boy? bless your heart...." OR "i gotta know, is this one a girl?" (i reply that we have another sweet little boy on the way) which is met with a sympathetic look (usually accompanied by a jaw drop when i tell them i still have 2 1/2 more months to go before giving birth) and a wish for luck, etc. etc. etc.

this ebay woman has the blessing of a sense of humor, which i know she needs w/6 kids!

Milestones. or potties and k-5

the 2 big kids starting their 1st day of school! sum and miss e have been friends from birth.

little brother waving goodbye as his buddy goes off to school

a few minutes later this is what i found g doing ;)

i had sent him to wash the jelly off of his hands after breakfast...

and the clever little guy figured out how to pull the stopper on the sink....

and make himself a mini bubble bath!

sum getting some practice w/ the son of one of our friends (he is SO good w/ babies!)

so, we've been working on potty training while big brother is at school....

after a success, g put his undies on his head and did the potty dance naked while eating his favorite candy, smarties! then he killed a little time on nickjr.com until it was time to potty again ;)

he takes his job as resident underwear model seriously

this house is officially inhabited by 2 big boys! sum started k-5 a couple of weeks ago and g is potty training. sum has loved the first weeks, has a wonderful teacher, and is in the same class w/ one of his best buddies. a mother's prayer answered! i hope that he'll continue to enjoy learning. as for the younger brother, we're doing pretty good so far. he's been going a little on his own for the past few wks, but nothing consistent and this summer has not allowed for much consistency! so, we're trying to tackle it before our sweet baby arrives.

by the sea

so, i've been a bit negligent in my posting lately. i know this has been a huge let-down for all of you lurkers....yeah right! he he he...you know who you are!! this may just be the busiest summer i can remember in my history as a mom! but, i did want to take a sec to post these sweet photos from the beach...maybe i will do better about posting in the coming weeks.

my apple tree

"as an apple tree among the trees of wood, so is my beloved among young men. with great delight i sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." ~song of songs 2:3

early in my marriage a wise woman shared with me to enjoy my husband, to view him as my apple tree...one that stood out among the others. i've often thought back to those words. i was thinking about this blog and how i so want it to be a way for my children to look back and view it as a scrapbook, to read the cute things they did or said, to view family photos, to get a glimpse of my heart and what i was thinking through at the time. but, as much as i write about them, i don't want to neglect the gift that is my husband. how i want them to see how i delight in him and want them to hear from my lips what a great man he is!

of course, i want to be honest, every marriage has ups and downs and sometimes you just don't see eye to eye. sometimes the valleys you go through may seem like they'll never end. and we certainly have those times. times when some particular attribute of his drives me up the wall and we squabble over this or that. but through it all, God shows me and reminds me how richly blessed i am to have him as my partner through this life. when i have had what seems the hardest of days just trying to do all i need to do to run our household, or get my child ready for school, when the boys have done nothing but whine and argue all day, how much harder would that be to deal with if i didn't have such a supportive husband that comes alongside me emotionally to back me up?

i was talking to a friend today whose best friend had recently lost her husband. she was going through his things in the drawers of their home. as she came along her things, she wondered, "what do i do with my lingerie?" this broke my heart and at the same time reminded me how precious our days are. of course, my prayer is that God would allow us to enjoy a long life together. but nothing is guaranteed as this so soberingly reminded me. yet, God knows all of our days and holds us in His hand. without His love, I wouldn't have the love of my husband and for that my heart pours out gratitude to Him.

last october, when i turned 30, we realized that we'd known each other for half my life. now i've known him longer than i've not known him. he is my true companion and here are a few reasons why i love him so:

he knows and sees the me that no one else knows...all the good and bad...and loves me completely, anyway.

he knows my interests and doesn't blow them off as "girly" and insignificant, he pays attention to what i'm interested in and really shows that he's into me.

he loves my friends and cares about them.

he has never complained about anything i've made for dinner in nearly eight years of marriage.

he is romantic.

he makes me laugh everyday. which is so important, especially at the end of the day.

he is a rock. he takes on emotional me and helps guide me with wisdom.

he is great with people...all types of people.

he is the greatest father and i'm so thankful our three boys have him to look to.

he is adventurous. i love the "little boy" look in his eyes when he gets to take a kayak out on the ocean, or when he catches a fish at the beach to show the boys, or how he gets so excited about taking the boys on mini hikes and goes to great links to find just one crawfish for them-just so they'll be able to see one.

he is merciful. he is concerned about the marginalized, the downtrodden, the poor.

he loves God's creation and wholeheartedly enjoys exploring it and preserving it for generations to come.

he is patient and kind. he let's me sleep in when i need it~which is a lot.

he always tells me i can and believes in me, even when i don't.

he is clear-headed and can say what is on his heart clearly and eloquently.

he is not quick to act or do something rash.

he balances me.

he challenges me to not just follow the crowd and jump on the bandwagon, without looking at both sides and really thinking about the issue.

he has a great mind. he is always seeking to learn, but never believes he has all the answers.

he is a thermal nation, as i call him. i can always rely on him to provide warmth when i'm cold, though not much these days between the heat wave and pregnancy!

he is the embodiment of Christ's unconditional love for me. thank you for loving me so well.