Birthday wrapup

I created a tiny slidshow of photos from our little party for Little J - go HERE.

4 years old...

Oh Dear little J.... four short years ago, this very minute, they were showing you to me for the very first time EVER!! You were stubborn and I was finally convinced of it, and we had to visit the O.R. after almost 24 hours of labor... but you arrived none the less, healthy and peaceful.

Happy Birthday little man - you never cease to amaze me. We love you soooo much!!

a little behind...

rewind to Halloween....

we carved a pumpkin, and I took photos of it with our point and shoot and I didn't think it was really possible to screw up a photo with a point and shoot camera, but guess what - I did!! I had the flash off. DUH. So, imagine a cleverly crafted pumpkin - by my husband who is a graphic artist shameless promotion and there you have it....

I didn't take ANY photos of little J!! I'm winning bigtime on this holiday so far, eh? Little J dressed as Robin (from Batman/Robin) and he was cute, of course ;-). Big J took this one with his cellphone while little J was playing Lego Indiana Jones before we left.

Here's the only two photos I took of Big E. He dressed as a 'slayer' and it really turned out to look alot like Neo from The Matrix. See the blueish sky in the background??? That quickly turned to crap and rain.

We headed to Union Street around 615pm (dark)- a big deal place to trick-or-treat in our area where they decorate the houses BIGTIME! Some houses even have a haunted theme, like "Nightmare on Union Street". This house had everyone stand in line to go up to the front door to get candy and the entire front yard is a makeshift cemetery and spooky place with dry ice and a wood shed where a guy comes out and teases you with a fake chainsaw. The chainsaw I could have done w/o, but otherwise, it was fun. I expected little J to get scared, but he only complained about the loudness.

After about 5 houses there, it started pouring on us. We decided to pack it up and come back to our n'hood and walk with an umbrella. Big E and the hubs did that while little J and I greeted a little over 50 guests at our door. Little J enjoyed seeing all the kids dressed up and hugged most of the kids his age before they left. I had purchased a bag of 50 pencils and each trick-or-treater got 1. So I ran out... that's how I know it was over 50. I'd say around 70! It was alot!! We emptied out our candy supply and shut the lights off at 930pm.

The rain was here and there, but never steady enough to ruin the night for the kiddo's. Big E came home with a heavy bag of candy, just from going to about 15-20 houses on our street. So, even though it rained, it was still fun for the kids.

Did I mention that Halloween is big J's birthday??? So, on top of all of that, we met papaw for lunch, and celebrated big J's birthday! We had white chocolate raspberry cheesecake + a balloon + cards, and a gift... busy day on Halloween!

Happy Birthday - Day 4

Day 4

Today's my neice's birthday.

There's not much more to write about that... I'm thankful to have been given such a wonderful person to call my neice. I'm thankful that she's a little piece of my brother walking around in this world. I'm thankful that she's happy, and had a great birthday!

birthday weekend

Big E enjoyed his birthday celebration. We celebrated on his birthday at home (the 8th) and Grandma B brought goodies... red velvet cake + homemade fudge and gifts. Then, this weekend we had more family and friends over, and had a blast. Hotdogs, cake, chips, and a pinata! Lots of fun!!

Happy 11th Birthday Big E

He'd be embarassed if I wrote alot of "mush" here.... so I'll just say - Happy Birthday big E... we're just amazed at how fast these years keep flying by!!! You're growing TOO FAST!!

Thanks ....

Just wanted to say thanks to all of the phone calls,twitter tweets (Julie - YES my phone exploded), facebook comments, emails, and cards for my birthday - you guys are the bestest!

I managed to get flowers 2 times today!!

Below is a photo of one of my favorite blooms in one of the bouquets!

The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved;

loved for ourselves, or rather in spite of ourselves.
~Victor Hugo

another year

Today is my dad's birthday! I was so excited to be part of a birthday surprise!! A room was filled with friends, family, co-workers, and church friends - all to celebrate my dad. Amazing.

As I sat and watched a room of people talk about, appreciate, love and celebrate my dad's 65 years I couldn't have been more proud that he's my dad, and he's still here for me to celebrate with. MY dad has outlived HIS dad's age. My grandpa died when he was 64. So to be honest, given our family history (especially with men) of heart disease, I don't believe my dad ever thought he'd live to see 65.

With another year behind him, another birthday celebrated, we have another reason to be grateful that we have been blessed with all these memories and these times together. I hope there are many more to come...

Happy Birthday Dad!

What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.

~George Eliot

Turning 3

I'm behind on posting. There's been alot of things going on for us.... I have so much to journal.... even started several posts and saved them.

For now - I wanted to post this photo montage of little J's 3rd year celebration(s). We actually celebrated Thursday morning, Thursday evening, and then again with more family over the weekend...

Happy Birthday to my little peanut. You continue to amaze us with your humble and cheerful personality.

{the music ON was not working - so give it a whirl by switching it ON - the song is so precious to me}

A lifetime of Memories...

Today my brother would have been 41. I'm reminded of something I read once...

"..in the End, all that really matters isn't the things you did, but what its effects are today, not the knowledge you have learned, but how you applied it, not the words that were said, but how they made you feel, and most of all, not the moment of occurrence, but how its now just a part of our memory.. Everyday, we make memories.. Let's paint lives with happy ones.." ~unknown~

Mike sure painted his life with alot of happy memories.

The photo collage is my way of remembering... laughing... crying... and honoring today. You can turn the sound ON and also watch full screen.. buttons are on the bottom.

"Don't cry because it's over, Smile because it happened."

Happy Birthday

Happy 11th Birthday "doodlebug"

My niece turns 11 today!! Oh if only my brother (her dad) could see her now, growing up into such a lovely young lady. She told me today that she got some lip gloss and blush for her birthday since she's getting older, and we giggled and talked about 'girl stuff'. She's growing too fast. My heart is so happy to know she's growing up, but it's also so sad that my brother's not here to enjoy it.

I'm thankful that she still smiles and laughs. It means the world to me to hear her giggle over the phone.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my hubby today. I'll never tell you how young he is.....

It's too sppoooookyyyyyy {insert silly ghost voice} . HA.

Happy Birthday

A photo montage from around 3 years old until now. Most photos prior to 3-4 years old are on paper, I plan to scan those in when I can.

big E mentioned to one of his grandparents on the phone today that this was the 'best birthday yet'. Wow - he's growing fast, and it really shows in the photos! What a handsome boy becoming a young man right before our eyes.

2 years ago, this very moment

2 years ago, this very moment... Jesse Noah entered this world! It's so hard to believe how fast time has gone by. From finding out we were expecting, up until the second he was born - it was a life changing experience. Surprised by labor late in the evening of Jan 28, and then going to the hospital early morning on the 29th, we spent most of the day waiting on nature to take it's course... then several hours of effort on my part (emphasis on my part there, thanks - I'll take a bow) the doctor came in only to find that Jesse needed to be born by C-Section. He had his own agenda. So - off we went around 930pm.

10:09pm - Jesse was born. It was a while before I got to hold him, we stayed in the operating room a little longer then expected, but the moment we met I realized something - our hearts were changed forever. He stole our hearts with his beautiful little baby face.

So tonight I am feeling a bit selfish, sad, and happy all at the same time. Selfish, wishing I could make time stand still, just for a little while. Sad, that the middle of the night cuddles and feedings are a thing of the past. Happy, that I'm watching this baby we were blessed with grow into such a promising little guy!

Happy Birthday my little peanut. Mommy is so proud of how big you are getting!!

Look who turned TWO!!!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

There was a bit of a mix up with the cake, but after some running around and some improvising on my part - we worked it out. Jesse didn't eat cake tonight, he wasn't interested to say the least. He would stick his finger in the icing and feed it to me. HA! He did enjoy the cars that were part of the cake deco. Thanks to Aunt Heather and gang Jesse has nesting boxes - and he LOVES them! He keeps stacking them and counting them!! He also received Sesame street goodies, books, and a truck that loads cars and helps with colors and counting. Overall, our littlest guy really enjoyed his birthday!!