Giving Thanks!

I have been very blessed to have two wonderful grandmothers to help guide me thus far in my life. As posted previously, my Mam Maw went to be with the Lord on her birthday in October. My other grandmother, Granny Sue still lives alone in her house in Murfreesboro. She is a very stong Christian woman, who witnessed to me throughout my childhood and continues to do so today. One thing she told me has really been heavy on my mind and heart here lately. She told me to "always praise the Lord in all you do...even when you wash dishes!" Well, I once tried to memorize the scripture, but unfortunately I had forgotten it. Well, Granny gives us a Christian daily planner for Christmas each year. Last week the scripture was the verse for the day. I have added it to my header in hopes for it to be a constant reminder to me.

Well, I have prayed about it and am trying to live more by this scripture in all that I do- especially at times when I am NOT pleased about something I am doing-like working 4 days now! I know this won't be easy, and I'm sure I will need a refresher from time to time, but here are some of the thankful thoughts from the past few days!

Thank you Lord that...
I have a car to drive to work
I have a job
I am (hopefully) able to make a difference in a child's life
I love my coworkers
I have a wonderful husband who helps a lot with the housework
I have a wonderful child
Addison is happy where she stays when I am at work
Grant gets off early and is able to pick Addison up
Our mothers are able to keep Addison one day a week
I have hands to paint (the shelves in a closet-this was harder than I thought it would be)
I have legs to stand on
I had a quick, easy labor and delivery (my friend Jenny just had a baby girl after an induction that lasted almost 24 hours)

So I hope and pray that you, too, can rejoice during those difficult times. It's funny how many times a day I can say "thank you!" to my heavenly Father. He is good!


Granny Sue also likes shoes! She and Addison are looking at some shoes with feathers that my mother gave her on her birthday. I couldn't find a good pict of Granny...need to get one of those!

My heart breaks

I am so sad tonight. I have heard so many heartbreaking things today. My heart is heavy, my eyes are filled with tears, and my prayers are many.

I am even more saddened by how I acted last week. Granted I can blame a lot on hormones, but how selfish can I be?! I had a pity party. I was ugly to my mother. I was mad at Grant, yet he didn't even know. Wow! And I have so much to be thankful for.

These people are struggling.

I can't share some names, but God knows who they are.

A little girl may be diagnosed with leukemia in the next few days. After many appointments, pain, and questions, she underwent some more tests, and they are waiting for the results. My heart breaks for this family.


A girl gave birth and began treatment for cancer that had metastasized from breast cancer to her liver, spine, and pelvis. I pray for her children, her husband, and of course her. Read her story here. Amanda tells more information. http://babybangs.blogspot.com/

A daddy has gone to heaven leaving his baby girl, and his newly pregnant wife. Here is her blog.http://sweetcarolinebaby.blogspot.com/

It is amazing what people go through in life and how they can go on. I know they can only gain strength in our Lord, and through prayers they achieve that. So please pray for these people.

Thirty Things at Thirty Months

Aunt Gigi took this picture on Christmas Sunday.

Today Addison is officially 2 1/2 years old. I can't believe she has been a part of our lives for 30 months! I don't remember life without my precious child! Here is my list to Addison... 30 things at 30 months...

1. You are such a girly girl! You love the Disney princesses, dressing up, and jewelry!
2. You have discovered that a Walrus lives under our coffee table. You feed him fish, but he doesn't bite your toes. (who knows where this came from??!!)
3. You love to have your toenails and fingernails painted.
4. You love to eat at Ta Molly's and will eat a large portion of cheese, guacamole, olives, and sometimes fajita chicken.
5. You say "I love you more" when we tell you we love you!
6. You love your big girl bed!
7. You love to play with your babies. Currently your main babies are Baby Darla, Dora (a cabbage patch), little baby, baby Sidney, Bobby, and Bobbie.
8. You love your milk.
9. You are a good eater, and are given a plate of whatever we have for dinner. Sometimes something different- you don't like fish!
10. You have discovered the wonderful world of chocolate!
11. Your favorite foods include muffins, chicken nuggets, mandarin oranges, grapes, ice cream.
12. You really like talking on the phone to your family, but love seeing your picture on Mommy and Daddy's phone and saying "I see Addison!"
13. You now have an opinion about your clothes and will request, OK demand, certain shoes sometimes!
14. You will say you want to go to Gymboree.
15. You easily recognize the Target symbol.
16. You like going to church and will say you want to go to church and play, play, play!
17. You will get a bow and ask if it matches your outfit!
18. You can undress yourself with some help with your shirt.
19. You can put your shoes and socks on by yourself as long as you don't get aggravated!
20. You say the blessing at most of our meals..."Thank you for food. AMEN!"
21. You love to sing and can sing many songs! Some of your favs include the ABCs, Jesus Loves Me, Wheels on the Bus/Daddy on the tractor, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
22. You love books and can even "read" some of your favorites! You will fill in the words as I leave them out. You like to read any of the Princesses books, Someday, I Love You Through and Through, Twinkle Twinkle bedtime stories, Manger Story
23. You go to bed around 7:30 and sleep until around 7:00.
24. You are not wanting to nap at Mother's Day Out! You prefer to take a later nap than the noon to 1:30!
25. Your friends at Mother's Day Out include Riley Grace, Maybry, Faith, Jordan, Chloe.
26. You love gymnastics! You do an awesome Spider man up the wall!
27. You have a love hate relationship with Gunner. He bugs you, but you want him to show you attention. You got mad b/c he pops your balls, but you did not want him to get a spanken when he got Daddy's boot!
28. You like to box on the Wii.
29. You like bubbles in your bath!
30. You are loved more than you could ever imagine. You bring so much joy into your Mommy and Daddy's lives! We thank God for our very special gift!

And then she said...

I cannot get my background to change! I know Christmas is over, but I'm not sure what is going on with it! The cutest blog website is down. Here is my post anyway!

I think everday Addison says something that just cracks me up! I am amazed at how she remembers things and put things together. Three things stand out that she has said lately that I don't want to forget...



We were on her bed reading books and getting ready for her nap. She asked me something and I replied, "umhmm." After doing this the second time, she put a precious little hand on each side of my face and sweetly said, "Mommy, open your mouth and talk to me!"



She fell in our driveway this past weekend and really skinned both her knees. DRAMA! I put a mermaid dressed Dora band aid on her knee and she said, "Is she gonna jump into the cool clear water of a lake?" This is from the book Someday that we read. A mother is talking about her dreams for her daughter and dreams "that someday you will dive into the cool clear water of a lake"


On Christmas morning she made a horrible face. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I need to bless you!" That was her way of saying she needed to sneeze!

I'm BACK!!!

My mom, sister, and I went to see the Rockets! We had a blast! We had dinner at the Macaroni Grill before the show.

Long time, no blog! We finally have Internet! We were promised it would be in by the 31st. Of course, 2:00 on Wednesday they finally showed up only to tell me we were too far for DSL service. So, today Grant went and got a wireless card. We will see how it works! So much has gone on since I last blogged...

Some girls at work had a house warming party for us on Friday the 12th. I didn't get any sleep that week, but at least the house was presentable! I got some really great gifts, and gift cards, and my aunt and Granny Sue surprised me by coming. It was really neat, and I appreciated them having this for us soo much.

On December 18th, my sister and I took our mom to see the Rockets for her anniversary! See pict above. I couldn't move it and didn't want to start over...sorry!

On December 19th we went to DeQueen to celebrate Christmas with Grant's mom and dad, and Gigi and Shug (that is what Addison calls him!). We had a wonderful weekend...making cookies, opening presents and just being together. Grammy even arranged for Santa to visit on Saturday morning. Addison was OK with him being there, but announced she had to go potty upon his arrival, and then quickly said "Santa go bye-bye in a minute" She didn't want him to hold her! Addison received bity baby twins from Gi and Shug and the stroller and clothes from Grammy and G-Dad. She named the babies pink and black at first, but now calls them Bobby and Bobbie!

Christmas Eve, Gigi and Shug came over and I cooked Lasagna for dinner. We planned on going to a Christmas Eve service, but time got away. It was neat being at our new house! We had made cookies earlier for Santa, and Addison got a kick out of putting them out for Santa. After Addison went to bed, we set up her Santa.

Cookies for Santa!

Presents from Santa!

Addison decided she wanted pink and purple flowers, and earrings for C-mas. Anytime she was asked, that is what she would say. Luckily, Santa came through. She went for the flowers first thing!

After the flowers, she noticed her kitchen! She loves this kitchen! Cupcakes were in the oven and she has enjoyed cooking so much!

She got new sunglasses and insisted on wearing them for C-mas breakfast since the sun was coming in the window! I fixed french toast and blue berries. We enjoyed it!

After breakfast we went to Prescott for C-mas with Grant's PawPaw and Joy. Then on to Murfreesboro for C-mas with my Mom's family. It was weird not having MamMaw there. We still got our red panties, but no one made a big deal out of it. This is a tradition started by my Granddaddy. After he died, my Mam Maw continued to get all the girls red panties for C-mas! I'm not sure who exactly did it this year, but I think it was a joint effort.

Addison wasn't feeling very well so we went to my mom's and got her to bed early. On Friday the 26th we had C-mas with my mom and sister and then my Granny Sue that night. We came home after that.

I was sick all weekend with a sinus infection and didn't get much done. This week has gone by too fast and I still have boxed to unpack and things to organize! The house isn't going anywhere and it will eventually get done!

So, how do we like the new house? We love it! Addison loves her big girl bed and her room! She wants to show her new room to everyone. We are so pleased with how everything turned out.. the paint colors, the floors, the stairs to the attic, and so on.

I do think one of the best things about being here is enjoying God's creation. We love looking at our backyard at the trees. We have seen up to 7 deer at one time in the back. I saw a double rainbow. It is just awesome!

I hope all is well with everyone and Happy New Year to all! It's good to be back!

Bye Bye Crib, Bye Bye My Baby!

My baby is growing up. Grant and I often find ourselves saying, "She's such a little girl now." I am so proud of how Addison is growing and becoming more independent. She will put her dinner plate in the sink (or trash :)), she is completely potty trained (occasional accidents), she is getting better at undressing her self, putting on her shoes, brushing her teeth, and so on. She is my little girl! I am amazed at how I can have a conversation with her, and explain things to her with her understanding. All these things are soo exciting. But tonight I am emotional! This is her last night in her crib! She is spending the next 2 nights with her grandmothers so we can get moved. It hit me that this was going to be her last night in the rent house, and then it hit me her last night in her crib. When she comes home, we will be in the new house and she will have a big girl bed! Where does time go?!

Here are some picts of her posing in her crib. I also snuck in and took one of her sleeping. Oh how I love my baby, well um, my big girl!

To God be the Glory!

I wanted to share this little story. You hear how God will provide if you trust in Him. You hear sermons about the importance of willingly tithing and how God will give back to you. You know this, but when once again God comes through it is wonderful to sit down and say "Thank You God"

Confession- Grant and I have not been tithing like we should. We went through a spell where we were visiting churches a little closer to us and just got "out of the habit." Well, money is tight right now with finishing the house and buying for Christmas. We have had some sermons lately that have really spoken to both of us. Grant kept saying, "remind me to send our tithes." Yes, we do them electronically. Anyway, the other night I asked him if he had sent our tithes yet. He said no, and that he would do it right then. He asked how much I thought we should do (No we didn't figure out 10% like we usually do) We both just felt led to give a certain amount. We both had the same number in mind! Grant sent the money and then said something about my bonus I just received at work. It was the same amount! We really didn't have that extra lump sum amount to give right now, but we both feel strongly about tithing and knew we needed to make up for some lost time. God knew all along what we would do, and how he would provide!

Thanks be to God and his willingness to always accept us back!