Sofies fall festival...

For Sofies 2nd birthday we had a Fall Festival. We had it at Kevins family farm, it was a GORGEOUS day outside! We had a great turn out! We painted faces, made foam crowns to wear instead of birthday hats, and we even had a "non hay hay ride" meaning Kev couldn't find hay so we loaded up the trailer with blankets and took a ride! We had an awesome day, Sofie was thoroughly spoiled!

a letter to my birthday girl...

Sofia,
I sit in bed after a looonnggg day preparing decorations and food for your 2nd birthday party! It blows me away that you have been here, in our arms, for 2 years. You my dear are a gem, I can't fathom a single day without you here with us. You are beautiful and precious and have taught your father and I more about parenting in 2 years then I think many have learned in a lifetime!
I want to remember everything about you at this stage of life so I want to tell you about who you are as a 2 year old. You are a BIG SISTER! Although your little brother has only been here for a couple months you have formed a bond and attachment to him that makes us so happy! You love to give him his binky when he cries and you love to "chat" with him, he loves to give you grins which always result in you giggling! Being a Big Sister has also shown some challenges for you sweet girl. You are a mommas girl, you always have been, you used to be so clingy I could rarely put you down, especially if we were around people you weren't familiar with. You have come a long way and (especially if Avs with you) you are much more willing to venture out on your own. BUT you arent always fond of how much time Reiter spends in my arms. It breaks my heart when he is fussy and has to be held and you cry because you want to be held as well, I try my best to hold you both but it is not always possible and you are learning patience as you wait your turn. Life is busy with you and your siblings Sof but I adore the time I get to hold and snuggle just you baby girl, I hope you know that you are special to me and your daddy.
You are a LITTLE SISTER! Being the little sister is so fun for you. You adore Averi, the 2 days a week that Averi is at school you ask constantly "mommy wheres Averi?" it is so sweet. You love to play with your big sis, you follow her around everywhere and copy everything she says and does. You bicker with one another over toys and books but are slowly learning to share and handle your arguments calmly! Averi adores you sweetie... when you are 15 remember that! I hope you are best friends always!
You are the middle! I used to worry that you will be "lost" between your big sister and little brother but you have enough personality for 15 kids so I find myself worrying about that less and less! A friend of mine told me when I was pregnant with Reiter that the middle is the cheese to a grilled cheese, and it is the truth, we would be no good with out you in the middle keeping it all together little girl. You are precious!
You are a talker! Oh my we get told all the time how shocked people are by the amount you talk. I believe this is another benefit of being the little sister as you imitate your big sister! You speak in full sentences in a tiny raspy voice! You are funny, REALLY funny... you keep your daddy and I laughing! Everyone who meets you instantly falls in LOVE because you are so sweet with your words and actions!
You are STUBBORN... at 2 your stubbornness can be quite a challenge. It often takes several rounds of discipline to get you to stop doing something and many times you do the same thing you have just been disciplined for while looking at us smiling just to see if we will actually discipline you again, which we do. It is an exhausting never ending cycle! But your personality,especially in this regard, has taught me so much on true patience, I pray that I will always discipline you out of love and in a way that points you towards your heavenly Father, not in a way that purely shows you my lack of patience and frustration! I am also learning to pray not that you would not be stubborn, because that is part of who you are, heck you were that way in my belly, you were 3 days LATE! Instead I have started praying that God would use your stubbornness to his glory, that you would learn to be stubborn in your beliefs but also to bend your will to the Lords will for your life, He has big plans for you baby girl this I know is true!
You are gorgeous! You have the biggest blue eyes with KILLER lashes! It has taken two full years for you to finally have some hair but it was worth the wait as your hair has come in in gorgeous blonde curls! Your sweet grin lights up the room.
You are sensitive. You feel so sad for others when they are sad that you cry a long with them. When Averi cries in time out you stand a few feet away saying "it ok Averi it ok" you can see the distress on your face because you hate her being in pain. I love this characteristic about you. God has given you a heart for others and I believe if you allow him to he will use that heart to touch so many others!
You are LOUD! You laugh loudly! You talk LOUDLY! You run around like a wild women... LOUDLY! And I LOVE that about you! I love to chase you, to tickle you and to hear your wild laugh!
You are passionate! You literally do everything with every ounce of your being. When you throw a fit it is a fit that takes a minimum of 30 minutes to get under control. When you hug you do it with all of you, tightly and yet gently, it is so sweet and I cant get enough of them! You do everything to your fullest ability and therefore live every moment to the fullest I wish I was more like you in this regard!
Pearly, we love you. We are honored to be your parents! We knew from the 1st day we held you that you were not going to be an easy baby, and you aren't, you keep us on our toes but in turn you have bound us together as parents, as a family, and you make up for those hard moments with your love, smiles, passion, kisses and hugs! I praise the Father for giving me you to call my daughter!

Dad

Last week my parents moved to Florida to live with my sister. I had not seen either of them in a while but they were able to stop off in Murfreesboro and visit. My Dad has Crones disease and has been in poor health for a long time, I am used to him needing to go in and out of the hospital and used to him having surgeries... but when they stopped by our house he looked by far the WORSE I have ever seen him. He was pale, his legs looked awful he was out of breath...
For those that know my Dad though he is 1st stubborn and 2nd an incredibly hard worker! I love him, but he will not stop pushing himself until he is so sick he has to go to the hospital! He was bound and determined to make it to Florida despite how bad he looked or felt. They got to Florida and into the hospital he went.
He had been on blood thinners so they had to wait a couple of days to do a heart cath to see what the problem was. On Thursday they were finally able to do it and they found several blockages. They sent him into the ICU immediately to await open heart surgery. My sister called to inform us, and we ultimately decided to load up and drive the 12 hours to Florida.
I don't know the last time I cried so much. To be honest I was convinced I was not going to see my dad alive again. From what we were being told he was in critical condition and they were unsure what the outcome would be. When I talked to him the night before his surgery he admitted he was scared, literally the only time I can remember him saying He was scared. I was scared, my brother and sister were scared.
I kept praying for God to heal my Dad, to protect him through surgery, for him to guide the doctor and surgeons hands and for me to be at peace with whatever outcome God had planned. God was so present on the drive down. Averi and Sofie are notoriously bad in the car. They were so unbelievably well behaved on the ride down and Reiter slept much of the trip. It gave me a lot of time to pray for my Dad.I talked to him at about 530 (we had stopped at a hotel to sleep a little bit) before they took him in to be prepped for surgery,all I could do was cry. I was so scared that this may be the last time we got to talk. I told him I loved him, told him I thought he was a wonderful Dad... He told me not to cry, that I would see him in a few hours.
So we got up and drove the last few hours. Kev prayed with me and held my hand. About 10 minutes before we got there my sister in law called and gave me the news. Dad was out of surgery! PRAISE THE LORD!!! He had done well and was in the ICU still on the Ventilator. The next step would be removing the vent, they thought it would be 8 to 12 hours before they could remove it, they removed it after 2 hours! So many people were praying and our prayers were answered!
Seeing Dad still on the Vent was hard. But the next time I saw him he was off and able to speak. I have never felt so good talking to my Daddy. I have never realized how much I need my Dad, how much I appreciate and love him. I admire his work ethic, I admire how he tries to protect his kids even though we are all adults now. He is my Dad and I can not say thank you enough to God for placing his hand on Dad and giving him another day, because I needed to spend more time with him, I need to talk to him more to hug him more and to watch him hold my babies! Thank you Jesus for one more day with my daddy.

Fall is in the air!

We are loving the cooler weather, we are spending as much time outside as we can...







We even visited a pumpkin patch on saturday! The kids had a blast picking pumpkins, playing in a corn maze, sliding down a 40ft tube slide, and making sand art! It was a GREAT family day!






... and the days it has been too cold or wet we have taken up tent building! We have camped, had tea parties and put our babies to bed all in our living room tent! I love being their mommy!

Reiters 2 months!!!! WOW! He is a whopper of a boy weighing in at 13 pounds and 23 inches long! He is Happy and sweet and a joy of a baby! He only gets up once (sometimes twice) at night but my pediatrician was pleased with his sleeping pattern as of now. It is funny by the time you have your 3rd you pretty much give up the idea of scheduling and just go with a lose routine, you give up the idea of sleep and roll with a few hours of sleep at night... infancy is so short lived why not check your attitude and just enjoy that baby for where they are, that is precisely what we are doing! Reiter is smiling and laughing and "talking" up a storm! We are totaly crazy about this boy and can not imagine our home without him!

Nick and Regan get married!

Last weekend Kevin and I had the opportunity to attend our dear friend Nick and Regans wedding! I grew up with Nick, he has always been more like a 2nd big brother to me and Regan is by far one of the sweetest girls you could ever know, what an honor to share in their big day! While there we were also able to see my sister and her husband and FINALLY introduce them to Reiter! Over all it was a GREAT weekend, short but GREAT!