Grady Michael

I haven't posted anything about my nephew Grady in a while......so I wanted to share a few pics! He is getting so big! I am still trying to get him to say my name.......everytime I say it it just laughs his head off! It cracks me up!! He is now 15 months old, I can hardly believe it!

Here are cousins Hunter and Grady

Videos

I had a few videos I never posted so I thought why not post 'em all LOL

The other night we had Matt, Jess, and the girls over to play the wii and eat some grub. Joe and Matt decided to box each other on the wii and it was one of the funniest things ever! Check it out!

Then one day I was just watchin tv when a mermaid swam into the room, ha ha!

Prayer

One thing that has been on my mind lately is prayer. I'm always wondering if I'm praying "right". Is there a wrong way to pray?

Today I was reading one of my daily blogs and I was reminded of the ACTS acronym as a memory tool to help me stay focused during my prayer time.

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving

Supplication

If that is confusing, you can also use PAST

Praise (Adoration)

Apologize (Confession)

Supplication (Ask)

Thank (Thanksgiving)

PRAISE (Adoration) - You can start by saying........I praise God because He is ____________ .

“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD”.

Psalm 150:6

APOLOGIZE (Confess) - to God for things we’ve done wrong.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

SUPPLICATION (Ask) - for things you and others need!

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

THANK (Thanksgiving) - God for answered prayers, things He has done in our lives, and also for the blessings we and others have received.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

My next biggest step is to establish a time/routine of prayer. This could be before

bed, before meals, in the morning, before work, or on the car ride home from work.

Secondly, I need to look for prayer opportunities. Perhaps even more important than

having an established prayer time is taking advantage of life opportunities to teach

each other about prayer, but also that God is our strength and source of power and

encouragement in this life. When we turn to God throughout our day, we

demonstrate for everyone in a very powerful way that He is with us 24/7 and is

always available to us, His children.

And the winner is...............

I should have known I wouldn't be able to pick a winner! You all made my day by reading your comments!! I couldn't pick just one.....so I had Alli Jo draw for a name.......

I will get a hold of you Susie soon to mail you your prize...CONGRATS!!!

Gish Sneak Peek

I had a little session with the Gish family this past weekend. Poor little Copeland was not feeling well at all. Not to mention it was so humid....so that probably didn't help him any! I think he did really good for not feeling well!

Congrats

Two of my good friends delivered their daughter's today at the same hospital I believe!

My good friend Lacy had her daughter Ava

And Hunter's Aunt Aimee had her daughter Avery!

We are so excited! I am heading down to the hospital tonight to visit :)

200th Post

Well folks, I've made it to 200 posts! I think my last post was actually 201!

Sooooo, why do you care?????

Well I'm all for giveaways....so here's what I'm going to give away

And NO not my copy haha...it will be a brand new copy!

How do you win?

Leave a comment on this post with one reason you love being a mom (or dad). Leave your comment before midnight Friday, May 22nd!

Mother's Day

I forgot to post much about what I got for mother's day. The girls of course got me some really cute cards and then this book that I've been wanting to get. It's the latest book by Kate Gosselin. It's more a picture & scripture book, but the kids are cute as ever!

Joe got me what I asked for, this Shootsac Cover. It is not here yet...but that's ok hun :) I love my shootsac! It carries not only my lenses, but I stick some extra memory cards and necessities in there as well! So why not have a little bling on the outside with a shootsac cover haha!

Miller Sneak Peek

Talk about one cute family!! I had a blast this weekend doing a shoot for Shawna & her family! Her two girls are just as pretty as they come!! Hope dad has a shotgun handy! ha ha

Here's a little sneak peek!

Chop Chop Again

But it's me this time :)

I know I don't look happy in the last picture (horrible), but I am hahaha! Amber did great.....

I'm lovin it!

Family Portraits

Well it was finally my turn to get some pictures taken! My best friend Kelly took some pictures of my family a few weeks ago. We had fun! Kelly is so good with the girls...they were just cheese'n it up! Here are a few of my favs!

Almost Friday

Well it's almost Friday, yay! This past week had been a rough one (with Alli Jo). I'm so ready for her to be 100% again! She is getting better, thank God! She has not taken any of her pain meds (besides tylenol & motrin) for two days now! I think that has helped the rest of the stuff go away! She still wakes up in a little bit of pain, probably b/c the scabs are forming now. (yuck, I know). So thanks for all your prayers and encouraging words that have got me past these last 9 days!

Not much else is going on right now. Hunter is playing softball! She is quite the little slugger! She might just take after her momma, ha ha! I was a softball nut growing up! Here are a few pictures from her first game. I missed the last two games while taking care of Alli Jo.

Hunter also made me realize that she only has 7 more days of school left!!! WHAT???? I couldn't belive it! This school year is almost over, and I will have a preschooler & 3rd grader! WOW, my girls are growing!! Since Hunter has a summer b-day she will celebrate it at school next week. I'm not sure yet what I'll send for snacks :) Hmmmm.............

Well until the next time.........

Kayleigh

I have recently been following a blog about a little girl named Kayleigh. Today I learned that last night sweet Kayleigh went home to Jesus, after a very short life. If you are reading this today, I ask that you please take just a minute....just ONE minute of your busy day to say a prayer for her family! I cannot imagine what her family is going through right now! It just breaks my heart! She is such a miracle as she was born at 1lb 1oz and was only 10 1/2 in long. Can you believe that? Amazing! She lived for 11 mos on earth, but now lives eternity with our Savior! She was truly a miracle from God!

**UPDATE ON ALLI JO**

Alli seems to be in better spirits today. Thank you Jesus! I came to work, and mom is staying with her. Please say a prayer for my mom, I don't think she's feeling well today, but she doesn't want to say anything b/c she doesn't want me to worry. I think she is overdoing it again! Back to Alli Jo....she said she didn't need her medicine today, so I didn't give it to her. I almost wonder if it's making her feel worse (minus the pain). So I'm just going to see how she does today! I hope my baby girl is on her way back to normal soon! Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers! I know they're working :)

UGH

I really didn't know what to title this post, I don't even know if it's a word, but UGH!

Yesterday Alli Jo just wasn't herself. She had got some of her energy back Saturday, but yesterday she just wanted to lay in the bed and would only drink a little bit. It feels like we're on a big YO-YO! Well we had my mom, step-dad, sister, bro in-law, and my nephew over for a little backyard bbq. We figured Alli Jo was sleeping so she'd be able to rest and we wouldn't have to leave the house. Well when things were almost done Alli Jo started to vomit. As most of you know this is not good b/c she is already high risk for dehydrating from getting her tonsils out. Please say a little prayer....I am overwhelmed more than ever right now. Although I wouldn't change a thing in the world (I love my girls), being a mom is a LOT of work. Every day I have to wake up and choose to either go to work or stay at home with my sick baby. When I go to work, I feel horrible for making someone else watch MY sick child. When I stay at home I feel horrible that I'm not at work doing what they're paying me to do. It just feels like a lose, lose situation! So please say a prayer so that Alli Jo gets over this hump and mommy can have somewhat of a "normal" routine again. Thanks & God Bless!

Blessed

Today is my 9th Mother's day as a mom. WOW, when I say that it makes me feel simply BLESSED!

9 years I've been able to celebrate one of the most honorable jobs in the world....

being a MOM!

Why do I feel blessed? One way to define blessed is "enjoying the bliss of heaven". To me being a mother IS heaven on earth! God has truly blessed my life on this earth by giving me two of his daughters to watch over and raise. I hope and pray that I am doing my best for Him. I hope that I am making Him proud like my girls make me proud every day. Thank you God for giving me these two special blessings!!!

This song by Taylor Swift inspires me to, at the end of the day....make it the BEST DAY ever for my girls!

BEST DAY

By: Taylor Swift
I'm five years old and it's getting cold
I've got my big coat on
I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you
I run and run
Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides
Look now the sky is gold
I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home

I don't know why all the trees change in the fall
I know you're not scared of anything at all
Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away
But I know I had the best day with you today

I'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends could be so mean
I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys
And we drive and drive until we found a town far enough away
And we talk and window shop till I forget their names

I don't know who I'm gonna talk to now at school
But I know I'm laughing on the car ride home with you
Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel ok
But I know I had the best day with you today

i have an excellent father
His strength is makking me stronger
God smiles on my little brother
Inside and out he's better than I am

I grew up in a pretty house and i had space to run
And I had the best days with you

There is a video i found from back when i was three
You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me
It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs
Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lad in the whole wide world

Now i know why all the trees change in the fall
I know you were on my side even when I was wrong
And I love you for giving me your eyes
Staying back and watching me shine and I didn't know if you knew
So I'm taking this chance to say that i had the best day with you today

PREACHING BABY
I will leave you with the hilarious video of a little baby preaching.....
I guess you can never start to early sharing the Lord's word!!!

Show Us Where You Live-Living Room &/or Family Room

Today I am participating in "Show Us Where You Live Friday". I know a few other of my buddies like Chelsa have also started participating. It sounds like something fun, and I haven't posted many pictures of our new home...so why not!! ha ha

You can check out Kelly's Blog who started this fun thing!

She is has a very inspiring story, so if you haven't read her blog, please do!

This week is the Living Room and/or Family Room Edition

This is my living room couch,

I'm thinking of making the wall red like the pillow, what do you think?
Another view from a different angle....that love seat is no longer there, it's part of our section which is now upstairs.

View from our front door entrance

I plan on putting an electric fireplace with our

flat screen plasma mounted above it....

right where the 32in is now

This is the table at the entryway from our front doorThis is the hallway looking towards our room from the living room
Looking from the living room into the kitchen

Some things have changed a little since I've taken these pictures, but nothing drastic! We also have a living room area upstairs that I turned into a media room. We have a projector and a "homemade" screen that we just love! I'll have to post those pictures another day :)

**UPDATE ON ALLI JO**

Yesterday was our worse day yet. My poor baby didn't want to drink ANYTHING until after about 2:30pm. I was getting worried I may need to take her to the hospital, but my prayers were answered and when she woke up from her nap, she started drinking anything and everything! She even got hungry later on! Thank you Jesus! She is still in a lot of pain, and moans when she sleeps...it just breaks my heart! But I know in the long run this is all going to be worth it! I just hate to see her in so much pain, UGH! Today I came to work, so I could catch up on things, and my mom is watching her. I haven't had an update and I don't want to call in case I wake her up, but I know she is excited "Mamaw Nita" was going to be there!

I'm hoping we can do "something" this weekend for Mother's Day, but I don't plan on taking her out of the house for too long if I do at all.

Well till the next time............