Saying Goodbye

Today is our last day in Montgomery. We packed and packed and packed. A HUGE thanks to our family and hired friends all their help. We got all...I mean almost all...of our stuff packed into a 26 foot truck and one of our vehicles. There is just enough room for SG to ride along on the roof...Just kidding!

Earlier today, around lunch time, some of SG and Mommy's friends came by to say good-bye. At first, the kids just enjoyed running back and forth in the empty house. Then out the blue SG came up to her little friend Cooper and said, "Cooper...I am going to miss you." Mommy thought she was going to melt into the floor. Mommy has done really good about holding the emotional side in until today.

Mommy and Daddy really didn't know how much of the whole "moving" thing SG was grasping, but I think today really explained it all. Below are just a few pics of what our house has looked like the past few weeks and what our yard looked like this morning. New pics of Decatur to come later.

For now...please pray for our safe travel and smooth transition.

This Grand Adventure

I am sitting in the peaceful quietness of Panera Bread at 3PM in the afternoon enjoying a late lunch (by myself), so I decided now is the perfect time to play catch-up for all our friends and family.

Just so you know how technologically I fell behind, as I write this entry I have over 200 pictures finally downloading off of my camera into my Shutterfly account. I have not downloaded since MAY! This is not like my personality, but many of my readers know that our family has been through quite the rollercoaster ride personally since this past July.

As Beth Moore spoke last night at my Bible Study (on DVD of course), I finally put all the pieces to our puzzle together. Once we stopped trying to stack the bricks of our life and just let God do the writing and "stacking" then things will all work out for the betterment of everyone involved.

I am learning slowly not to "stack my bricks" too high. The Lord has taught me, especially over the past 3 months, to slow down and that I cannot conquer everything alone.

Now that I am done with my sermonette (I need to remember what I tell my husband all the time: Less is more.)

SG's update: She has been in outstanding health. We are still struggling, at times, trying to find a regulatory range for her diabetes but she is handeling everything like a CHAMP! She has even gotten to the point now where she helps Mommy and Daddy change out her site, which tends to minimize some of the tears. I have a co-worker at school who also has Type I Diabetes, and she has been such a blessing and HUGE help to me and SG at so many times throughout the year!

Mommy and Daddy are getting ready to begin final performances for their last Living Christmas Tree in Montgomery, Alabama. Yes...I did say last.

As many of you know, the Lord has protected our family at many times throughout the year when we felt he was calling us to one church or another by firmly closing the doors. However, we have felt the call of the Lord and he has open wide the gates in more ways than just for Daddy's calling to serve to move to Decatur, Alabama.

Daddy will begin serving as Minister of Music at Westmeade Baptist Church. Our entire family is SO excited to see how the Lord has and is going to use us in this wonderful body of believers. Throughout this transition I have been easily reminded through SG's child like faith how Christ showed his love to us and how we should extend it to others. She has been so flexible and adjusted so easily in all situations that we have put her in over the last 3 months.

We are looking forward to see how God works through our Daddy and Westmeade Baptist Church. Please pray for us during this time of transition.

May God bless you and your family during this Christmas season!

Song quotes by SG

So as many of you have read from some of my previous posts, SG LOVES to sing and, for the most part, generally sings the right words. However, she is known to have some misinterpretations of some of the lyrics. Here are two of her latest...

There is a song about Peter, James and John that is on her Bible songs CD that we have literally worn out in the car (most of the songs we can't play any more because they are so messed up on the CD). The song is supposed to say "Peter, James and John in a sailboat out on the deep blue sea". But according to SG Peter, James and John are now located in a sandbox out on the deep blue sea. Just in case you missed that section in the Bible.

But her latest one that has to be my favorite goes with an all time traditional Christmas song "Go Tell It on the Mountain". The end of the chorus says "Go tell on the Mountain that Jesus Christ is Born!" However, SG promised me in a heated 2 1/2 year old discussion on the way home from church last night that it does not say that in the last line. She "knows" that it says "Go tell it on the Mountain that Jesus Christ is Hot!" I am just quoting my 2 1/2 year old.

Hope this brings you as much laughter and joy to your day as it has ours this weekend! May we remember to "Go tell it on the Mountain" each and every day because He is born and "Might to Save".

This Little Lemon Lime

So as many of my readers can view from my facebook page, Samantha Grace likes to "perform" on stage. Well, her latest performance is of "This Little Light of Mine". However, according to her it is "This Little Lemon Lime". Enjoy!

Invisible Hands

As many of you know, two year olds can say the funniest things. Well, just these past few weeks SG has been having "conversations" with God while we are driving in the car. Some of them go like this,

SG: Hey, God, whatcha doin'?

Silence

SG: Ok. I'm not doin' anything. Just riding in the car.

Mom: So what is God up to SG?

SG: Just watching over us.

Mom: Anything else?

SG: Yeah, relaxing.

These conversations seem so cute and innocent when they happen. But her conversations I think came to life this weekend. Our church truly did have God watching over us with his invisible hands of protection. As you follow this link you can read and watch about what a true blessing it is that 14 lives were spared yesterday.

I write all of this cute conversation and link it to this story just to reiterate how important it is not only to openly talk to our children about God's hedge of protection, love and the joy He brings to our lives, but also the importance of praying. We have continually taught SG how praying is just talking to God. So she has, in her two year old mind, created these open conversations with God knowing that he is just "relaxing" and listening.

This power of prayer is truly what saved the lives of 14 young men yesterday. So as you go through this week and you are sitting at stop lights, cleaning dishes or, as in my case, tripping over another toy...stop and have a light hearted "conversation" with God. After all, He's watching over us and just relaxing in his heavenly chair!

A New Do

Today SG and Mommy tagged along with SG's Godmommy to the hair salon, also known at our house as Miss Pam's. SG and Mommy had talked all the way to Perry Street about getting her hair trimmed, but she was quite insistent about not getting it cut.

However, upon not only being in Miss Pam's shop 5 minutes and receiving the traditional lollipop, SG insisted that she was to get her hair cut after Cecile. Well, we all did it with a held breath...lifted SG up onto the special chair, adorned her with the oh, so cool ice cream apron and waited an abated breath for the second tears of rejection. For, you see, a couple months ago we tried the same thing since she was convinced that she needed her hair cut too, but we were not successful as the tears flowed before the ice cream apron was even put on.

Today, on the other hand, was a totally different experience. She hopped up in the chair and sat with a stare of amazement watching Miss Pam's every move. For just a 5 minute trim, she did FANTASTIC! Now her hair will grow out in not the Billy Ray Cyrus style but in little, I mean, BIG girl style! (No worries...the curls are still there grandparents!)

Mommy has added some pics from the experience. Hope you enjoy!





P.S. After getting our hair trimmed, we went to see Miss Alice's puppies! SO CUTE!

A Big Stretch

As the summer is quickly coming to an end, we, as a family, have much to reflect upon...

We have had so many wonderful blessings this summer from fabulous family memories, two great get aways for Mommy and Daddy to the Bahamas and Arizona (where I write this post from currently), and onto some the of the biggest growth and challenge in our spiritual walk in quite some time.

As I mentioned in previous posts, our family would be taking some big steps that we had never ventured. Well, those big steps have taken an unexpected turn yet knowing that God is in complete control we will walk along this journey with our Heavenly Father. Just like with our SG's diabetes, we will never fully understand the greatest extent to the unanswered question of "Why?" but we do know that God is in complete control.

I know that for some of my readers the vagueness (is that a word?)of this post may not mean much, but if we could ask for one thing from your family towards ours it would be to pray. May you and your family enjoy the last few days of summer before the school year begins.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." - James 1:2-3

It's Been....

Well, it has been quite some time since you have heard from us. (My father-in-law said that his reading material has dwindled since I haven't been writing as often.) But I guess the grue reason why I haven't written in quite some time is because...well...I really don't know.

I was looking back at my posting log and found at least 13 unfinished posts. WOW! I have a lot of thoughts that I would love to put out there but after contemplating them some more just don't feel they truly meet the purpose of our blog. (They probably belong my in my journal of thoughts but this is so much more convenient at times than pen and paper.)

So for a quick update on our family...
Samantha Grace
* She is growing like a weed.
* She is struggling over the past week with her diabetes trying to keep it in normal range. We are either in extreme highs or lows at various points throughout the day. No true explanation for these extremes. We are, however, thankful that we will be visiting Birmingham within the next week for our 2 1/2 month check-up.
* She is growing more and more independent every day!
* Finally, she can say her entire name clearly! This is huge because Samantha is so difficult for 2 year old to get out let alone her entire name.

Mommy and Daddy
* Enjoying shorter work hours and weeks for more family time.
* Getting ready to help lead worship at a conference in Arizona. (Mommy has never been there!)
* Getting ready to take some big steps...details to come in the next few weeks.

I promise to be more loyal in writing in the coming weeks for those of you wanting to know more about our "big steps". I will also post some too cute pictures of SG taken in the last few weeks of summer.

Blessings to all!

Daddy's Day

So today we celebrate the joy of having such wonderful Daddy's in our lives. Samantha Grace and I had been working on Daddy's project for some time now. But since Daddy will be going on a trip for the next week we moved our celebration up a few days. (Honestly, Mommy just couldn't wait to give the gift.)Unfortunately, I can't show you the exact gift but I can give you the pictures that were included in the gift.




These were taken by my friend Meredith Sellars. I just LOVED the natural look of her photos.

Also apart of our Daddy's Day celebration we took a trip to the zoo. We got to experience one of our zoo's newest features...The Giraffe Encounter. Yes, we got up-close-and-personal with our zoo's giraffes. We fed them some giraffe food concoction in an ice cream cone. If Mommy was to be honest, I think the giraffe was more interested int eh ice cream cone than the actual giraffe food. But the best part were these pictures Mommy caught during the feed...


Samantha Grace and Mommy are so thankful for an amazing Daddy and husband! We wish you and your family a Happy Daddy's Day too!

Just a Shot

Earlier this week we went on a long car ride. One of the treats that SG got to experience was eating "cheesey puffs" aka Cheetos. This is a rare item for us to have in our house, so when they "hopped" into her treat bag her eyes lit up with surprise and joy. Here is one of the during pictures of our treat.

Tears were Flowing

Tonight on the way to church, Samantha Grace and I were chit-chatting like we always do. Going through the usuals...

SG: Where's Daddy?
Mommy: Where do you think he is?
SG: At church.
Mommy: Yes, honey.

SG: Mommy, Look! There's sunshine.
Mommy: I see it Boo-Boo. Isn't it bright?!
SG: Y-E-A-H Mommy!

Then came the silence...until I heard this:

"Dear Jesus, Tank you for day. Mommy. Daddy and A-Grace (Side Note: She can't quite say her first name yet.) Jesus, Amen"

Then she said: "Mommy, I pray for you and Daddy."

My heart just sank and melt while tears welled up in my eyes. Then came questions about going to church and then Heaven. I know these were only small seeds, but they are being planted. Wow! How the Lord works through you and your children in mysterious ways.

We ended the ride with the conversation ending like this:

SG: "Mommy what do you do in Heaven?"

Mommy: "Sing to Jesus and go to church all the time." (I had to put it in two year old lingo)

SG: "I don't want to go there right now Mommy...I want to go to church."

Mommy: "I do too. Let's go to church to learn more about Jesus."

SG: "YEAH!"

I just LOVE being a Mommy!

Just Keeping Up

A week ago, Mommy and Daddy were just returning from a week in the Bahamas aboard the beautiful NCL Sky. (Highly recommend!)

Thinking that they had had a restful and rejuvenating time, Samantha Grace quickly reminded them how tiring it is to keep up with a two-year-old. Here are just a few shots of what has happend in the last 3 days. (Please Note: Daddy has been down for the count due to a bacterial infection so Mommy has been taking these adventures with SG either alone or with awesome friends!)



Swimming in the Monkey pool. (Getting Mommy's laptop wet when Skyping with Mimi and Bobo.)



Swimming at the Waters and playing "big" ball. We have now learned how to climb on the ball and almost do a forward roll off of it.





Playing at the playground in 85+ heat!




A trip to the zoo with SG's friend Scarlett!

Needless to say Mommy was exhausted by Saturday evening. She has to say that she is somewhat glad that the Lord sent a thunderstorm Saturday night to cancel a planned swim trip. Always another day...

This week holds new adventures for our family. Please be praying for us as we journey to wherever the Lord places us next.

A New Chapter

Yesterday, Samantha Grace "graduated" from the 1-year old room into the 2-year old room. Mommy has to say that I am a bit tearful. We have LOVED our teachers this year. They have been some of the most compassionate and loving teachers!

When SG comes home and constantly asks, "Where's Berta (it's really Roberta but she can't say it all)?" or "Where's Christi?" You know it's been a great year!

She has made some fantastic friends and memories! Some we will never forget. One of the best "presents" that SG brought home was a collage of pictures of her and her friends from her class. My! How she has grown and changed since the beginning of the year. She is such a littl girl now!

There is one picture, in particular, where she is standing with her friend Beasley and she has her arm around her, leaning her head on Beasley's shoulder and smiling from ear-to-ear. It looks like a picture you would have seend in a high school year book. It just made Mommy cry.



We have now enetered our summer season. We know that there are still many possible changes on the horizon for our family and wait upon the Lord for some answers. But for now we are enjoying the laughter, water playing, swing-set swinging and friend playing times each moment that we get!

Mommy cannot thank Miss Roberta and Miss Christi for any better year than this! You guys are the best and the memories will last a life time!

A Year Later

Some of you may not realize but last week has a great significance on our lives as a family. Exactly one year ago, we put our sweet Samantha Grace's life in the hands of wonderful doctor's and nurses here at home and at our wonderful Children's Hospital upon the realization of a diagnosis of Type I Diabetes. To mark the year of dramatic changes, I first thought I could compose a letter, but later thought that pictures do a much better job of explaining than I can do in words. Plus have you ever tried to write a letter to your child...not easy! So here in pictures are some of the journeys we have taken since May 8, 2009.

Almost 1 month prior to diagnosis.

Exactly one week prior to diagnosis.

Leaving PICU and heading to a regular room at Children's Hospital on day 3!

About 1 month after diagnosis in Nashville on the lake!



My first Braves game. September 2009.



Collecting rocks with SG's Uncle Vance. October 2009.



Beach trip with Bobo, Mimi, Mommy and Daddy. October 2009.



Tulip Fairy. Halloween 2009.



Thanksgiving 2009. Family Hike in Nashville.
Received our insulin pump. Such an answer to prayer!



Finger/Body painting at Mimi's. November 2009.



Christmas 2009. Only a day after being hospitalized with Type A & B Flu and a double ear infection.



Her favorite Christmas gift. Christmas 2009.



Learning all about Skyping. January 2010.



Riding the carousel at the Nashville Zoo. March 2010.



First petting zoo experience at the Atlanta Zoo. April 2010.



Dress-up like Abby. April 2010.



Samantha Grace and her "big brothers". May 2, 2010.

After all this fun and dramatic physical changes in our little angel, when the day is said and done Samantha Grace is just plain...



wiped out.

"Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." - Psalm 106:3

What a Day!

Today SG experienced her first friend birthday party. She was a little tentative at first, but slowly took to...

A Picture with the Special Guest (Snow White)




Listening to the Special Guest with Mommy
and
Listening to my friend and Snow White sing "Someday My Prince will Come"




Mowing my Friend's Grass



Sliding Down a SUPER Fast slide



Riding Home After Lots of Fun with My Cool New Shades and Jewelry.


Later on this evening, SG decided to try on one of her birthday outfits...


We even got a family photo with our little Abby Cadabby!

New Hobby

My husband gives me a hard time frequently about my hobbies...as the continue to add up. Some of my favorite hobbies are those that I can do while watching my favorite TV show and newly released movies on DVD (i.e. scrapbooking, sewing, etc.).

Since I have a cute little princess for a daughter, I knew the time would come when bows would start to consume our lives. Not wanting to pay the usual $5.00 plus for a hair bow, I knew that I could make them on my own but just needed a little instruction. From several helpful friends and family members, I finally have mastered "my way" of making bows successfully!

Tonight while catching up on one of my favorite reality TV shows, I was able to make 4 hairbows in less than 2 hours, hot glued and secured to all barretts! I am so proud!

Tomorrow...a vintage pillow case dress!

P.S. Here is a picture of a few bows that I completed tonight.