December 2nd

Finally finished my project I meant to complete in JANUARY!

Hate to throw your Christmas cards away, especially the picture ones? I started a scrap book, beginning with Christmas 2008, that I will put my cards in every year and then have a book of my friends and family and how they have changed through the years! :)

December 1st

First fire of the year....

First Smile Captured on Camera!

NOT the first pic of Z being goofy!

First Day of Advent Calendar

Feeling Scrappy....

As in scrapbooky! A few weeks ago, I bought this scrapbook kit called Project 365 by Becky Higgins. Basically, it is a kit to help you scrap book a whole year simply with the idea to take a picture a day...or even simpler, a picture a week. It contains paper, the book, and journal cards so you can just write a brief description of the picture and that's it! No need for fancy anything (unless you want to doll it up) and you will end up with a chronicle of your year! Ginny is doing it with me so I am hoping we can keep each other accountable for staying on top of it!

So then I read....(on the same blog who got me into 365) about December Dailys. Yep, you guessed it, a scrapbook just on the happenings of this wonderful holiday month, same concept as the 365 one. Everything is on sale at Michael's so I picked up a cute 8x8 book and a bunch of holiday stickers to make this project come true! ;-) It would be a really neat thing to do every year, especially as the kids get older and want to help...until scrapbooking turns into not a cool thing for boys to do with their mom! HA! I start tomorrow...wonder what my picture will be all about?? :)

The only drawback of all this is, will I complete it?? I have MANY unfinished craft projects/endeavors but always seem to find something else to do. This does seem PRETTY easy so I am hoping that I can stick with it.

Check in on me and see how I am doing and feel free to join in on the project too, we can discuss it as we go! :)

Circle of Life

What a whirlwind week its been.....Tuesday, Nov 24th was quite a day of absolute ups and downs.

It started around 3am when I was up feeding Mark and saw my blackberry flashing. I excitedly opened the email thinking it would be an email from Allison saying that Evan was here! But instead it was from our good friends who were due in late February, saying they had delivered their sweet baby girl, Charlotte, at just 29 weeks. Thankfully, she is doing well but obviously has a long road ahead and expected to be in the NICU until her original due date. If she is anything like her parents, which I am SURE she is, she is a fighter and will make this journey. Prayers are appreciated for Charlotte and her parents!!

Finally around 8, I heard from Al and she and Just had gone back to the hospital around 6am and was about 8cm! Al was awesome and had labored though the night on her own. Evan was definitely coming today!! We were all anxiously awaiting to hear the good news of his arrival, hopefully for momma...sooner than later! ;-)

And then another text around 11am....to let me know that my sweet cousin Courtney, who has been battling Cystic Fibrosis her whole life, grew her wings at 10:54 and joined our Heavenly Father as well as her own father and so many more loved ones who have gone before us. For anyone who has read her blog about Court's journey, it was very bittersweet. Sad for those of us left behind to go on without her, but oh so happy to know that Courtney is FINALLY pain free and dancing in the streets with our Savior!! The last entry of her crossing over was totally amazing and I KNOW I will see her again!

So what a day it was. Thankfully Charlotte still seems to be doing well. Her folks are anxiously counting down to day 10 of her life when they can hold her some. Evan finally arrived via c-section in the later afternoon on Tuesday after his momma pushed him for THREE hours! I got to see him on Wednesday and he is adorable! Mark was very excited to meet him! And finally, Courtney had her celebration this morning in Dallas. I was so sad to not be there, but due to a very sleepless night with a congested baby and it being at 10am and 4 hours away...I did not make it. My parents did though and I heard it was a lovely celebration of her life as I knew it would!

All of this during Thanksgiving week. I am thankful for Courtney and her beautiful fight and journey home and for her family for so openly sharing it all with us. I am thankful for Charlotte and Evan and am keeping them both in my prayers to grow big and strong. And of course, I am so very very thankful for my own husband and 2 very sweet boys as well as my parents and brother and SIL and all of the other wonderful people who I am blessed to call family...and my friends, who may as well be family!! I love you all the same!

Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving too and enjoyed some of the photos I posted. what could be sweeter than those 2 little boys together! Lovin it! :)

Matt & Zach

Make a Smilebox greeting

thanksgiving 2009

Make a Smilebox greeting

The Sweetest Thing....

Had to share this story. After the first week with a few smacks to the baby, Zach has just been the sweetest big brother and really loves his "baby". He loves to hug him and just see him.

Well tonight was the cutest yet....after bath time, my mom and I were in Zach's room with Zach and Mark. Mom and I were sitting on the floor and she laid Mark down on the floor on one of Z's pillows. Z came over and we thought he was going to just pull the pillow out from under poor Mark's head but he was actually adjusting it for him. Then he got HIS pillow and laid it right next to Mark's. Next Z got a blanket and covered Mark up and got a blanket for himself. He then proceeded to get his own binkie as well as one for Mark and then a stuffed animal for each of them and then curled up under his blanket next to Mark. It was ADORABLE! There were both of my boys, side by side, with the pillows, blankets, binkies, and stuffed animal. It was a vision I hope of times to come when they are having slumber parties together! So cute! I wish I had my camera but I left it at Allison's I called Matt up to see and he got it on video, we will see what turns out!

Prayers for Courtney

**UPDATE** Unfortunately, the dialysis did not have the results they were hoping for and there would need to be more procedures that may or may not work. Courtney has decided to not continue on with any more treatments and my family is supporting her decision. Please keep Courtney as well as my aunt and cousins in your prayers during this time. You can read the blog for more details. I know Courtney knows the Lord and I pray for her peace and comfort during this time. Till we meet again sweet cousin, I am so happy I was able to visit you this summer!**

As you know my cousin Courtney has cystic fibrosis and received a lung transplant recently. Unfortunately, it has not been the answer to the prayers and the pain as we had hoped as of yet.

If you could, please remember her, her 3 sisters and my aunt in your prayers as they continue on this fight! Courtney is an amazing girl and we all hate seeing her in so much pain.

http://courtneylynnhill.wordpress.com/

Lovin Me Some Tar-get!

Mark and I headed out of the house on our own today for the first time...celebrating his 1st month of life perhaps? Happy 1 month kiddo!

We went to Target armed with the coupon catalog and did pretty good. The $ bin is rocking it right now and we totally stuffed Z's stocking too! Woohoo! I got him a train table and some Thomas thing to add to his tracks, some bath goodies and I got the twins their 1st birthday presents. I am feeling good on my shopping! I have been taking advantage of online shopping too with discounts and free shipping that is being offered right now. Ready to get the tree out so I can put all these presents out! :)

How are you doing on your Christmas shopping??

All I Want for Christmas....

I actually have a list this year! What about you? Have you started compiling your list for yourself or your wee ones yet?

For me, I want a kindle or a nook(BN version). I am a SERIOUS book lover...meaning, I actually love the physical book itself, the smell of the crisp new pages (especially in a (ahhhh) hardback book!!), the book jacket, folding down the pages and occasionally even marking specific passages in books!! BUT, the bookshelf OVERFLOWITH!!! I think the kindle could help me read some of our book club choices that may not be my personal choice but that I still want to read...and then I can save the "real" books for my personal time when I get to venture into B&N and pore over the books on my own!

I also need some new wine glasses. In the last couple months, I swear Matt and I have broken about 5 of them between the two of us. I guess cause they are old and cheap, time has finally caught up with them, and they are done for. Don't need anything fancy, just something to sip out of and keeps from serving the guests in plastic cups! :)

As for the kiddos...I am so torn on this. I can think of about a MAZILLION things for the Z Man (anything Thomas the train, cars, blocks, outdoor, sports, etc) and about nothing for Mark??? Its not personal, but the poor dude will be like 2.5 months for his first Christmas. Its not like he will be playing with toys and we obviously still have toys and clothes from Z. Umm, I guess he can get money for college? HA! Thoughts on this from anyone who's little one was LITTLE for their 1st Christmas?

And what about you, Mommas?? What is on your list? IS there any cool item out there that I am missing out on and cannot live without, besides the kindle and the wine glasses? :)