Nine Years

Nine years ago my life changed completely.  All of the hopes and dreams I had of becoming a mother came to a screeching halt.  It would be a LONG year and half before I would be able to fulfill those dreams again.

The days/months after losing Katelyn were some of the longest and hardest days of my life.  Music became such an outlet for me because the words could convey exactly what I was feeling/thinking.  Of all the songs that touched my life during those dark days (and the one that still makes me cry every time I hear it) is "Glory Baby" by Watermark.  It is the perfect song for anyone who has ever lost a child.  It gives me such peace knowing that Katelyn is safe in the arms of Jesus, waiting for me to join her.  She will never know the pains of this world because heaven is the only home she will ever know.  What a wonderful thing!

GLORY BABY by WATERMARK
Glory baby you slipped away as fast as we could say baby…baby..
You were growing, what happened dear?
You disappeared on us baby…baby..
Heaven will hold you before we do
Heaven will keep you safe until we’re home with you… 
Until we’re home with you…

Miss you everyday
Miss you in every way
But we know there’s a
day when we will hold you
We will hold you
You’ll kiss our tears away
When we’re home to stay
Can’t wait for the day when we will see you
We will see you
But baby let sweet Jesus hold you
‘till mom and dad can hold you…
You’ll just have heaven before we do
You’ll just have heaven before we do

Sweet little babies, it’s hard to
understand it ‘cause we’re hurting
We are hurting
But there is healing
And we know we’re stronger people through the growing
And in knowing-
That all things work together for our good
And God works His purposes just like He said He would…
Just like He said He would…

BRIDGE:
I can’t imagine heaven’s lullabies
and what they must sound like
But I will rest in knowing, heaven is your home
And it’s all you’ll ever know…all you’ll ever know…


Happy Birthday, Katelyn! 
We miss you every day...
Love, Mommy & Daddy

Super Grizzly

Guess who was this week's Super Grizzly?

Eden got chosen by her teacher to be the Super Grizzly for her class this week!  Each Friday, one student from each of the four kindergarten classes is chosen to represent their class as the Super Grizzly.  They get to go with the principal on Friday morning and help her with the announcements and then they get to wear a special vest all week long. 

 

Eden has been wanting to be Super Grizzly since the first week of school and has been working so hard to earn it.  One day last week, I saw her walking down the hall with a bubble in her mouth and she told me, "I think I look like the next Super Grizzly!".  On Thursday night, she even told Cory that she thought she would be the next Super Grizzly.  Thank goodness she was chosen!  I'm pretty sure her sweet spirit would have been crushed if she hadn't been picked!

I was a little worried that she would get too nervous and start crying when she had to help the principal say the Pledge of Allegiance but she did great! 

Sara, one of her sweet friends from preschool, was also chosen to be Super Grizzly for her class this week! 

I am so proud of how well Eden has transitioned into kindergarten.  The first few days were a little rough but she has surprised us all with how well she has done.  She has worked hard and truly deserves this honor! 

Great job Eden!  We love you and are so proud of you!

 

 

Sweet Sisters

These girls. 

Every time I look at them together I'm flooded with emotions.

They are so different.  Exact opposites in so many ways.

But both so perfect.

I remember the day we found out that we were having another girl.  As soon as the sonographer said "It's a girl" I started crying.  Sobbing, actually.  She thought I was disappointed.  Once I pulled myself together, I told her that they were happy tears.  I had never told anyone (because in the end all I really wanted was a healthy baby) but I had been praying for another girl.  A sister for Eden.  My life would not be the same without my sisters and I wanted that for Eden so bad.  A sister to play with, to laugh with, to love.  My prayers were answered that day.  Eden received her sister.  

It's been fun to watch their relationship evolve.  It really changed when Parker went to kindergarten two years ago and they became playmates while he was at school. 

Now they depend on each other daily.  Like all sisters, they can fight like cats and dogs, but at the end of the day, they are so close. I don't know who looks out for who more- Eden or Lily. 

Eden starting kindergarten has been a lot harder for Lily than I thought.  She cried the entire way to gymnastics the first week of school because Eden wasn't there to go with her.  She begged me to take her home and said she couldn't do gymnastics without Eden.  And I really wasn't sure if Lily would go into AWANAs last week without Eden.  (Eden moved up to Sparks while Lily had to stay in Cubbies.) 

My prayer for them is that they will always remain close.  That they will share tears and laughter all through their lives.  That they will be each other's biggest supporters in the good times and the bad.  That they will always be the sweet sisters that I see in this picture.

Addison's Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Addison's 7th birthday with a fun, laid back party at our house.  Since Addison hasn't made a lot of friends at her new school yet, she wanted to come back to Cleburne and have a party with all of the sweet girls she met in kindergarten.  She had originally planned on having a swimming party at Granna's house, but after the weatherman predicted a cold front earlier this week. my sister quickly turned to Plan B- she rented a bounce house and moved it my backyard. 

Silly cousins!  This was the best picture we could get out of six very excited kids!

The girls played in the bounce house as everyone arrived and then Addison opened her presents.  It is always so funny to me to see the difference between girls and boys.  All nine of the girls sat quietly and watched as Addison open all of her gifts.  They hardly made a peep and never crowded Addison or got in front of anyone else.  I guarantee it would not have been that quiet if that had been Parker and nine of his friends!!

 

After presents, Addison blew out the candles on her Hello Kitty cake.  The weather was so nice that we were able to send all of the girls outside to eat their cake and ice cream, which meant very few crumbs fell on my kitchen floor!  It was a win-win, for sure!

These girls are all so sweet!  Addison sure was lucky to have all of them in her kindergarten class last year.  I know she misses them terribly and I am so glad they were all able to come celebrate her birthday with her. Happy 7th Birthday, Addison!  We love you so much!

Starting an Allowance

Parker BEGGED me to start giving him an allowance all summer so I told him that once school started, I would come up with a plan for earning an allowance.  After talking to some friends and reading some blogs on how they handle allowance, I finally came up with the following system.

 

Parker has four things he has to do every day- morning jobs, reading 20 minutes per day, practicing his AWANA verses, and cleaning his zone.  If he completes each task, he earns one dollar per day or five dollars per week.  If he forgets to do one of his tasks, he loses his dollar for that day. 

 

When he gets his weekly allowance, he has to tithe 10%, save 20% and then he can keep the rest to spend on something he wants.  So far he is doing great completing all of his tasks.  It has been so nice that he has his own money to spend on things he wants!  We will see how long his enthusiasm for doing his tasks lasts!

Lily's First Day of Preschool

Lily had her first day of Sunshine Preschool on Thursday.  She had Meet the Teacher on Tuesday and was so excited to finally get started.  She's been counting down the days until she got to go to school like Parker and Eden.  Her Meet the Teacher time slot wasn't until 5:00 and I'm pretty sure she asked at least every 15 minutes about how much longer she had to wait to go meet Miss Tammy. She loved looking around her room while I visited with Miss Tammy.

If she was nervous on the first day, she didn't show it at all!  She was all smiles as we got ready to go! 

She is excited that her friend Dylann Rose is going to be at preschool with her.  Even though they are in different classes, they will still get to see each other at recess every day.  Lily and Dylann are only 6 days apart but you'd never know that just by looking at them!

Lily walked right in and sat down without any tears at all!  She waved goodbye and got busy playing with the Legos that were sitting on the rug. 

Lily had a great first day with Miss Tammy!  She is a great teacher that we've now been blessed to have three times.  Parker and Eden both had wonderful years with her and I am so thankful that Lily is getting to experience her too!