2/28/09

Happy 5 year Anniversary!!

November 14, 2000....Tim asked me out on our first date on HIS birthday!
March 6, 2004....We exchanged vows and started our life together
March 6, 2009.... 1 house, 2 kids, 1 dog, and 5 years of marriage :)

To reminisce I thought I would share the way tim proposed. He is super traditional so of course it was a surprise. It should be recognized again because of all the work he put into it!
So, Ode To Tim...

It was Halloween 03 and I went home for the weekend to see my family. I was bummed out because tim and i didn't have plans (he says I actually yelled at him)....I woke up the next morning to this...
My mom came into my room and handed me a red rose and card, it was from tim (hellloooo, bachelor!). The card told me to get up and get dressed and go to starbucks, i thought, how sweet! Tim has always been known for planning crazy dates so I didn't think anything of it. I showed up at Starbucks and didn't see his car. When I walked in, the man at the counter asked if I was Jennifer. I was kinda freaked out, but said yes and he handed me another card. It had a money for breakfast and a devotion for that morning on 1 Cor 13, the chapter on love. I immediately cried because he had always said he was going to wait to say i love you to the girl he was going to propose to. The card told me to go to Barnes and Noble after I was done....I was definitely suspicious at this point since he did not show up. When I got to Barnes and Noble, a cashier came up and asked if I was Jennifer....she handed me another card and a Bridal magazine!!! I freaked out because I had never bought one and wanted to so bad. The card said to enjoy reading and after I was done, to go to the "Gap" in the mall. Okay, it is one of my favorite stores and when I walk in ...someone greeted me, asked if I was Jennifer, and handed me a card. It had money in it and told me to go shopping and then to leave and go to the restaurant next door. I was dying to see him, but as I walked in I was greeted by 3 of my best girlfriends from high school. We ate lunch together, and cried, and they sent me on my next destination....the BP gas station. We also ate lunch next to the band Third Day...that was not planned, but I thought it was so I almost went up and talked to them! When I got to the gas station, I went in and they filled up my tank and told me to drive to North Georgia College. I knew exactly where to go... at the top of the mountain, near the entrance to the Appalachian trail is the most beautiful view of north Georgia. I drove up there, and at this point, dying to see him. As I pulled up there were no cars. I got out and then he appeared from the trail. I ran and hugged him when I saw him. He read me a letter and told me why he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, got on one knee, said I love you, and asked "Will you marry me?" OF COURSE I SAID YES!!! We had been dating for 4 years so we were both ready!!! You think its over....
A limo appeared and picked us up and drove us to Tim's parents house, I was greeted in the driveway by my dad with a huge hug, and 75 friends and family standing behind him!!!! Tim's dad is a chef and had cooked and thrown us a huge Engagement party dinner. I seriously thought I was arriving at our wedding with all the people there!
Needless to say, my proposal started at 7:30 in the morning and finally ended around 1 am. It was one of the best days of my life.

Happy 5 years of marriage Tim!! He is a great husband and father, but really the best friend I could ever ask for. We are leaving the kids this weekend and headed to Chattanooga to celebrate...that's all I know so I will post whatever he has up his sleeves later :)

for mothers who have suffered loss...

I have met so many woman recently who have been through similar situations and wanted to share this in hopes of encouragement.
Partial molar pregnancy....never heard of it? Probably not because its called a "nightmare pregnancy" occurring once in only every 1,000 pregnancies. It is when identical twins are conceived, but do not separate correctly. Molar tissue starts growing terminating the pregnancy and then tries to grow and attack the mother. After surgery, the mother is monitored from anywhere from 6-12 months to make sure the tissue is gone, if found, it can be cancerous and chemo treatments are given. You cannot get pregnant again until you are cleared.
This is what we went through in Sept. 07....as we went in for our 12 week ultrasound, the doctor informed us that we had lost the babies, needed to undergo surgery and testing, and could not get pregnant for at least 6 months.
Luckily in our case, everything was gone and we were pregnant in March 08 with Mackenzie. Randomly, we conceived fraternal twins, but the other twin was lost at 6 weeks.
Why do I share this? Well, its taken a 1 1/2 years to digest it all, but now I realize how many women suffer from infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, infant death syndrome, ect. It is more common than you think. 1 in 5 women will miscarry. If this makes you panicky.....you shouldn't be because you can't control it.....trust me, if there was anything you could do to prevent it, I would know.
So, I wanted to share something to at least comfort the women who may endure loss. Right after our news, an artist by the name of Freida Petty sent us a painting and card with this devotion below. She lost her son when he was 16 and her grandson through miscarriage. This is her ministry and we were greatly blessed by it. The painting is below and the center of the flower was the ultrasound picture....she painted over it.

While planting seed in my garden, I eagerly anticipate the flowers in full bloom. As all gardeners know, some do not mature. Some will not germinate, some grow for a time and stop, some will grow to maturity but will not blossom. There will also be other seeds that come to maturity and full bloom, but something happens and they are not lasting.
This is also true when seeds of human life are planted. Some are lost because of miscarriage, some through stillbirth, infant death syndrome and others from abortion.
How wonderful to know God's work tells us, "You (God) watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Everyday of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." Psalm 139:15-16.
God chose not to give our baby a "single day" of life on this earth. He went to be with God in heaven through miscarriage.
"While we live, we live to please the Lord. And when we die, we go to be with the Lord. So in life and in death, we belong to the Lord." Romans 14:8
For anyone that has suffered the loss of a child my prayer is that you will claim God's promise, "The Lord lifts the burden of those bent beneath their loads." Psalms 146:8b
The painting is entitled, "Hope." I have it framed in Mackenzie's room because we hoped and prayed for her life. I found this devotion the other day and my intent of this post is to share this devotion along with an invitation to talk if anyone ever goes through this. Please feel free to send this along to anyone you know that it would mean something to.

2/27/09

Jen's favorite things...

Okay, look. I realize my life revolves around cleaning, cooking, and children right now....so if yours does too....you'll appreciate this! If not, just wait....you too will find yourself having a new interest.
I know this officially makes me lame, but these are my favorite things!!! I love having a clean house and I have slowly found some stuff I love to make it fun and also some things to help cut corners :)....I am all about making life easier.

Here they are!
#1 Favorite.....Clorox Greenworks.
Its a little more expensive (not if you have coupons), but it cleans awesome, is good for the environment, and mainly....it smells AMAZING.... like margaritas actually!!! and hey, since the past 3 years I've been pregnant or nursing atleast I can smell one :)

#2 Favorite...2000 Flushes
This is my shortcut one...even though you still have to deep clean your toilet....these bad boys will buy you up to a month of your potty looking clean! I used to feel like all i did was scrub a toilet, but these are super cheap and worth it!!! my opinion...i dont like the blue so i buy the white even though its a little strong scent at first.

#3 Favorite.... Swiffer Wet Jet
I like this because it is so fast, smells great, and very convenient. Just whip it out, mop, and put it back....no mess to clean up.


#4 Favorite... Automatic Shower cleaner
Okay, I'm really not a lazy person, but showers get nasty so fast....although deep cleaning is still needed, this cleaner helps you not clean it as often AND it never gets that dirty. All you do is literally press a button. The paper runs coupons for these pretty regularly as well.


Well, thats it. Now I feel like Oprah... but, I have searched for years and finally feel like I have found some things that make my life easier so I thought I'd pass them along :)

2/23/09

Tighty Whitey


Check out those big boy underwear! Thats right people...David is potty trained!!! one baby down!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, let me just start by saying this was one of the most exhausting things I have ever done!! We have casually tried to get david to go on the potty, but finally decided to go full fledge. We did a plan called "Potty Training in One Day." We devoted the weekend to it, but it really worked!! I also think that David was ready....I think thats a big part of it, realizing signs they're ready. The basic idea is to put them in underwear and pump them full of liquids....juice, water, chocolate milk and every time they start to go pee, put them on the potty and if they finish going.....make a HUGE deal and give them a reward ......you do this over, and over, and over.....until it clicks and they go on the potty every time!!! David got it the first day when he had an accident and finished on the potty....he is majorly reward motivated so he picked it up really quick!!
It wasn't ideal timing for me having a newborn around and just being exhausted from that, but really i figured there would never be a perfect time. So, yay for David!! We haven't quite mastered night time and going #2, but every day is getting better. I know there will be accidents.....and I'm sure with my luck they will all happen when I am in public :)

2/22/09

2 months old!



I took Mackenzie for her 2 month old check-up!!! She is 10 lbs, 11 oz and hits the 50th percentile across the board (which I am still getting used to since david is always in the 95th)!! She has finally noticed David and Holly in the past week and is fascinated by them. She gets scared really easy and hates loud noises, which is kind of a problem in this house. She makes very high pitched, girly sounds and I think these are her first pictures without a bow!

2/18/09

Just another day in paradise



I love this baby!! She is 2 months old today!! I feel like I have this little doll that I dress up and carry around!! I didn't think there would be that much difference between a boy and girl newborn, but they couldn't be more different!! She makes such girly sounds and movements and is super mellow. David was a very active baby and made grunts!! We have been lucky because both of them love to sleep....and we love our sleep around here!! Our friend Natalie introduced us to the miracle blanket and it seriously is a miracle. It swaddles the baby so tightly they can't get out!! I took a picture because they look so funny in it!! Mackenzie is doing great, she is such a happy baby. Both kids go to bed at 8, I feed Mackenzie one more time at 10pm and she'll go until 4 or 5am, then back to sleep until 8 when her and David both get up.
And David...what antics has he been up to??! Well, lets see...
He has started to hide/throw away his food in the trash....seriously kids just learn these things!!! I guess tim and i get so engrossed in conversation during dinner, we hadn't noticed it. If he has a clean plate, he gets dessert! So, he started making his plate clean by sneaking it to the trash. I found it one day and now we have to keep our eye on him, what a smart little guy!
He also doesn't understand why Holly (our dog) doesn't eat our food. He will go into the pantry and get her food. Unfortunately, he found frosted mini wheats and fed her a bowl of them. This makes a dog quite "regular". Ahhh, i get so tired of dealing with everyones poop around here.
Oh, and the pockets....David loves his pants pockets and has become a little bit of a klepto... I have to do pocket checks regularly. The other night before bed I found 7 small reeses cups.
Another day, another diaper......thats my life right now :) Don't let me kid you, I love all of it.

2/12/09

Valentine's Party





David and Mackenzie's playgroup came over for a Valentine's Day party!!! There was 12 kids here, including them, all under the age of 3!!! Nothing was broken and no one got hurt, what a successful party! It was so fun and the kids had a blast! They played, made a craft, ate lunch, and swapped Valentines. The highlight of my day was finally getting Mackenzie's smile on camera!!
Thanks to all the moms for their help!

2/10/09

Happy Valentines Day!

Here are the little angels!!!
This is the first picture of them together.....man, it's hard work getting their picture taken! It's the only picture that turned out with no one crying! I never realized how hard it would be just to get out the door with both of them clean :)




Mackenzie 2 months, David 2 years, 5 months

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