Our Little Mia

We took Mia recently to get her hair cut again. As you can see, she didn't care much for the actual process of the new hair do....

The process wore her and us out, but the end result was so cute. We brought her back to Nana's house (she and Krista were staying with us for a few days) and curled her new "do" and then went outside and took some pictures of her with the new style. She looks so adorable with the new cut. Krista actually cut a little more off of it after these pictures were taken. She's such a sweet little princess girl. Enjoy the pictures

She loves to pose and say "cheese"....isn't her outfit adorable? I got her the red shoes and then her mommy found this adorable outfit for her to go with them.

She even sat and posed for me for several pictures. She is growing up so quickly. It seems like if I go for 2 or 3 days without seeing her, she is talking about different things and just changes. She's going to be a really good big sister, I'll tell you that. She can hardly wait to hold her baby brother and kiss him.

I even got her to do some of her great jumping skills for me. Isn't she just adorable? Funny story of this day....we went out to eat dinner that night before church and it was a little windy. She put her hands up and said "Oh, no...my new hair". :) So cute...and so funny.

Happy Birthday Bryce

I'm afraid I have been a little lazy on keeping up my blog lately. Bryce's birthday was on the 22nd and I'm just now posting a birthday wish to him. But, to be honest, last week was a blur and I didn't seem to have an extra 10 minutes to sit down and type out a post. :) Jayme, Bryce and Collin stayed here with us on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday while Josh was away on his annual fishing trip to New Orleans. (He had a great time and caught lots of fish, by the way) So, I had the privilege of spending Bryce's actual birthday with him--which was exciting.

Here's a picture of Bryce on his first Christmas. I don't have any earlier pictures on this computer, so I will try later to find his newborn pictures and post some of those. A "watch him grow" type thing.

I don't think I'll ever be able to thank God enough for allowing me to be a Nana to this little guy. Well, actually to all 3 of my grandbabies. They are each so special in their own way, with special traits all their own.

Since Bryce was our first grandchild, I never knew until he was born how excited I should have been all along. :) I guess it was a concept that I didn't understand until I laid eyes on him that first time. Wow...talk about a flood of emotions!!! There was that beautiful, perfect little boy and he was being handed to ME! My heart filled with love that day and has continued to grow bigger and bigger with love for this little man!

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday evening, since his daddy was gone for his actual birthday, and it was on a school night. Yeah, he's in Pre-Kindergarten now and has to be in bed by 8:30 or so. That makes it difficult to have parties during the week. :) He is loving school and really loves his teacher. He told me the other day that I looked like his teacher. Knowing how much he loves her, I know that was a compliment. :)

Here are some pictures from his party on Saturday. He had so much fun and was a real gentleman. He played nicely with the other kids, allowed his cousin, Mia to help him open presents and thanked everyone for the gifts.

Here's what he looked like when he walked outside and saw his present from Nana and Papaw and Mamaw and Grandpa. (He had a Super Mario Brothers party and wanted to dress up like Luigi! He is his mother's son)

We all went together and got him a trampoline. He was shocked and surprised. He knew that there was going to be a surprise and asked me where they were hiding the surprise. He guessed the kitchen cabinets, Josh's work room downstairs, etc. I don't think he would have ever guessed it!

All the kids had such a good time jumping (once the rain stopped a little). The big kids jumped for awhile and then got off and gave the little ones a chance to enjoy it a little. They all had a lot of fun.

This is Bryce doing his Luigi pose. Yeah, from the video game. :) He's such a character. So creative and has a great imagination.

We talked him into posing with his cake for a few pictures. He's just not so into pictures these days. Makes it hard to let others see how he's growing. :) But, we're always able to sneak pictures here and there. I'm not sure what this face is, but it's supposed to be a smile. hehe...

He found some dinosaur figure things at Walmart one day when Aunt Kiki was with us. He really, really wanted them. So, she told him that she would buy them for him for his birthday, but he had to forget about them. (That's like telling an elephant to forget) Here he is opening those dinosaur things. He was funny about it--tried to act surprised.

Here's my favorite picture of Bryce from his party. He was blowing out the candles and was having a rough time with all 5 candles. I guess 5 candles take a lot of wind. :) By the way, I put a candle in his wassles (waffles) on Tuesday (his actual birthday) thinking he would love it....well, he did NOT love that. Almost ruined his whole day. He went to school and told his teacher about what his Nana had done to him. Put a hole in his waffle! (Oh, my!!!)

What a special night this was for Bryce. I am so thankful to God for this little boy. The week of his birthday had been kind of a hard one. I had some emotional ups and downs that just about did me in. :) But, praise the Lord I was able to share in this special time with this special boy. I do thank God daily for my kids and my grandkids. I love them all so.

Beware David Beckham!!!

Bryce has started playing soccer this year. He seems to enjoy it, even if he sometimes doesn't look like he is. His first game, I asked him if he was "raring to go" and here's what he looked like. What do you think, was he raring? :) He's so adorable, isn't he?

He really didn't mind when it was his turn to sit out a quarter and sit on the bench. The first game he told his mom (after getting off the bench) "I made a new friend...it's that one over there, his name is Tucker". He was telling her all this while he was out on the field. :)

His second game, I told him that if he would go out and play hard and try to kick the ball I would give him a surprise. And, Mamaw told him that the first time he kicked the ball, she would give him a dollar, then the second time he kicked it Nana would give him a dollar, then Grandpa, then Papaw, etc. He had it figured out that he was going to get a lot of money! Well, he did kick the ball a couple times and really played harder, so he got his surprise (a package of Cars Mini Adventure cars) and a couple dollars. :)

Josh was older when he started playing soccer (2nd grade) so I am getting to experience a whole new thing--little guys at soccer. It is so fun to watch them though and know that Bryce is so excited to have Mamaw and Nana there (and everyone else!) to cheer him on. He's learning the concept of "team" and having a little fun. It's so wonderful to see that God has created such a perfect little guy--physically able to play soccer, run, talk, laugh, love...even when he gets in trouble, I love him so. Of course, I think God created three pretty wonderful, perfect grandchildren...MINE. :) I am so thankful for each of their little lives and especially to see how God works in their lives. I have a feeling that God has some big things in store for those three special little people...well, four when you count that little he/she Krista is carrying. Can't wait to meet him/her. :)

Here are a couple more random pictures from Bryce's first soccer game. Like the title says, Beware David Beckham!! Bryce Greene is coming up!! :)

He got to do a throw-in! Look at that form!!

Apology

If you read my blog entry from Saturday before yesterday afternoon, I need to apologize! Apparently I did a link wrong and my video link was taking people to a place that I did not intend! A friend called yesterday and said that she was pretty sure that it wasn't working right. So, if you read it before, I'm so sorry!! :) I removed one link and just typed out the website on the other one. Perhaps I'll learn what I did wrong before I try to link again. :)

A Week to Remember

This week has been a week I won't soon forget, that's for sure. On Sunday evening, Krista, Mia and I went to Cincinnati to spend the night in a motel so that we could get to Mia's doctor's appointment on time on Monday morning at 9:15. We had a lot of fun on Sunday, going to Target, eating dinner out, laughing at Mia's funny antics, etc. We had an interesting time getting checked in our motel and all headed to bed about 10:00. God is so good--we went to Mia's appointment on Monday and he said that her tests all looked good and that he would say that she had experienced a "successful tethered cord release". She no longer had the reflux that she had been experiencing before with her bladder and kidney. He does want to keep an eye on her and check her again in 3 months, but all in all, the appointment was great. What an answer to prayer!!!
Late last week, I learned of a situation that burdened my heart so deeply that I truly felt sick so much of the week. I prayed, crying out to God for His intervention. I was made aware of the situation when I was asked to pray about it--and praying I did! It appears now that God's will was not as my prayers had been and I've had to remind myself today time and again that God is still God. He is still good and He is gracious and righteous and Sovereign about all! It's the first time in over a year that my heart has been so burdened. I think God was reminding me that there are so many times in daily life that I need to call upon Him--to ask for His guidance.


Then, on Wednesday when I went to work, I found out that a young woman whom Krista had gone to school with had died. She was only 26. I suppose I will never understand the death of a person so young with so much ahead of them, so much to do for God and so much to experience. She left behind 4 young kids. I was reminded of how each day we awake, we should praise God for the day--another day of life He has given us. A day to love, to laugh, to serve Him. It reminded me that I don't know what each day holds...how many days do I have left here? How will I spend them? Will I freely share the love of Jesus Christ with those around me? Lord, help me to live each day with a heart thankful to You and a heart willing to love others and share your love with them.



Today, there was a fundraiser for a young man in the area who has been falsely accused of a terrible crime. My friend and I went and walked a mile in support of him. It was one of the fundraisers where you get sponsors and then go and walk. There were so many brothers and sisters in Christ there--showing that family support and loving on them. God has blessed me with so much--a wonderful family, a wonderful Heavenly Father who loves and blesses me daily. Please pray for this godly, young family. If you are interested in finding out how you can help support them you can go www.support4milesferguson.com Please pray for them. Here's Collin sporting Mamaw's Support bracelet. He's such a sweetie too!


After the walk, we got to go to Bryce's soccer game. It was a nice way to end this very emotional week. He was funny and actually kicked the ball a couple times. Have you ever seen a cuter soccer player? He's doing his warm-up lap!



I'm so thankful to have survived this emotionally challenging week. I pray that I will learn lessons from this week and apply them to every area of my life.

Princess Maleigha is TWO!!

Saturday, July 25, 2009, Maleigha turned 2!! I can't believe it's been two years already! I will never forget those long few days waiting for her to arrive. Nana, Papaw and Aunt Jayme took off for Louisville as soon as we found out Krista was in labor. However, her labor progressed rather slowly and we ended up being there for two full days before she arrived. But, it was fine--she was such a welcome sight!

Mia has been through some pretty serious things in her two years--spinal surgery, a lot of yucky tests, etc. However, God is good and He is faithful. He has taken such great care of that little lady. She is a joy to our family! She loves her cousin Bryce so much and tries to do everything he does and likes what he likes, etc. She is sweet, lovable and kind--most of the time. :) She IS two after all.


Saturday we had a birthday party for her. We had a houseful of people there to celebrate with her. She had such a great time and loved all her presents--thanking each person for their gift. Uncle Josh got her a Dora riding toy thing that was the hit of all the kids--they all loved it.

Mia with her wands--she loved them and shared them with Uncle Josh. :) He loved the pretty purple wand.



Mia brought this heart from home and kept saying "It's Mia's heart".....she's funny.

Nana got Mia a new "Ellie" doll. She has a doll like this one that I got her for her first Christmas--she loves it and was thrilled with the new, clean Ellie. :) The first one is looking pretty rough.




This is the famous Dora car that was the big hit. Here are all the kids around it. :) They each got a turn on it. :)



Mia blowing out the "2" candle on her cupcake cake. She blew it out 3 times--Mommy had to keep lighting it so we could sing to her. :) What a sweet girl.

Happy Birthday sweet Maleigha. Nana loves you so much and praises God for you and for your life. I know that God has some wonderful things in store for that little lady. I'm going to include some more random pictures from her party. Happy Birthday Mia....we love you. I know she's going to be a wonderful BIG sister in February!!

GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

So, it's been 17 months since our wonderful Pastor Scott and his fantastic family left us at our church. Have you ever thought about how good God is and realized what a blessing He gives us so often through church family? Well, when the Duncans left, there were many, many people at Grace that felt like our world had collapsed. God had another ministry for Pastor Scott, and for that I am thankful--especially for everything he has done for my son. He has been a friend, a godly example and a wonderful mentor for Josh. However, when they left us, I realized how much I had taken them for granted. I longed for the long talks Jennifer and I had, I cried over not having Pastor Scott to go to when I had a question or a concern. And, the kids, well....I really missed them too. And Bryce missed his buddy Ben and his fiancee Anna Kate.

But, thankfully, God has led us through that time.....not that we don't still miss them, but He has shown us that our dependency needs to be on Him and Him alone. Not on the pastor...although the pastor can be a great encourager and motivator. Today, we got an e-mail and confirmation that God has indeed led another pastor to us. Pastor Russell Wight from Somers, Connecticut has accepted God's call to Grace. Oh, how I praise God for leading us this godly man. As we prepare for him and his family to come, I pray that we will all be helpful to them, loving towards them and accepting of them. Isn't it amazing how God's timing is always perfect? We've been through several "potential candidates", none of which seemed to "fit". I pray that God will pour out His blessing on Grace--help us to change where we need to change and to learn to accept leadership and Godly guidance.

Thank you Lord, so much for leading a pastor to us. Now may we all be aware of and follow through on wherever our place is in the body of Christ and that we may show the love of Christ to a lost community.