Four

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY TO MY HUSBAND!!!!  HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR SON!!!!  

Happy Anniversary!

Five and a half years - I love you!!!!!

At the races.

We go in to look at bunnies & come out with....

HERMIT CRABS!!



Meet Frank (in the Shrek shell), our son's new pet -named by him.
Meet Razzie (in the pink shell), our daughter's new pet -named by us.
Thank you to their Daddy for buying them these today :)
Fun new little critters from Petland are always fun!

My Clone Job {•before & after•}

The only editing that I've done to this photo so far is cloning.
I'll share the after when I'm completely finished.

They're Unique.

*Photo taken by my husband, editing done by me.


*Covered in baby food, enjoying her bottle.

Our Wedding Anniversary!!!

Three years ago today, we were married ♥♥♥

Lay Down.

Here's a photo of my little boy earlier this month playing on his Daddy's lay-down. It's what he races on the weekends.



My husband won first place weekend before last! Or, maybe it was the week before that.. I'm confused about which Saturday it was, but he got a pretty trophy that our little boy has claimed as his own! It now sits on my desk so he can see it on a daily basis instead of going to the garage with all the other trophies.

The "Mr. Perfect" isn't my husband's racing name. We just haven't painted his over it since getting the lay down two years ago. We're slow when it comes to the little things... we'll get there eventually though ;)

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Sorry for the lack of updates. I recently updated my browser to Firefox 3.5 and have had nothing but trouble out of it since (growls!). I couldn't log onto to Photobucket (and a lot of other sites), except once in a blue moon, without the browser crashing and I got tired of trying and losing all of my tabs. A few nights ago I uninstalled a bunch of silly tool-bars I had and things have been running a lot smoother since then. So hopefully I'll be able to update more regularly.

Paintball.

One last photo.

April 26th, 2008. The last photo I ever took my husband and our son with my husband's papaw. It breaks my heart to look at it knowing that. It's not even that great... blurry, because I was trying to hurry before they seen me. But, it holds so much and is perfect in it's own way.

He died in early June. He'd been in the hospital's ICU for about two weeks after his truck was hit by a bus. He just couldn't hold on any longer and my husband was the only one in the room with him because everybody stepped out to let him have a moment alone. But, he'd seen 'Ma' and had been calling out to her. 'Ma' is what he called my husband's mamaw who passed away in late 2004.

I wish I would have got more photos of them and also some with my husband's dad. They were all in the driveway that day watching our little boy play. I have photos of all of them at different points when we were standing out there. Just not one of all four of them together. I just wish I would have got one good one. But I'm happy for the ones that I did get and they are treasured.

I'm sad that our little boy will probably not being able to remember him since he was only two years old. Our daughter never got to meet him. I was pregnant at the time and we actually found out we were having a girl the day of his funeral. June 10th, 2008 - truly a bittersweet day.

Just take photos of all the people you love in life. They dont have to be perfect for them to be perfect because you just never know. Even if they're a little blurry, they will still be loved and you'll be oh-so-glad that you have anything rather than nothing at all!



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Shutter Sister's Bittersweet Post

Hubby's Silhouette

Actually, I'm not positive if it's considered a true silhouette since there is still some coloring left in his shirt. I blacked it out in another version but just didn't feel the photo at all so I left it in at the end.

I took this photo on July 30th, 2008. Our two year wedding anniversary. Because, you know, you just cannot celebrate something like that until you go up to the lake five minutes from your house and go fishing ;)

It was honestly a bunch of fun though. I love fishing with my husband and our son! I was six months pregnant with our daughter at that time, too, so it was {extra} H-O-T outside!

The only thing about this photo that bothers me is how his shirt sleeves are kinda poofed out and make his arms look weird. He was cutting my fishing line out of the tree though because I, uh, sort of got it stuck up there when I went to cast it.

BUT! I loooooooooove how in the full size version (and this one, a little bit) I can see his eye lashes, goatee and even the hair on his arms so defined! Love, love, love it!

So I just wanted to share because I was nosing through all of my photos and found it. A treasure that I didn't even know I had :)

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Side Note: Maybe one day I will be able to decide on a decent water mark for my photos and wont have a million different ones *lol*

Red Challenge • Day Two • February 3rd

Always throw some fun into your marriage! This is a gag gift that I put into my husband's Christmas stocking for him to open and find on Christmas Day 2008. Inside the tin can, he found two little pieces of coal wrapped up in white tissue paper. He laughed and thought it was funny. Is he really naughty? Nah. He's a wonderful husband to me and a great Daddy to our two kiddos! He works super hard at his job and he supports the daylights out of our family. He would help anybody in a second, too, whether he knew them or not. He's a lot of fun to be around and goofy (in a good personality-wise way). I'm so glad he's my best friend, because I love him so very much and feel so comfortable around him.

Red.

I'm going (to try) to post a new photo every day here on my blog of something red (and possibly pink).

I would have started yesterday had I thought about it beforehand.

I bet you know why red or pink, right? Because February = Valentine's Day!

♥♥♥ ← one heart for my hubby, one heart for my son & one heart for my daughter :)

I was hit by a motorcycle.

Please forgive me for being absent from posting. I was in a little motorcycle accident the other day. Look below for a photo if you think you can stomach it:

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This is what happens when you are bent over playing with your infant daughter and your 3 year old decides to make your back into his dirt track. Daddy to the rescue once again! Thankfully, it was only fatal to a few of the hairs on my head *lol*

Happy Birthday!

Happy 24th Birthday, Hubby!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Baby Boy!

I love you both sooooooooooooooooooooooo very much!!

*picture removed*

Three in three.

My baby boy is going to turn three years old in three days (same day his Daddy turns 24)! It does not even seem possible that he's as old as he is. He is growing too fast and sometimes I wish I could pause time to keep him little for a while longer.

He had a rough start at life. He was born two days past his due date; weighing in at eight pounds three ounces and measuring twenty-one inches long. But he swallowed some fluids while he was coming out and it gave him pneumonia. Plus he had low oxygen and an infection in his blood. So he was in the NICU for nine days on antibiotics and hooked up to a ton of machines.

That was a really rough time for me and my husband. Well, we weren't married at the time but we were living together. Anyway. It was so tough to see our baby boy laying there and hearing the machines going off every time we turned around. We were able to stay at the hospitality house a block away from the hospital but we HATED being away from him. The nurses would actually have to tell us to go back there and rest some because we were in the NICU with him so much and they could see how worn out we were.

Then one day, they told us that something came back abnormal with his heart. I'm not sure why they even tested it.. maybe one of the machines he was hooked up to kept a check on it? They did an echocardiogram and sent the results to the UK Hospital here in Kentucky to let their specialists check over them. That was very terrifying for us... we were so afraid that he'd have to have heart surgery on top of everything else.

He was the biggest baby in the NICU though! And we met a really nice Christian couple while we were in there. Sarah and Terry. Their baby girl, Amelia, was in there also and she was born the same day as our son. We hadnt spoke to them yet, but after we found out about the heart stuff we were holding each other and crying our eyes out by his side. Terry walked over and said "Your baby is going to be alright. The Holy Ghost is talking to me, and he's telling me he's going to be just fine." That really made us cry harder. We were so happy and knew that that he was going to be ok.

A doctor came in and talked to us pretty much the whole time he was in there. I forget his name now, but he was so nice to us while we were there and really helped us to understand all that was happening. He explained the results that the UK people gave him. Our boy wouldn't need heart surgery, but we did have to schedule him an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist after he was released for them to do an ultrasound on his chest to check out what was causing the stuff. They sent us a little card in the mail saying that it was something to do with a valve in his heart and a lot of babies are born with it, but it closes up by the time they're three years old. They told us to schedule another appointment sometime after his third birthday to have them check again to be on the safe side.

Well, after all of that.. he started getting really sick. He would projectile vomit EVERYWHERE! Seriously.. my husband was holding him one day after he had just finished his bottle, and he was trying to burp him. He projectile vomited and it flew across and hit the wall. Like, a few feet. He wouldnt stop so we took him to see his pediatrician. She told us that it sounded like he had Pyloric Stenosis, and that DID require surgery.

Not our baby! He's already gone through enough and he's not even two months old! Please do not let him have this! But, he did. I wanted to make it not be true... I didnt want my baby to have to have surgery to correct it. But, we both knew he had to have it or the outcome would be horrific. He got to where he would hardly pee. He lost almost a pound in one weekend. And it looked like an alien was living inside his little tummy. It would literally roll from side to side, looking like something was crawling around in there. We videotaped it and took the camcorder to show his pediatrician.

So, really late on March 6th we had to drive up to Huntington, West Virginia and have him admitted into Cabell Huntington Hospital. His surgery was the next morning and Dr. Beaver performed it. She was wonderful about explaining everything to us also and answering every single question we could think of. Before his surgery, they took him across the hall to put an i.v. in his head and that was so hard to hear him screaming and then seeing his tiny little body with it. And his crib... it was like a jail cell because it was a regular bed but the bars folded up to keep him from falling out. He wasnt allowed to eat so they put jelly on his paci and he became addicted. He was released on the 8th.

Today, you could never tell by looking at him that he was ever sick a day in his life. He's very hyper and always running around with extreme energy, playing 24/7. He was a very calm baby and has always been independent and brave. His favorite toys are his 'ta-tas' (guns) and his 'four wheeler bikes' (four wheelers and bikes). He loves playing basketball, drawing on his chalk board, fishing during the summertime and riding his real four wheeler with his Daddy (Daddy races). He helps out immensley with his baby sister and loves her as much as she loves him. He was the first to make her laugh out loud and is always wanting to help feed her the 'bobble'. I'm so proud of the little fella and love him beyond words. He's sweet, super smart and has really good manners to be so little. Now, do not get me wrong... he has his days of being two-but-almost-three! But, I love him regardless and he'll always be my baby. No matter if he's 3, 33 or 333 ♥

*picture removed*

This photo reminds me of him. Always on the move... leaving one toy behind in a blur while racing on to the next. It's like standing outside a window and looking through, watching him play and having so much fun while doing so - being in his own little world.

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These are the special times
Times we'll remember
These are the precious times
The tender times, we'll hold in our hearts forever
These are the sweetest times
These times together
And through it all one thing will always be true
The special times are the times I share with you
-Christina Aguilera,
'These Are the Special Times'

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So let them be little,
'Cause they're only that way for a while.
Give 'em hope, give them praise,
Give them love every day.
Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle,
Let 'em sleep in the middle,
Oh, but let them be little.
-Billy Dean,
'Let Them be Little'

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A small son
can charm himself
into, and out of,
most things.

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Watching you grow has been the delight of my life.
I look at you and wonder what dreams you will dream,
what mountains you will climb,
what joys you will have.
I know there will be tears and struggles as well,
but my prayer is that you will grow into the man you are meant to be.

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Monday, January 19th, 2009
Happy 24th Birthday to my wonderful husband!
Happy 3rd birthday to my gorgeous baby boy!

Introducing our baby girl!!

•Little Miss Blondie was born Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 1:52 p.m.
•She weighed in at 8 pounds and 10 ounces (beating her brother's weight by seven ounces) and was 21 inches long.
•She has blonde hair and blue eyes.
•Perfectly healthy!

We were released from the hospital early Wednesday afternoon, and kept our cutie pie little boy with us the entire time we were in there (except for when she was actually being born; he waited in the waiting room with our family). She's a great baby. Very quiet, just like her big brother was when he was her size. He's adjusting great and is very protective of her. Daddy is loving having two little kiddos around. I'm enjoying life to the fullest and so thankful for all that God has blessed me with. Life is amazing, to put it mildly :-)




My guys, walking into the hospital Monday morning



39 weeks 4 days



Tiny little feet



Beautiful rose my hubby bought me



My hubby surprised me and came in with a new mini van he bought! It's a 2001 Oldsmobile Silhouette & I LOVE IT!! So many great features and it's in awesome shape. We have plenty of room now *yay!!*