Friday, May 28, 2010

Water fun to kick off the summer!

Zack got this cool little water play area for his birthday. He had a great time testing it out with his best bud Connor. Check out the swim shorts he got for Easter - they are more like swim pants!! Lol!









A couple of weekends ago we went to the lake where MeMe and Pappy were camping. Zack had a great time playing in the water and getting all muddy - just like a boy should!












Here Zack is spending time with friends at the water park in a nearby town. What a great time we had - and the park is free. Score!!! We will definitely be visiting this park many more times this summer. Zack had no reservations - he ran right in the water.







This is Zack's friend Parker. They had a great time running around this red hoop.











Sweet Connor being silly!


A little food, and then back in the water. What a great day - welcome summer!

Brothers





































Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Our sweet baby Noah

Where do four months go?? Here are a few pictures and milestones from the past few weeks.















He has found his feet. Soon they will be in his mouth!



Two teeth - crazy!






He is now interested in toys and of course putting them in his mouth!



So sweet.






On Saturday, Noah rolled over from his back to his stomach. I was not in the room to witness this event, but Daddy saw it. I have yet to see him roll over, but in this picture he is very close.


We also started rice cereal on Saturday. We really weren't surprised that he liked it. Bananas are on the menu for tomorrow, and carrots in a few days.
First bite...


Yum!!!














Tuesday, May 4, 2010

More reasons to celebrate

Our family has more reasons to celebrate and praise our awesome God than just birthday celebrations. On April 22, our precious baby boy, Noah, fell out of his carrier and onto the concrete on our front porch. Of course he did not do this on his own, but by the complete accident of Mommy. He was not buckled in and as I leaned over to pick something up, he fell out. This is honestly the most horrible feeling that I have had in my entire life. First of all, it is a horrible feeling when your 3 month old baby is in pain, but to know that, accident or not, you caused the pain - there are no words to describe. There are only so many times you can apologize and ask for forgiveness - and Satan definitely took advantage of my weak state of mind, and guilt consumed me.
Well, somehow I made it safely with both boys to the ER where they did a CT scan. The scan showed that he had a considerable sized skull fracture. While this sounded like the end of the world to me, the doctor explained that this was the best case scenario, since there was no bleeding. Praise the Lord there was no bleeding! Still a skull fracture is very serious, so they transported him by ambulance to a children's hospital in Shreveport, LA where he spent the night in the children's ICU.
Noah was so covered with prayer during this time. We must have received 50 text messages, some we still don't know who they were from. We also received calls and visits, and were put on so many prayer lists. We received an email later on from someone we have never met from a church we have never attended, telling us of her prayers and concern for Noah. Our small group met that night for a prayer time to lift up Noah's healing and our pastors came immediatley to the hospital to pray over us and take care of Zack. I say all of this not to brag, but to give a testimony of the AMAZING power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and also the importance of belonging to the body of Christ. I don't even want to think about going through this tragedy without God and His people.
Well, God protected Noah through the night, and the next morning we were discharged from the hospital with a wonderful prognosis. The doctor said that he was fine and that he would not have any long term effects from the fracture. We couldn't even tell if he was in pain or not since he woke up smiling and laughing (well, he did have some pretty strong pain meds!!). We were home that afternoon, and he has been doing so well since then. I must say that Mommy has had to heal as well. Like I mentioned earlier, I was dealing with guilt, as well as insecurities in taking care of my children by myself. BUT - once again through the power of prayer and God's mercy, I have kicked the guilt and insecurity out of my life, and I am just counting my blessings instead of dwelling on what happened. Thank you for listening to this long story - it was actually very theraputic for me.
I just want to share a few more things with you that I have learned:
1. Accidents happen.
2. I have an amazing and forgiving husband whom I love with all my heart.
3. That I am thankful this happened when Noah was young enough to not remember!
4. That someday we can tell him when he is acting strange - it's ok - you were dropped on your head when you were a baby!!!
5. that I have the most amazing friends and family - you really realize how amazing they are when you are in crisis.
6. and most importantly - that we serve an awesome God!! To Him be all the Glory and Praise!

oh, and how could I forget - ALWAYS buckle your child into their carseat!!! Here are a few pictures of the little man in the hospital.










Zack is two!

Well it is official - Zack is now 2 years old. I simply can't believe that he has been part of our family for two years now. What a blessing he has been and we thank God for giving us the privilege of raising him.
We had a few parties for the little man. This is his cake on his actual birthday - angel food cake with strawberry and cool whip - yummy!!
This is the gift that Zack got from Mommy and Daddy and MeMe and Pappy. He LOVES his tractor and asks for it first thing in the morning. By the way - I am glad that we have a lot more years until he is actually driving on the road. Watch out fence - here comes Zack!!! Whose idea was it to let a 2 year old drive and operate a moving vehicle!!!

When we were in Denver a week before Zack's birthday, we were able to celebrate Zack's birthday with Grandma, Papa, Uncle Mark and Mark's girlfriend Ashley. Grandma made Zack an Elmo cake - and under the yummy frosting was her famous red velvet cake. This was a request by Daddy (Kris) as it is his favorite cake. Yummy!!


Look at the surprise on his face. When you ask Zack about his birthday, he says "Elmo cake". To him, this was his official, and favorite, bithday cake. Good job Grandma!!

A few gifts... all still played with daily!









What a great time we had celebrating... and there is still more celebrating to come!