G.G. stands for....

Goofy Goober

what am I going to do with this child? :)

enjoy every moment with her

she sure can brighten a day

5 full years

Dear J,

Today is the big 5. We've been married 5 years. Cuhrazy! It has flown by. Honestly, in the beginning, I didn't know if we would make it this long. That first year was T-O-U-G-H. I know you agree. You knew it would be hard, but I had all these sweet ideas of what marriage would be like. Mainly, that you wouldn't have any opinions or say in any matter and what I said went. Ha! I know, I can be really stubborn. I can't believe you put up with me sometimes. :) 

But, you know, I wouldn't change a thing. We've learned so much and we've been through so much in these short five years. And I think it's only brought us closer. I thank God for you every day and pray that I can be the kind of wife He wants me to be. 

Below are some photos of us over the past years this day in July.

July 23,2005

What a happy day! I love how you are looking at me in this. You love me! You really love me! :)

(or are you just looking at my boobs... i can't tell, oh well... either way)

July, 2006

Very preggo with our little GG. 

July 23, 2007

Dinner date at the Cheesecake factory. No kids this year, but very shortly we would be expecting our third.

July 23, 2008

Shep was 2 months old. That is why I look like the life is being sucked out of me. :) But still happy!

And July 23,2009

What a year! Our little Sophie turned into a teenager. We moved... again. New job, new city, new schools.

But one thing will always stay the same. 

Our love and commitment for one another. 

Thank you for being a strong husband, an awesome daddy and my best friend.

I look forward to many more years as your wife.

(And more hairstyles from you... good grief, your worse than a woman! Look at those pictures! Short hair, long hair, no hair...)

I love you with all of my heart and more,

K

these moments...

i never want to forget.

like when your 5'9, 13 year old daughter wants to cuddle up before going to sleep

she breathes a heavy sigh

like it's all that she's needed all day

and i didn't even know it

but it was all that i needed

in that quiet moment

i'll never forget

in the middle

and so loved.

little Miss GG

3 1/2

a conversation between sisters

Dave Ramsey would be proud...

I hope. Wow, what a weekend we had! Busy, busy. We are taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace class at a local church here in Dothan. We are very committed to getting out of this mess we have found ourselves in. So, we are working on our "Baby Step" #1. Get an emergency fund. Guess what that means? GARAGE SALE! And we had a big one. And raised almost enough for our first emergency fund. It was awesome. I can't believe how well we did! And it was nice to get rid of some of this stuff we have been lugging around with us for years. We've moved three times with all this storage. So it really feels freeing for it to be gone. 

Of course, the baby stuff went over really well. I was a little sad to see a lot of it go, but we are done having kids. 

All of the bouncy seats and pack -n- plays and lots of clothes have found new homes. Some moments were really neat though and made me happy. The single mom (from my hometown, Memphis!) who has a 6 month old little girl who was sooo happy to find a pack -n- play for her daughter for $30. That was sweet.

Here is my partner in crime. Boy, did we work hard. He loaded and unloaded stuff. Helped people get things into their trucks. Took care of kids while I negotiated with the pro's. 

I just love him. And he's pretty hot too. 

So, the littles were none to happy to see some of their toys go. Well, most of those ended up back in the house anyway. How did that happen?

I can't help getting a profile of Shep whenever I get the chance. It is just too sweet.

And this one is just cute.

And little Sophie decided to show her pretty face! She had softball practice, so she had to come out at some point.

She thinks she's funny.

This is just me. No makeup, glasses on, hair in a hat. Wow, isn't my husband lucky! ha! 

From our vacation last year. We'll go back someday. 

Ok.. so I pretty much saved all of Sophie's clothing when she was little. And I'm so glad I did. But, for some reason, I thought I lost all of the little dresses that would fit GG right now. I have been looking for these things since last summer at the house in Helena. I was so upset. Well in going through everything for this sale, I found them. I'm so happy about it. The dress, shirt and shoes that GG is wearing was all Sophie's at this age.

All in all it was a great weekend. I'm excited about the money we made. And really believe in the steps that Dave lays out. I think we can do this. 

This verse in James has really been speaking to me lately:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."

I am so humbled at the blessings that God has poured out on our family. These trials are blessings. He is showing us the way. There have been times that I have been upset about this move. Thinking maybe it has been a horrible mistake. Because of the financial hardships we are finding ourselves in right now. But, we were not financially stable anyway and this move has just opened our eyes to it. And we would never have thought of taking this "Financial Peace" class before this move. I am so excited to learn these lessons and show my children the right way to handle money. Josh and I have talked to Sophie about this a lot. She will remember this time. She will remember that we had to have beans and rice for dinner 3 times a week. She knows what we are going through and I pray that she never has to experience the pain and fear from debt collectors calling her all day every week. 

So that has been our weekend. Letting the "stuff" go and gaining a new perspective. 

And as for this financial "valley" that we are in right now,

I consider it pure joy to be here.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Because of these blessed little turkeys... we are.

Even in the midst of a very hard move,

even though the dryer went out and we can't afford another one,

even though times might be tough... we have each other.

And thank the Lord, we have them.

And HIM.

So yes, we are having a Merry Christmas.

Hope you are too!!

wordless wednesday

The Boots

These boots were bought for Sophie. She was going through her "Jesse the yodeling cowgirl" phase and she must have worn these things every day for I don't know how long and also two Halloweens. I love that I kept so much of her stuff. I don't know why I did. There is a ten year difference between Sophie and GG. We moved so many times and I still kept everything. Lugged it all along with me. I could have easily given up, sold it all, given it away. But I didn't.

There was always hope. Hope of a future with more children. For lots of things.

And I'm so glad that I didn't give up.

Positive

I'm POSITIVE that this moment in our lives is a very stressful time for us.

I'm POSITIVE that I wish it was different.

I'm POSITIVE that one way or the other, it's going to work out.

I'm POSITIVE that I have a good, strong marriage with a man I am POSITIVELY in love with.

I'm POSITIVE that my children make me laugh every day.

I'm POSITIVE that I have a wonderful support system of family and friends helping us through.

I'm POSITIVE that I am firmly held in my Fathers hands.

Therefore, my attitude is POSITIVE.

One Year

 

He's one year old today.

But he'll always be our baby.

Happy Birthday to our sweet boy Shep.

We love you more every day.

Love, 

Mommy, Daddy, Sophie and G.G.

Home...

After all our travels, we were finally home. This was the first time in many, many years that we were home by ourselves for Christmas. In Memphis, we would always spend Christmas Eve with my mom and Christmas Day we would go to my dad's house for the afternoon. When we moved, Josh's parents would come and spend that time here with us. This year was a first.  I had these big plans to spend Christmas Eve baking with Sophie and doing some crafts with both the girls. In reality, I had to do a little more shopping and Josh and Sophie stayed home and cleaned. I did get home in time to bake one batch of cookies. We went to our Christmas Eve service at church and then drove around and looked at Christmas lights. We came home and had chili and then it was time for bed. Santa was on his way!

Our advent calendar. We let the kids open it each night after dinner and they have a treat inside. 

We got all new stockings this year. I have used the same stocking my entire life (made by my Aunt Doris, as was Sophie's). But this year I needed to get GG and Shep one and I thought it would be cute if they all matched.

We started a new tradition this year with " The Elf on the Shelf". His name is Bernard. He was a lot of fun and GG really liked looking for him every morning. 

Josh always reads this book right before bedtime.

Our tree.

Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk. GG was really excited about this all Christmas morning. She told everyone that called about it.

And, the presents. Sophie is on the left, GG in the middle and Shep on the right.

We really had a good Christmas this year. Spent with all the people we love. And remembering the real reason for this season, the coming of our Savior. I am so thankful for all the blessings He has given me. 

I hope all of your holidays were wonderful.   

6 months

My baby boy is six months old. I can't believe it. Sometimes I feel like he just got here and sometimes I feel like we were never without him. 

He is such a happy baby. He loves to watch his sisters and they can really make him laugh. Full on, hard to catch your breath belly laughs. He gives kisses. Big, open mouth on the cheek kisses.

He loves his daddy. He loves to sit on his lap and watch a little football. You know, guy stuff.

He loves to snuggle and cuddle and he always ends up in our bed during the night.

He is rolling everywhere. I think he's kind of doing an army crawl thing too but mostly rolling. And he can roll himself anywhere he wants to go. Today he was playing on the floor in his room and when I went to check on him, he was almost in the hallway.  He is almost sitting up. He'll do it for a few seconds and then fall over. But we practice everyday and he's getting stronger. He's eating baby food now. Loves squash and sweet potatoes. Not big on the greens just yet.

He has two teeth and I think we'll be seeing a couple of more shortly. He loves to nurse and I must admit, I love it too. He's my last baby and I'm in no hurry for those special times to end just yet. 

Our sweet Shep. 

You are loved little man!

Happy half birthday!

3 years

Look at all we've done.

Thank you for the father that you are. 

Thank you for the husband that you are.

Happy Anniversary

My Guys

Bless you

Last night, Josh sneezed a couple of times. 

We hear G.G. whisper " Bess you Daddy". 

And my heart burst into a million pieces.

The shirt says it all