Eli's Bowling Party

We had such a good time celebrating Eli's 7th Birthday at the Bowling Alley! I think the kiddos had a great time and Eli was so glad so many of his friends and family could come.

I know the time will come when the boys will be too old and too "cool" to have birthday parties like this. Until that time comes, I will enjoy every minute of celebrating their next years with cake, presents and friends!

March 29, 2002

This is the day that Eli was born. He just celebrated birthday number SEVEN! And this...is the story of his birth.

Although it took us 2 1/2 years and fertility drugs to bring baby number 1 into the world, it only took 6 months, fertility drugs and pergesterone to create beautiful baby boy #2.

I remember the day we found out I was pregnant. We were so excited that it had happened so much quicker for us this time around. I just knew it was a girl, Mac just knew it was a boy.

We had to have several sonograms this pregnancy because they considered it "at risk" since I had high blood pressure with my first pregnancy. When the day came to have the sonogram which told us if we were having a baby boy, or a baby girl, Fisher got sick and couldn't go to school, but they wouldn't let him come in the room with us to have the sono, so in swooped one of my dearest friends (Shauna) to the rescue. She has always been there for me in a moment's notice and this time, it was no different.

Off Mac and I were to see what we could see. It's a BOY they said!!! Oh, and he's got sorta short arms and a large head..."But don't worry...." WHAT? Don't worry. Don't worry. Then WHY the heck did they say anything. Needless to say, there really was not a darn thing to worry about...whew.

Anyway, time went on and we were excited to be welcoming baby boy #2 into the world. I had a scheduled day to be induced and my dad was coming all the way from Washington State to be here for the birth. I remember laying in the bed with Fisher that night crying and crying and crying that it wasn't going to be just him anymore, we were going to have to spread our love to another baby...and just HOW was that going to be possible?? The day came and I went to Dr. Morgan's office and he did a "final" check. "Welp", he said, "Looks like you're not quite ready yet after all. You just haven't progressed as far as I thought you would. I'm thinking we need to wait just one more week." You can NOT do that to a pregnant lady after you've already scheduled the date and her dad has flown here from a state far far away. I was in shock. Total and disbelieving shock. I told Dr. Morgan of my wishes and concerns and well, he just wasn't too concerned that my dad was already here. "You and this baby are just not ready yet. I'm sorry."

So....I went home and sat on the couch with my Dad and Fisher and Mac and just cried my eyeballs out and apologized over and over for my dad having flown all the way down here. No problem he said.

Welp, "Body" decided she WAS ready and started having contractions all day. And they got closer and closer and closer and stronger and stronger. I called Dr. Morgan. He told me I should go DIRECTLY to the hospital and not to stop at all. It was a Friday during 5 o'clock traffic. It took us a long while to get there. Dad followed us with Fisher in the car with him. When we finally arrived, Dr. Morgan walked in and said, "So, you just wanted to prove me wrong, did you?" Cute.

I labored, had my epidural, the darn thing wore off, I told my male nurse....who didn't care. (That's St. David's for ya!!) So, anyway...it was the closest thing to natural child birth I hope to ever get. I do know that it helped things go a heckuva lot faster though. I only pushed for 15 mintues (whereas I pushed for 2 1/2 hours with Fisher). Eli was born at 1:30 in the morning on March 29th, 2002. He was only 6 pounds 15 ounces. He was kinda tiny. He was welcomed into this big wide world by his Daddy, Nonie, Pop-Pop, Aunt Missy and Gramps and Grams Linder. They were all there to love on him in his very first moments of life. His big brother met him the next morning and was so excited. Except when he figured out that the little baby brother would soon be coming home with us to live. "Not MY house," said Fisher. Thank goodness he fell in love with him when he did come home.

Eli has been the sparkle of my life ever since that day. He's everything a mom could dream of and more. I love you so much Sweet Eli.

Twitter....fer real.

Welp, I did it. I jumped on the Twitter Bus. Well, because...you know...I don't have enough to do with my blog, my photoblog, my website, Facebook...not to mention work, the boys and all their special this and thats they have going on.

I actually jumped on the Twitter Bus a while back, but never did anything with it. I had just heard about it so much on the Bobby Bones show and it's ALLLLL over the TV now, so I went and got all curious again. I've updated it a few times and I'm following a few folks, and a few are following me...but I still don't know if I like it that much. Though I did the same thing with Facebook. I love Facebook. I just don't know if I like to "Tweet" yet. Y'all let me know if you have an account with Twitter and whether or not you like it. It's the same thing as Facebook, just without all the "fluff". Supposedly all the "fluff" is coming to Twitter soon and you'll be able to blog and have all the same bells and whistles that Facebook has...we'll see.

For now, I'll visit here and there and stay loyal to Facebook, but I need y'all to let me know if you think I'm missing out or not??

Where?

Where oh where has my little blog gone, on where oh where can it be?

I'm taking some kinda break from exploiting my family and friends lately, but don't you worry. I'll be back in the saddle shortly. Maybe even today...

Check Out My Photoblog...

www.shotofwhimsy.squarespace.com

You can see the awesome pics I took of Missy on our outing to The Cookie Lounge!!

We had so much fun!! The place is great and I got some awesome shots of Missy!! Fun Fun!!

This Place is a Zoo!!!

Mandy and Mike asked us if we wanted to take off work today and take the kiddos to the zoo!! Since Sullivan and Eli were both so little the last time we went, we were so excited to join them.

The Reptile house, was of course one of the boys' favorites...but not Adyson!!


The Bald Eagle, Zebra, Kangaroo and OF COURSE the Giraffe were all a hit...









The boys were on mostly good behavior and really had a blast!!

A few more favorites...







Thank you Mandy and Mike...we had so much fun with you guys!!!

I Wonder When...

I wonder when it will stop hurting my heart so much...that they are growing up so fast!!

Just Look At 'Em Wouldja?

How exciting it is to have all three boys in soccer? I just love this sport and I am so glad that they have decided they love it too. Gone are my Saturdays for the next couple of months, but if I get to sit and watch the loves of my life play soccer, I don't mind a bit!!

I TOTALLY did it!!!

I have a new website for my photography business! Yay!!!

http://www.shotofwhimsyphotog.com/

So much fun to create! This just keeps getting better and better!!

Excuse Me...

Do these ears make my butt look big?

My Little Hillbillies...

Nice, dontcha think?

Words of Love

So, at Spend the Night Bunco this year Missy did this little project with us where she asked us to write things about each of the girls in the group. It was anonymous and she put the collaboration together and we all read it outloud the night of the party. I was expecting a nice sentiment from everyone, but I really had no idea how much it would impact me and that I would start to to have tears of awe and thankfulness to my beautiful friends. Here's my list:

For those of you that can't read it, and need glasses like me...here is what it says:

Passionate, Devoted, Generous and Loyal, Creative, Loving, Talented, Founder, Heart of our group, Movie-lover, Generous, Gregarious, Hilarious, Always makes me laugh, Excellent photographer and story-teller, Outspoken (which I think whoever wrote this meant "expressive" hahaha), Wonderful with written word too!, The best friend anyone could want or have - and the best daughter in the world (thanks Mom), The genuine article, Her heart may burst one day from all the love she carries for so many people, Loved.

Wow, right? Someone forgot to put LUCKY.

CHECK it out!!!

Mandy has used her artsy graphicalacious skills and put together a new logo for my *hopefully upcoming* photography business!!! Isn't it just PERFECT???



If you ever need any help with any "graphics for hire" her email address for her business is mandy33303@yahoo.com - don't be shy. She's amazing at what she does and she loves to do it, which is even BETTER!!!

Twelve

Twelve years of togetherness, love, fun, compassion, caring, laughs, good times, understanding, patience, protectiveness, beauty, sweetness, tenderness. Have there been ups and downs? Absolutely...but what we mean to each other and what we have together has always paved the way for an incredible life together.

Thank you from my overflowing heart for the twelve years (really 16) that we have had together. You are my everything. Here's to the rest of our lives together.