Say Cheese!

Ever since Lily's first Christmas back in 2003, we have made a photo Christmas card to send out to all of our family and friends.  After the Christmas of 2006 I promised myself that we would from then on go to a professional portrait studio to have them take a picture of the kids because it was so stressful!  Well, things have come up this year (Parker's suppressed immune system, numerous Dr. visits/copays, hospital bills, etc.) that led us to once again do a home photo shoot for our family Christmas card.  I knew it was going to be a challenge, especially with Parker's age and him not wanting to sit still!  I gave Jonathan the camera and I tackled Parker.  Every time I sat him down I quickly got out of the way so Jonathan could snap the pictures.  Here are just a couple of the MANY photos we got...

Parker thought it was a game at first and kept lunging toward the camera!:

Then he thought it would be fun to tackle his sissies!: 

Then the 3 girls wanted to tackle Parker!: 

And this is when Parker had enough fun for one night! 

I am very thankful that we were able to get a picture of all 4 of them smiling and looking at the camera for our card! 

Merry Christmas to all of you! 

 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 

We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Over the River and Through the Woods...

to Grandmother's house we go!

We were so blessed to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my Mom and Dad. We had not seen them since Parker's first birthday on July 4th, and it had been over 18 months since we had been to their home. Our family left on Wednesday, November 25th and traveled almost 450 miles to Stephens City, VA for 4 days of love and spoiling! Here are some of my favorite pictures from our visit:

Lily and Grandpa working on a Word Search together:

Katy and Grandma playing Play-doh together:

Maddy trying on her "Native American" costume: 

Maddy ready for the Thanksgiving feast!:

Parker rocking with Grandpa: 

The kids spending time with Auntie Amy (one of my dearest friends that I've been blessed to know since High School): 

We were all very sad to leave Grandma and Grandpa's house on the 29th!  But we are hoping to see them again real soon.  Thank you Mom and Dad for making our Thanksgiving so special! 

We love you and are so thankful for you!

Wealth and honor come from you;

you are the ruler of all things.

In your hands are strength and power

to exalt and give strength to all.

Now, our God, we give you thanks,

and praise your glorious name.  1 Chronicles 29:12-13

Look at Me...I'm 3!

My Katybug turned three on November 20.

Katy is our brown haired, brown eyed, long eye lashed, chipped tooth, third born daughter. She is a Big Sister and a Little Sister x2. Katy is our strong willed, always testing boundaries, fearless, outgoing, energetic, dramatic, little princess. She loves to play, sing, and dance, and the crazier the better! She loves playing dress up and taking bubble baths. She loves the color blue (especially if it's turquoise), ladybugs, Max & Ruby, playing in our sand and water table, making things with playdoh, painting, swinging, and jumping. She loves drinking "spicys" (sprite) and eating anything chocolate (just like her mommy!) She loves going to church and Cubbies and being with all of her friends. She loves to pray out loud by herself and thank God for everything. She is a sweet reminder of how thankful we should be about things no matter how big or small.

My favorite thing about Katy is her contagious belly laugh. She started laughing when she was just 6 weeks old and to this day it still brings a smile to my face whenever I hear it.

Happy 3rd Birthday Katy Anne! I love you and your super squeezes!

Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God. Isaiah 41:10

God is Good!

I took Parker back to the Doctor today to have his ear rechecked. Our pediatrician told me that Parker's ear is severely infected, BUT...his tube was still in place! Wow! I never expected this news! God never ceases to amaze me with his power and graciousness to answer our prayers beyond what we expect or even deserve! What a wonderful lesson this was for my girls as we prayed and prayed for the Lord to work a miracle on Parker. They have not only heard God's word, but they have seen God in action! Besides the ear infection, Parker is also coughing and wheezing, so he is on an oral steroid for the next four days. Please pray for his little body as he is now on 7 very strong medications. He has the sweetest spirit and has been so tough through everything. I can't wait for him to be well again! Thank you to those who have been burdened to pray for our sweet boy. God is faithful and He is Good ALL the time!

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him. 1John5:14-15

A Prayer of Faith

I am asking all of my faithful prayer warriors to please be in prayer again for our family. Parker was sick all last week with a cold and we were treating him at home with the medicine prescribed by the Allergy & Asthma Specialist. Then on Sunday morning Parker woke up with drainage in his ear which is normal for someone with tubes. The tubes are supposed to help drain any fluid built up in the ear. By Sunday evening the drainage had tinges of blood, and by Monday morning the drainage had completely turned into blood.I took him to the Doctor and they couldn't even look inside of his ear. We were given an oral antibiotic and antibiotic ear drops and told to come back on Wednesday morning so they could hopefully get a look inside of his ear. I was told that the amount of blood coming from his ear was not normal and that more than likely all of the fluid dislodged his tube and was causing his eardrum to bleed, but we are unsure as of now. Even though we were expecting his tubes to last 6-12 months, we are praying that this is all that is going on and that nothing has ruptured. We are praying that he is not going to have any kind of permanent hearing loss. We know that God is in complete control of the situation and only He knows the outcome and the plan He has for Parker's life. We know that God is faithful and that He alone can heal our little boy. Please be praying for Parker and that God will comfort any pain he might be feeling. Please also pray for Jonathan and I as we will now be keeping Parker homebound as much as possible. We will have to take turns going to church which will include sacrifices on both of our parts since we both have become very active in our church in the last couple of months. Please pray for the girls and help them understand why we are unable to attend things together as a family. Pray for our family to deal with this "interruption" in our plans and receive it with open hearts and minds so that we may learn what God wants to teach us. May God be glorified through this trial that we are going through. Thank you all so much for praying on our behalf.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the LORD. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the LORD will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James5:13-17

A Buggy Birthday

We celebrated Katy's 3rd Birthday on Friday, November 6th at Premier Athletics in West Knoxville. Katy was so excited to be having a gymnastics party. She has lived at the gym since she was 6 months old watching her sisters take gymnastics class at least once a week, and can't wait to start her class in January! Mrs. Debbie was so sweet to let us have her party at the gym even though she's not three yet. Our family has called Katy our "Katybugs" since she was a baby, so she has grown to love ladybugs and was even a ladybug this year for Halloween. When we were trying to decide on a theme for her party, she said she wanted a ladybug cake, so I went with that for the theme! I had so much fun planning her party. I love searching for and making things to go along with themes. (It's the teacher in me!) I hand-made Katy's invitations and sent them out to all of her sweet friends. (Front): (Inside): We started the countdown til her party as soon as the invitations went out 2 weeks before the big day! Here is the Birthday girl in a cute velvet leotard that she borrowed from Big Sister, Maddy:While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, we let all the kids get tattooed with a bug of their choice and of course Katy chose a ladybugThere were 13 sweet children who came to "bug" out with Katybugs! Miss Lindsey explained the rules and then they were off to have lots of fun! Katybugs had a blast! Here is Katy's friend, Zachary, who she talks about ALL the time:Isn't he a cutie? After an hour of playtime, Katy awarded all of her friends with a gold medal for their great performances: Then we went upstairs for treats and presents. I was on a search for the perfect cake for an entire week. And can I tell you how much I just LOVE Wal-Mart? I was flipping through the cake idea book looking for a cake that we could stick candy ladybugs on that I had found at Sugarbakers. Katy kept saying that she wanted a ladybug cake, and I nicely explained to her that they didn't have one. Before I knew it, the lady behind the bakery had pulled out a picture of a ladybug cake from her files, came around the front of the counter and held it up for Katy and said, "How about this for a ladybug cake?" Those of you that know me, know how much I love everything coordinating for the kids' birthday parties! I wanted to hug her! I actually screamed and told her that she had saved the day!!! Here is her ladybug cake, which is actually a cupcake cake...24 delicious cupcakes arranged in the shape of a ladybug!Katy loved everyone singing Happy Birthday to her! She had fun blowing out her candles: I found these cute ladybug plates and napkins at Oriental Trading .All the kids got Bug Juice to drink (one of Jonathan's favorite things to get the girls at Weigels!)and I also made "Bug Food" which was a mix of all Katy's favorite snacks (M & M's, chocolate chip Teddy Grahams, pretzel sticks, rainbow goldfish, mini marshmallows, and Keebler Bug Bites)After treats, Katy opened her presents. She loved everything that her sweet friends picked out for her!Before everyone left, Katy gave all of her friends a CD as a party favor. Katy loves listening and dancing to all kinds of music, especially in the van during all of our car rides so I decided to put together a CD of all of her favorite music. We had such a wonderful time with Katy's friends and their families. God has placed some really sweet children in Katy's life and we are so thankful for all of them. Thank you for "bugging out" with our Katybugs and making her birthday extra special!

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

Finally FIVE!

My sweet Maddy turned five on October 27.
Maddy is our blond haired, curly headed, green eyed, dimpled cheek, second born daughter. She is a Little Sister, a Big Sister x2, Mommy's Girl, care giver, and a snuggler. Maddy is our sensitive, always thinking, asks a lot of deep questions, never forgets anything you say or do, auditory learning, a little sneaky at times, little princess. She loves going to school, being read to, doing arts and crafts, and asking how things are made. She loves hearing Bible stories about God, Jesus, and how to get to heaven. She is our bouncy and energetic cheerleader and gymnast. Maddy loves milk, her blankie, taking naps, the color yellow, the moon, drawing flowers and insects, collecting nature items, singing, doing handstands, taking care of her baby brother, wearing skirts and accessories, shopping, and Fancy Nancy.
My favorite thing about Maddy is how much she loves her family. There isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't thank God for her family during our prayer time.
Happy 5th Birthday Maddy Faith! I love you to the moon and back!

Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.
He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.
Psalm 148:1-6