Another May Birthday and a Little History

Today is Uncle Judd's birthday...not only that, but it was John Michael's original due date!  What a coincidence.  John Michael just had other ideas and wanted to come early.

The Fam!

Judd is our misfit brother because he's tall, thin, blond-headed and has blue eyes.  Umm..that doesn't really fit in with the rest of our family.  We're basically the opposite of that!  He indeed is our brother and I think Ray and I will claim him.  I guess Judd is partly  where John Michael got his blue eyes!

My brother, Judd, is one of the bravest people I know.  Over the past almost 10 years he's battled an illness that almost no one in North America can explain, tell us about or why.  I could never have gone through even half of the things he has battled back from time after time.  My hat forever goes off to him for his profound bravery and ability to embrace life after being knocked down time and time again.

Now, don't think he's all about an illness.  Oh no!  Judd has a degree in Political Science and a Masters in Public Administration and even a little law school under his belt before he got very sick!  He knows so much about politics, both local and national and can finish off any book within a day.  I always call him and ask, what does this mean or why did that politican do that?!  He was also pretty excited to be an uncle and the fact that John Michael is a boy is a plus in my brother's eyes!  I see some Alabama football games in their future!

We are so blessed and thankful to God for healing him and making him well these last few years and we truly believe and pray for a miraculous healing directly from God's hands.  That is the only hope you can cling to when everything else is telling you "no, we don't know, or it may come back at any moment."  You just can't live life that way and I choose not to!  God has his own plans and timing.  It took me all of these years to finally realized that God loves him way more than I do, my parents do or the whole of my family combined x a million, so I feel a real comfort in just letting go of the worry and letting him live life in his Heavenly Father's loving arms and whatever will be will be!

We know how precious each birthday and holiday is not only with Judd around, but any member of our family.  If you've been there you know how special holidays can become and you celebrate while you can.  We never want to take any holiday or family gathering for granted and you shouldn't either.

Here we are at mine and Jordan's wedding!  He cleans up pretty nice!

Super proud uncle to John Michael and of course, baby #2!

John Michael's baby dedication back home

Uncle Judd and John Michael played ball a lot while he was here for JM's birthday!

Happy Birthday Judd!  We hope it's a good one and I'm sorry we're not closer by to celebrate with you!

Verse O' the Day:

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.

Psalm 119:147

How Blessed Am I?!

How lucky am I?  I literally have the best and greatest job in the world.  I dare anyone to find anything better, more fun, or more fulfilling.  Even though I get paid zip-o I know that it's truly a blessing to be able to be home.  It's not something we take lightly.  It's a sacrifice and so wonderful.  We feel so fortunate that God has blessed us with Jordan's job and the looong road that led us to it, even though at times, it wasn't fun for us to be apart.  Here's what I get to spend my day doing:

First we have to learn how to eat like a big boy!  We eat big boy breakfast and whole milk!

 

After breakfast and playing John Michael goes down at 10 and (Thank you Jesus) he naps for anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours!  This is awesome considering he never slept and only took like maybe two 30 minute naps for so long.  NOT fun. 

Friday afternoon Jessica walked over with their cute red wagon and she hauled the boys to our neighborhood playground.  Braxton didn't mind sharing his wagon and he kept handing John Michael his sippy cup!

They had so much fun and Jessica even took John Michael down the big slide!  Mainly JM wanted to play with the wagon and the wheels. 

After the park JM was pooped so he went down for another nap for about 2 hours at around 3.  Once again, I'm so happy he sleeps now because I am so sleepy during this first trimester.  I'm constantly wanting to sleep and nap.  I'm ready for the fun second trimester of more energy and no more food aversion.  Almost there!

Saturdays are extra fun because Daddy is home and we get to play, play, play and make pancakes!

Captain Hook!

[caption id="attachment_925" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="We miss our dog. He'll be coming back from Alabama on Tuesday!"][/caption]

Measuring cups are fun too!

We are excited about Memorial Day because Jordan will be off of work.  We've got some things to do around the house and yard.  I hope everyone has a happy Memorial Day!

Verse O' the Day:

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Psalm 139:9-10

Growing Boy and a Recipe

"Since I've turned one I've been doing pretty big things lately!  Mama and Dada are so amazed by me everyday.  They say I am the smartest and cutest baby in the whole world.  I think they might be just a little biased.

First off, I wowed everybody by picking up a cd, opening up the cd player, putting the cd in, closing the lid, and pushing play.  Whoah!  That's a pretty big deal apparently!  Who knew I could do such smart stuff?!  I can also turn the volume up or down on command!

Second, I am now a forward-facing boy!  My car seat got turned around and I can see so much stuff now and feel the air vent!  Here I am on my first ride.

I also got my first lollipop at the doctor's office after I got my shots.  I loved it!  It tasted so good and Mama let me finish in the car before she put me in my carseat. I still weigh about the same as I have the last few months and I've only grown about 2 inches or so.  Mama said we're not worried yet because I am a big, strong boy!

One more thing, I am now drinking milk out of a big boy cup!  I liked it from the first taste and I said mmmmm!  Here I am with my first milk mustache.

Now Mama wants to share a recipe that she found.  I even got to eat some of it since I'm starting to eat table food now!  Yum!"

Easy Chicken Cacciatore

1 tsp olive oil

1 lb chicken breasts (I used the tenderloins)

1 large green bell pepper cut into strips

15 oz. marinara sauce

1/2 cup water

2 cups hot cooked rice

Heat oil in skillet over med-high.  Add chicken and bell pepper, stir frequently about 5 minutes.  Add sauce and water to skillet, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low; cover.  Cook for 5 minutes.  I served it over the rice.  Serves 4.

This was super easy and fast and honestly, it was a miracle that I even made dinner because I still feel sick at night.  I'm so proud of myself for cooking chicken and not wanting to vomit!  Yay!

Travel Observations

I'm a people-watcher.  I love to just sit around and watch what people do and how they interact.  Being in the throngs of people at Disney World was pretty interesting for me because of all the different people from around the world that come.  I observed a few things during the week and here's my list!

-My favorite quote all week that I heard from a lovely grandma: "I'm gunna tie yer a@# in this stroller."  The saddest part about it was that not a single soul in the family did a double take or even turned around at such a comment.  Reeeal nice.

-People from Brooklyn generally like to wear shirts that say "Brooklyn".  Just an interesting observation as I saw it over and over again.  And (I hope I won't get anybody mad at me over this one) it was generally very easy to pick them out anyway because of their accents and the fact that they were SO LOUD.

-We would have been crazy to NOT bring our own stroller.  With all our luggage/diaper bag/carry-ons it would have been impossible to hold John Michael all the way through the airport.  We almost just rented one when we got there and I've never been so glad in a decision!  Bring your own.

-It was nice to get compliments on John Michael's behavior.  He was so good and happy and had like two meltdowns the whole time.  He enjoyed the rides (even the scary ones) and wasn't scared at all!

-People bring really, really tiny babies to Disney World. Nothing wrong with that, I just can't imagine having one or more kids and juggling a tiny baby in the heat.  More power to 'em.

-I have never in my life seen so many makes and models of double strollers.  It was like shopping for me because we'll be in the market for one of these quite soon!  I never knew there were so many different kinds.

-The Disney workers WILL move your stroller to any area of their choosing and you'll just have to hunt for it.  They'll even rearrange it if the "handles weren't facing the right direction".  Hmm.

-I didn't count on how much water JM would drink while at the park.  It was hot and he was a thirsty little fella.  All that water amounted to lots of wet diapers.  Jordan and I both got soaked through from an overflowing diaper!  We even went through our emergency outfits in the diaper bag.  Bring lots of diapers!

-One last thing, I really liked the baby centers at each park.  They had changing tables, high chairs, and a nursing room.  They also had toys and places to fix bottles and warm up food.  Such a great idea!

Verse O' the Day:

You may say in your heart, “My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.” But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth.

Deuteronomy 8:17-18

Our Disney Slideshow!

There were so many pictures from our Disney World trip that I decided to make a slideshow!  I'll write more later about all the things that we did and learned on our first family trip to Disney.  Now I'm unpacking, heading to the grocery store and trying to clean.  We've been doing laundry since yesterday afternoon due to the lovely Delta bag people who watched our bags sit in a puddle and then the rain on our never-ending layover in Atlanta.  You can be sure there will be more about that later, also!  I hope you enjoy!