and then there were...6!!!

A new little one will be joining our family in November!!

With Jesus.

My dear Memaw met Jesus tonight. She was at home, she was peaceful, and she was surrounded by her loving family.

Our hearts are grieving, yet rejoicing. Thank you for your prayers!

Dear Friends

I would like to ask you to pray for my family right now. Tomorrow (Monday) my dear sweet Memaw will undergo a very risky surgery to put a feeding tube into her stomach. We found out on Friday that her esophagus is completely blocked and she has no way of getting food or drink unless she gets the feeding tube. The doctor was very honest with us about chance of her making it through the surgery, but he believes (as does the family) that this is the best option for her. {the photo above was taken Thursday before we knew that the liquids she was drinking weren't making it to her stomach}

**UPDATE - Memaw was unable to have surgery this morning because she has pneumonia. Please pray that she will have quick healing so surgery won't be postponed too long. 

From a medical standpoint, it looks as though we are in the last days (weeks) of her life, but we're not going to discount her stubbornness...which we joke has gotten her to the ripe old age of 97 1/2 years. :) 

Memaw's wish is to be at home. We are praying that she will be able to recover from the surgery enough to get her home to spend her last days there. 

Our hearts are heavy. It is never easy to say goodbye, but we are thankful for the hope and comfort we have through Christ. 

I sing this song to my babes every night, but tonight I sang it to Memaw.

Jesus loves me! this I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong, 

They are weak, but He is strong.

Jesus loves me! loves me still,

Tho I'm very weak and ill;

From His shining throne on high,

Watches o'er me where I lie.

Jesus loves me! He will stay

Close beside me all the way;

If I trust Him, when I die

He will take me home on high.

Yes, Jesus loves me,

Yes, Jesus loves me,

Yes, Jesus loves me, 

The Bible tells me so.

Snapshots, Randomness & Kid's Quotes.

Wednesday I was running a little late to an appointment about 45 minutes from home and in my haste getting out the door with the kids, I thought I forgot to grab a paci for Asher. Of course it was time for his morning nap and he was just kind of fussing, so I decided that I would have to stop and buy a paci for him - first time ever in my 3 years of motherhood that I've ever left the house without a paci when we needed one. I whipped into Walgreen's parking lot, dug around in my purse for my wallet and pulled out the paci that I had thrown in my purse before we left. Seriously! Where. is. my. mind? 

Asher is such a dare devil.

Me and my sweet Memaw on Easter.

All the kids love our beet/carrot/apple/orange juice.

Funny Lily Quotes - "Momma, where's my pillow sheet?" (pillow case)

Momma - "Lily, let's clean up your room"

Lily - "Ok Momma, in a couple whiles" (because I say "in a little while")

First grilling of the season.

Play-doh time. 

Asher got so mad when I told him he couldn't eat it. 

He finally decided to just play with the containers. :)

Playing with Roo.

Silly boy and his dog.

Funny Levi quote - 

Momma - "Levi, how did you get that toy off the top of the play kitchen?"

Levi - "I climbed up the sycamore tree." (he loves singing Zacchaeus was a wee little man)

Happy boy.

My Mom's birthday was over the weekend, and I didn't take one single picture. :( We had fun celebrating at Panera on Saturday and Sunday night at my parent's for supper and presents. I'm so thankful for my wonderful Mom!

Enjoying a windy warm day.

Poor Lily face-planted on the pavement on Saturday when we were visiting Memaw. She skinned up her face below her nose, busted the flap of skin under her top lip, and bit her bottom lip. There was lots of blood and tears, but thankfully she's doing much better now. 

Out for an evening walk. 

Mmm, veggies ready to be roasted for supper.

Crazy boy.

Asher turns 1!

Mr. Asher turned 1, oh, over a month ago. Life has been so busy I haven't had a chance to post about it. His birthday was the during the week between the two weddings, so his actual birthday was kind of in the midst of doing laundry and planning and packing for the next trip.

The morning of his first birthday.

Excited about his oatmeal for breakfast. Ha!

He weighs about 18lbs.

He wears 9-12 month clothes and size 3 shoes. 

He says Dada, Mama, Yaya (my mom), sissy, baba (bottle), bye bye, hey and maybe a few other words. 

He folds his hands when we say it's time to pray.

He takes a 5-10 steps on his own and walks everywhere pushing things, but hasn't built up the courage to take off really walking.

He and Levi are sleeping in the same room full time now (naps and night time).

He loves bathtime.

He plays well independently. 

He's finally getting over his very clingy to momma stage. Very thankful to be able to leave him with the babysitter or grandparent's and him not scream the entire time.

He still takes 2 naps each day and sleeps about 12 hours at night.

We had a little family party for him on the Sunday night after the second wedding. 

*Major mommy fail - I was holding the cupcake with the lit candle and we were about to sing to him. I asked my brother-in-law to take some pictures on my phone. I got distracted and looked away from Asher and the cupcake when I was telling my bro-in-law the security code on my phone, and Asher grabbed the candle and burned his little hand. I felt so bad! Thankfully my sister doused his hand in lavender oil and it didn't even blister. 

He didn't want anything to do with his cupcake right away, but he warmed up to it after awhile.

Yum!

Love this sweet little guy!

Weekend Happenings.

Friday morning snuggles with my big boy. 

Normally I come home to a quiet house on the mornings I go to the gym, but Friday morning, Jacob had to be up early for a friend to drop something by the house. When I walked in the door at 6:20am, I smelled bacon cooking! It was awesome! Jacob and I got to eat a nice breakfast together before he headed out the door to teach and the kids got up. 

We went on a family lunch date to Panera. I just love their Fuji Apple Chicken salad! Lily and Levi normally split a grilled cheese sandwich, but this time they were both asking for more. I think the days of splitting "kid's meals" are nearly over. :-/

Friday night Jacob had an event to play for, so my parent's came to watch the kids so I could go to a consignment preview sale. I was a little disappointed with the clothing selection, but I did find a few things for each child as well as some great books, a play computer, and a fire truck and ambulance. My favorite find was a church outfit for Levi that matches an outfit that Grammie gave Asher for his birthday. I love having my boys match! :)

We watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead last week. It is a great documentary! Jacob is going to do a juice fast this week (I'm going to drink a lot of the juice too, but not do the complete fast). I shopped on Saturday afternoon and this is what my cart looked like at Aldi. I got lots of strange looks and questions. LOL

I made some broccoli, carrot, sweet potato, grapefruit, kiwi, and orange juice on Friday and the kids drank it too! I'm excited to get more raw veggies down all of us.

Saturday was a beautiful day! We spent most of the day outside playing, having a picnic, and weeding the flower bed (momma did that). My sister brought her boys over and we went for a long walk around the neighborhood. It was a fun day!

Sunday was a good day. It was a blessing to all be back in church together. Of course the boys didn't take naps on Sunday afternoon (why is it, when momma is super tired and needing a little rest, they don't nap? oh well.) but I got some sweet after-nap snuggles from my big girl.

We went to my parent's after church in the evening. With sickness and trips, it'd been weeks since we'd been over for our traditional Sunday supper. It was so nice to be back!

Snapshots.

Some pictures from lately.

Just some typical craziness that goes on around here.

L&L's favorite place to shop? The thrift store. Seriously.

The last few weeks while the kids have been sick, they've watched way more movies/shows than they ever do. Poor Levi fell asleep like this about 5 minutes into Milo and Otis one day. He slept like that for almost an hour before I put him in his crib.

Love Lily's style. :)

I got to go run some errands alone. Such a blessing to have some quiet.

Two little stinkers hiding in the refrigerator. 

Asher checking on supper.

Some big shoes to fill.

LOL.

Happy Friday!