Happy Birthday Madison!

Today my baby turned 3 :(

We celebrated her birthday by going to Dollywood. I will post pics of that later though. Today I will share her "birth" day pictures and enjoy "re-living" that day :)

I didn't want it to happen, in fact I refused to acknowledge it for awhile by continuing to let her "be a baby." I didn't push the potty training with her like I did the others (but am so glad she is potty trained). I have continued to let her have a paci (only at bedtimes though). I didn't enroll her in preschool this past fall but let her stay home with me :) I (and the rest of the family) have catered to her every whim. I just wanted her to stay a baby as long as possible.

I remember walking down the hallway to the OR with Matt on one side and my wonderful nurse on the other.

I remember being a little nervous even though it was my 3rd c-section.

I remember Matt and my dr discussing digital cameras (it seems my dr had just purchased the same camera we had so they were talking about how great it was).

I remember the "drug dr" as we call him saying "now once I put this spinal in you are going to be numb before we even get you laid down, and I was!

I remember shaking horrible (I always do).

I remember Matt sitting by head, talking to me and smiling at me. He kept asking me if I was ok :)

I remember not even knowing they had started the surgery until Dr Tatum said "are you ready to meet your baby?".

I remember seeing tears in Matt's eyes through my own tears as Dr Tatum said "it's a girl"!!! I remember thinking she is beautiful!

I also remember hearing Matt say over and over "Holly, she is tiny!" and thinking "well honey all newborns are tiny" and him saying "no, Holly she is really tiny1". And she was really tiny.

I remember her head of dark hair and me trying to figure out where all that dark hair came from as the others had heads of blonde hair.

She was born at 1:03 PM after being untangled from her cord. We are so thankful that she was a scheduled c-section since she not only had her cord around her neck twice but also around her body twice (she did a lot of moving around in my belly, not those sweet little fluttery kicks but punches and flips that made my whole stomach shift).

Most of the rest of day is a blur to me as I had a dose of morphine at the end of the surgery. In response to the uncontrolled itching that started soon after the morphine they gave me benadryl which pretty much knocked me out. We now know not to give me morphine after an event I want to remember. A few other things I do remember are:

* my mom crying when we introduced her to "Madison Jane" (my mom's name is Jane)

* the nurse washing her hair in the sink b/c it had so much yucky stuff in it

* Taylor being so excited it was a girl

* Caleb not wanting to come to me as I was laying in bed with O2 mask and IV's (scary looking to a 2 yr old)

* Caleb being instantly in love with Madison

* Madison not crying much, seriously she was the calmest baby!






Matt bringing Madison over for me to see! He was so proud!



She was pretty mad in this picture.



Caleb looks like such a baby here! What a cutie! All he wanted to do was hold "Madison Jane".



He just kept kissing her. Seriously look at how dark her hair is compared to his!



This doesn't even look like Taylor :( Where is this little girl!



Getting her ready to come home. She was so tiny my mom had to go and buy some preemie things and they were still too big.



Proud Daddy!



This is Madison and my niece Shelby who was born in February. Madison doesn't even look real I don't think. She looks like a doll :)

Pool time!

On Saturday everyone was finally together and we spent some of the day at the Indoor pool swimming and visiting. Even Jim and Paula joined us for the day. We also did some birthday/baby celebrating later in the evening and enjoyed a yummy dinner and cake but that is for a different post!

Peepaw and Jim just relaxing and visiting.



Some of us enjoyed the hot-tub more than the pool.



Kelsey



Haley



Madison and Matt



Riley



Caleb



Corey, Don and Shelby



Nana and Caleb



Shelby



Shelby and Don

We're Back!!!

We had such a wonderful week with all of Matt's family at The Glade in Crossville. The cousins played together so well with minimal fussing. We had a wonderful place to stay,it was huge and nicely decorated with a golf theme that I could have handled being in my house. There was a ottoman that I seriously tried to figure if I could get it in my car (I could have only if I left the kids behind) and that they wouldn't notice it missing :) There were also some golf pictures on the wall that were really nice, they too would have fit in the car but I wouldn't have had to leave the kids for those!

We kinda all arrived in a trickle over the week/weekend. Matt's parents, brother and pregnant SIL arrived on Tuesday evening. Me and the kids plus SIL and her 5 kids from Nashville (minus her hubbie) arrived on Wednesday. Matt arrived on Thursday after I drove to Knoxville to retrieve him and a birthday cake from Sam's (long story). Amy and her kids arrived on Friday along with SIL's hubbie from Nashville. Saturday morning brought in Amy's husband. On Saturday all 20 of us had arrived and we celebrated all day. Rachel's parents came for the day on Saturday as well and we enjoyed getting to visit with them.

The whole week was just spent relaxing, talking, laughing, playing Five Crowns, Horse Racing (this is a game not actual horse racing), eating (though we didn't just pig out all weekend since the majority of us are trying to lose weight), golfing and swimming! It was so nice. We adults would send the kids to bed and then sit up playing games. I think the earliest we went to bed was midnight and the latest was 2 AM!

The guys enjoyed many rounds of golf! They didn't all play every round since we were trickling in but I believe some of them got in 4 rounds :) The golf courses are really nice there. My SIL (from Nashville) wanted to go and drive the carts but the courses charge for you to ride, we didn't want to ride along bad enough to pay!

We celebrated some birthdays on Saturday too. Taylor, Caleb, Kelsey, Gabby and Madison all got to celebrate their birthday with a great cake from Sam's. Presents were distributed and everyone was happy...........well almost everyone.

I plan on doing some more posts of the week but breaking them down as there were so many pictures of so many different things that I thought that would be easier.

It was a wonderful week and I'm sorry it is over. There was however many great memories made and also some milestones................Madison is officially potty-trained!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am diaper free. Not certain what made it click while we were gone but she only had 1 accident and it was Wednesday night and I think she just got distracted by all her cousins. She is going to the bathroom all by herself. She sometimes yells to me "I'm going potty" and sometimes doesn't. I'm so proud of her :)

Busy Week!

The past 2 weeks have been pretty busy. Last week Taylor and Caleb attended FBC's VBS during the morning hours and I got some one on one time with Madison. It was very nice and the kids had a blast at VBS! They love going to this particular VBS but it is AWESOME!!!!! They do their very own thing...no boxed VBS kit for them, they actually have a team that writes theirs. They even do their own music. Like I said....it is awesome! After VBS we would head over to Nana and Pops and swim until they were exhausted. Then if was bath, dinner and bed. It was great :) I had taken pictures of them from VBS but they are on NaNa's camera. NaNa and the camera are in Crossville so I can't post any pics.

On Thuesday evening and again on Friday evening and all day Saturday we got to enjoy spending some time with Uncle Daniel. The kids really enjoyed getting to be with him even though Madison couldn't figure out why he hadn't brought Aunt Rachel. She kept calling him "rachel" which comes out "angel". We aren't sure why she can't say "rachel" as she says "ryan" plain as day. here is everyone enjoying laughing at some videos on Youtube :) Please make sure and notice the kids lovely attire. They played dress-up all day.....not sure what Taylor is wearing but Caleb is dressed as Dash and Madison is a princess or so she said :) Last time I checked princess's didn't have wings this one did :) And she kept walking around saying "I'm beautiful"....humility isn't a trait this child has yet :)


This week we had CSPC VBS in the morning. It too is a really good one. The older 2 could only go 2 days as we are going to be gone the rest of this week and the first part of next week. We get to join NaNa, Peepaw, Uncle Daniel, Aunt Rachel, the Overall gang (all 7 of them) and the McCrady gang (4 of them) for a week at The Glade! I can't wait.....many days of cousins laughing together (and fighting too I imagine), swimming, eating, playing games (and some golf too), and even a boat :) The kids are all excited (so are the mommies and daddies)! I know there will be many adventures to blog about upon our return as well as lots of pictures.

Tonight me, my mom, Taylor and Hope got treated to pedicures by Pops :) It was wonderful! I can't remember the last pedicure I had....probably last summer when my toes were seeing the light of day :) Madison sat in my lap and just watched. Caleb and Pops went walking around at Turkey Creek while we ladies were pampered. I forgot my camera but my sister had hers. She got some great pictures but they are on her camera so I am going to have to wait to post those. Taylor really enjoyed getting to be a "big girl." She got the full package just like us. We were treated to a sea salt scrub and then a mud mask on our legs and feet. It was heavenly :) Madison wasn't too crazy about them putting the mud on my legs, she kept saying it was yucky and that it looked like yogurt :) She is a hoot!

We had such a wonderful time. After our pedicures we headed over to Salsarita's (not sure if that is spelled right but it is a Mexican cafe here that is really good) for some dinner. Now I am home and really should be packing since we leave in the morning. Instead here I sit reading blogs and typing my own post :) Well guess I am off to finish packing.....see everyone in a week!

Happy Father's Day!!

"A father is loved not for how tall he stands but for how often he bends to help, comfort and teach."


We had a wonderful Father's Day (or so I think). After sleeping in a little this morning (we didn't make it to class this morning b/c the kids as well as Matt and I are battling runny eyes, noses and sneezing uncontrollably) we got ready for church. The kids matched their daddy (everyone was wearing yellow) but alas I had no yellow so I didn't match the family.

Caleb had a bad case of the giggles while trying to get a good picture of the kids and Matt.



This was the best one out of about 10 pictures I took.



After church we (us and my parents) met Hope and Chris at IHOP for a Father's Day breakfast/lunch. IHOP was Pops choice as he was the Father that got to choose. Matt didn't care where we are just as long as we ate. Here is Matt and Caleb waiting for our table which only took about 5 minutes. I was impressed with such a short wait as there was 9 of us and it was Father's Day. Maybe other fathers picked fancier restaurants. My dad isn't fancy though :)



We enjoyed a wonderful lunch/breakfast after which Pops opened his present. We let me open ours there but Hope's was too big and was therefore brought to their house.






Hope and Pops (She reluctantly let me take this picture as her hair was wild b/c her and Chris had come in his convertible and had ridden with the top down!)



We were trying to get the IHOP sign on the door in the picture. We didn't realize until we got home that it looks like we ate at the "IHO" not the IHOP :)



Once home Matt got to open his present which was Selah's Timeless Collection. He has been asking for this for awhile now.



and then sit on the couch and enjoy watching the US Open. He was "off duty" today. (I got that present on Mother's Day so it was only fair that Matt get it on his day) He didn't have to change any diapers, he didn't have to break up any fights, he wasn't responsible for discipling any kids, etc. He got to sit and relax :)

I just got my hair did too!

Look Aunt Gabby, Madison has started getting her hair done at the same place Shelby has been getting hers done at.

Heavy Heart

My SIL wrote a post yesterday that moved me to tears (lots of posts have had me crying these last few days). I happen to be a pretty emotional person to begin with, I get that from my mom, but it seems like people are really touching my heart with their words. I have never been a person for change, I like routine, I like things to stay the same, etc.

Cindy wrote this wonderful post about friendships, Gabby (SIL) wrote about God's guidance, Betsy wrote about mourning a "certain" phase of her life, Jim and Laura wrote about moving and a few more people wrote things also. It really got me to thinking.....

Matt and I have really struggled in the last year with God's plan for our family. Most people know what we have been experiencing so I won't go into details. We aren't sure where God is leading us or what we are to be learning from this experience. I can't speak for Matt but I personally feel "lost" like God isn't really with us right now. I know in my heart He is but sometimes struggle to remember that. I know that most people go through a phase like this in life, lots of people go through bigger struggles than this but I can't seem to grasp the "bigger picture" so to speak.

What does God want me to do with life that will bring Him glory? Where does he want me to be? Is it here with friends and family? Or are we supposed to be somewhere else? I need a sign, and not some subtle one either. I need a flashing neon sign. I told my SIL "maybe He has shown me what he wants and I am just too stupid to see/understand it".

I am beginning to see that the stresses of this last year are effecting our entire family. Don't get me wrong we aren't on the verge of falling apart (at least not yet anyway) but we have "stress fractures". I have financial worries. They are hard on a family. I remember back from our "premarital counseling' days our preacher saying that was the #1 cause of divorce (again not on the verge of this just my mind processing everything). We know that isn't going to fix anything at all!!!!! Just remembering what causes stresses in marriage.

I say all this for a couple of reasons. First I would like to ask for everyone to pray that this phase in my life be one that I can grow from. Second I feel like I needed to get somethings "off my chest". I have always felt better after writing things down. I am blessed to know nobody is going to judge me for what I am thinking or feeling. That is the wonderful thing about being part of God's family. I know my friends will pray for me, when we moved to Knoxville almost 10 years ago I wasn't sure I would find friends that I felt that way about but I did :) I really admire my SIL for being able to open up like she did and put everything on the table. It is hard to admit when you do something wrong. It is even harder to admit it to everyone in "blog-land".

Pray that God will show me what I am to learn from this and that I can use my circumstances to bring Him Glory.