Better Days!

Come inside the fort we made!! Now that's the smile we want to see!! :)

Abbey & cousin Cody playing at G.G.'s b-day party

where they got...

..a gazillion mosquito bites!

The Girls: Aunt Nancy, Aunt Liz, Aunt Carolyn, Mom, and Aunt Ellen

The birthday girl, Granny turns 74!!!

AWWWW!

Darryl, Bridget, and us, Go Texans!

These have been better days compared to the flood of stomach bug ickiness that went through our family most recently!! It's a good thing when your husband is back at work (because he's able to work), Abbey is ready to go, go, go and Cole is his happy and content self again!! Bless Cole's heart, when your sick you DO feel like whining but I thought I might have to make a trip to the coo coo house if I had to hear another week of whining and ALL DAY fussiness!!! God is amazing to have spared me from this bug while literally having my hands in it, THANK YOU Father!!! While Cole recouped over the weekend (and Daddy was sweet enough to babysit), Abbey and I were able to celebrate two awesome birthdays this Saturday. What a blessing to celebrate with precious friends, the Whaley's, on their daughter Megan's 1st birthday! You can't beat the entertainment of watching a one year old experience their first piece of cake, priceless!! Abbey and I then headed to another party on the other end of the spectrum, my Granny's 74th birthday party and celebrated with ALL our family in town, such fun!! I've posted some pics of Granny's party, love you G.G.!!! Along with the fun party came an unexpected barage of mosquito bites in Aunt Nancy's back yard; Abbey and her cousins came in with Oh, about 30 BITES!!! There's a gross pic of that too! :) Chad and I were even able to get away for a couples date at the Texans Game with good friends Darryl and Bridget. Chad has been abundantly blessed in his business to work with someone like Darryl and we've been more blessed by their amazing faith and friendship. It was a great game even though the Texans lost, and it was still a lot of fun cheering them on in hopes that they might win!! I always enjoy the whole football game experience, everything that is, except the cheerleaders; give me a break, they might as well show up in thier bra and panties!!! O.K., I'm off my soapbox now!! It's just been one of those days where I keep thanking God for the refreshment of a new day; aren't His mercies new EVERY morning! The weather's nice, we were able to go to LBS, we were ON TIME (truly a miracle), Cole's got a happy demeanor, Abbey has had zero attitude, we're all well, and most importantly, we've been blessed with another day! One of my new favorite songs is "Another Day" by Natalie Grant, take a listen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RV09uJc90U

OOKIE part 2 & 3!!!

Quote for this picture: "Will you say a prayer for me?"

Abbey getting much needed rest!

In front of Landry's, where Abbey's sick adventure began! O.k., I will take the few spare minutes I have to blog since I have had to be SUPER MOM over the last 2 weeks!! I think in times like these we need to grow extra limbs and be able to move at super sonic speed because there is entirely too much to get done!! By the title you may get that 2 more of the crew here have come down with the OOKIE stomach virus crud!! I will insert though, PRAISE God, that Abbey is back to 100% and is feeling like her old self again! On Saturday and completely out of nowhere Cole starts throwing up like 5 shoes (not really) while Chad is holding him, ALL OVER my bedroom carpet; yea, let the fun begin. I'll spare you the details but it did not stop for the next 4 hours!! With a baby you can't say, "just get sick over the trash can", yah, that doesn't quite work! So needless to say there were more messes to clean up in that time period that one human can handle. Before I'd have one mess cleaned up I was heading to the next disaster site helping my poor baby and my big poor baby holding the little poor baby!! It was craziness!! LOOOONG story short, Chad inevitably got sick late Sunday night which was SO horrible! He had never been stomach sick since we've been married (7 years) and another 5 years before that. So when you haven't thrown up in about 12 years it's kinda going to take you out of commission for a while!! Bless my boys, they've been through the ringer!! Chad's finally back to work today and feeling well, but Cole is NOT feeling as great. He's still pretty sick, thankfully not throwing up anymore but definitely not well. Please say a prayer for our little man; I hate to see him feel so bad!! I, in the meantime, am trying not to grow weary and rely on God's strength right now! I'm physically tired and emotionally SICK of the SICKNESS and yuckiness! After you've changed 5 diapers before 11 a.m., you start feeling a little weary! All day the Steve Green "Hide Them In My Heart" for kids song has been going through my head: "Let's not grow weary in doing good, for in good season we shall reap"!! Whatever it takes!!! I'm so, so, so thankful for God's mercies upon me because He has mightily protected me from this virus, THANK YOU FATHER!!! The pictures above aren't the cutest, but I wanted to post what's relevant to us right now; prayerfully, cute & happy pictures are coming SOON!! Blessings to each of you! **Oh, cool side note: the song on our site "Captivate Us" by Watermark is one that I fell in love with because it's where I want to be in my walk with Jesus, totally captivated!! What's awesome is our Ladies Bible Study classes just started and the theme is "Captivated"! How amazing is that; it's never by coincidence what God places in our path, there begins to be a pattern. Love that!!

OOKIE!

That's what Abbey has to say about the last 24 hrs and we as her parents completely agree!!! Instead of posting lovely pictures from our evening out in Kemah with Chad's parents and sister, I will instead tell you what a disaster it has turned out to be...food poisoning!! Yes, that's right, my sweet Abbey girl has received the OOKIE gift of food poisoning from the popcorn shrimp she ate at Landrys. Cole was in rare form at dinner with Chad and I taking shifts to eat and Abbey was unusually squirmy and hyper (so not like her). I should have known then something was coming!! :) By the time we got home and put the kids down, my throat started hurting pretty bad and I was exhausted and ready for bed. Right about the time I drift off to sleep, Abbey starts getting sick (yea)! It's moments like these you want to call out for your own mommy!! As a parent you learn quickly that there is NEVER a great time for anyone to get sick and it will typically come at the worse possible time! Needless to say, it's been a rough 24 hrs. for all; please pray for Abbey as she is STILL not over it and pray for Mom and Dad here, we are pretty tired! In taking care of Abbey today God has brought some sweet memories to mind of when I was sick and so lovingly taken care of by my Mom. Most of you know my Mom's a nurse which was always pretty comforting growing up and still is as an adult; I'm sure she loves our regular phone calls with our ignorant health questions!! I was remembering how nurturing she was and that she always made the best Gatorade slushees and cool washcloth compresses that immediately made you feel at ease. She would fix chick'in noodle soup and set up our own little sick bed post right on the couch so you could watch "The Monkey's", "Batman", or "Green Acres". Thanks Mom for all the selfless late nights and yucky messes you had to clean up when we were sick and the prayers that covered it all; It's definitely appreciated 10 fold now that I'm a Mother!! O.K., I'm off to bed; it might be a long night!

Napa Valley

Our first night in Napa at Brix, a fabulous dining experience! In front of Brix and their organic garden where they grow all their own produce

Chad at Robert Mondavi vinyard; sweetie that's a lot of wine behind you!!

On the grounds at Robert Mondavi!

Cheers!!!

A little vinyard next to our resort

We are now immersed back into reality after spending a long weekend in Napa Valley,CA! We were able to getaway without kids thanks to the help of grandparents; THANK YOU Mimi, Poppey, Nana, and Grandad!! Chad and I had the most amazing time visiting vinyards, tasting wine, enjoying picnics on scenic lookouts, basking in beautiful weather, eating gormet cuisine, SPA treatments, and lots of "other" important things, ha, ha!! We are so thankful for the much needed time away and are so glad we have made Labor Day weekend our yearly kid- free getaway! After getting over a little guilt at first, then we both feel young and carefree again; we always feel like we're taking another honeymoon!!

I wanted to additionally give everyone an update on my breast ultrasound that went AWESOME! PRAISE GOD!!! Chad and I are so overwhelmed by God's merciful, merciful hand in all this and thank you for your prayers and concern, I could feel them! Everything looked healthy and my Dr. said that some women just will have unexplained breast pain sometimes for years with no problems; Oh the joys of womanhood!!

Hope everyone had a very RELAXING and wonderful Labor Day Holiday!! Don't be a stranger and drop us a line! Blessings!!