Celebrating Austin

Today marks what would have been Austin's 6th birthday. It is very hard to believe it has been 6 years since he was born...6 years since we were thrown into a situation that we never expected. But, God knew what he was doing on that day. He blessed us with a precious, sweet and wonderful little man that changed our lives forever. The time we had with Austin was priceless, and we are still learning and understanding why God gave Austin to us. I'm so thankful we were able to share him with so many through our journey, and I pray that you take time as you read this to thank God for the blessings in your life.

These were the balloons on Austin's high chair the day we celebrated his first birthday.

Our sweet little man and his smash cake :).

I remember how worn out he was after the party! He absolutely sacked out in his bed with his "paci on a stick" as Drew called it (the nurses in NICU rigged this paci for him while he was there, and needless to say he got very attached to it.). So many memories and emotions come flooding back when I look at pictures of him. I miss him, and I can't wait to see him again.

Tonight Avi and I went to Austin's grave. This was the first time I had taken her. Honestly I don't visit there often because I know that is not where he is...we usually do visit on his birthday, though. Avi, of course, didn't quite understand where we were or exactly what to think. When I told her we were visiting Austin's stone, she said, "But Austin's in heaven!!" It warms my heart to know that she knows she had a big brother. We said a prayer and walked around and looked at flowers. Avi wanted to pick some flowers, LOL. I politely explained those flowers were not for picking! When we got home, she decided she wanted to make Austin a "gift." She recently got some safety scissors that she's been dying to have and some stick glue. She cuts papers and then glues them into little squares to make them look like a present. Anyway, she made one for Austin tonight, and then she told me she wanted to write him a letter, and she proceeded to act like she was "writing" on his gift. As she was "writing," she also recalled the letter out loud. It went a little something like this:

Dear Austin,

I love you SOOoooOO much. I'll come to visit you in heaven soon. Thank you for sending Jesus for us. Do you watch TV in the mornings? That's okay. If you don't, you can just stay with God.

Love, Austin

(she hasn't quite figured out she is supposed to insert her name here)

Then she said, "Hey mommy, when we get to heaven, can we give Austin a big hug?" My answer--"Absolutely!"

Our Baby Girl!

Our baby girl is turning ONE on Thursday! How did the last year go by so quickly? Oh, how I can name the ways that made the year seem like a blur...but I won't even go there! We can't wait to celebrate Sally Sharp's birthday party tomorrow afternoon! Below is the fun invitation I printed using Shutterfly for the fun family party.

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Father's Day

We had a fun Father's Day, except for the fact that Sally Sharp started throwing up that morning during breakfast :). Even though I teach Sunday School, being the sweet mom and wife that I am, I sent Drew and Avi off to church while I stayed home with the sick baby (she doesn't look sick in this picture does she?!). That's the best Father's Day gift I could have given him, right?! Drew and Avi enjoyed eating lunch together after church! Do you like Drew's tie in this picture? It was one of the 2 ties Avi & Sally Sharp gave to him for Father's Day. He also got a new blue shirt to go with his ties. Yes, I know that was such the typical gift, but he really needed them, and a practical gift is always good in my book!

I can't believe my little Avi is growing up so quickly. Every time I look at her these days, she just seems taller and taller. I want to stop time and keep her just as she is right now! She's got a very sweet soul. She was very worried about Sally Sharp while she was sick. It was wonderful to see her loving her sister so much.

She is also very intrigued and asks a lot of questions about God these days. Out of the blue on the way home Friday, she said, "Mommy, on my birthday, I'm gonna go to heaven." You can imagine my surprise when she said this. I was completely caught off guard. I said, "You are? I really want you to stay here with me!" She quickly responded with, "I want to go to heaven when you, me, Sally Sharp and daddy can all go." I told her that was a good idea. Then she asked if she could have a birthday in heaven. I told her I was sure she could have a birthday in heaven, and her response was, "Well who's gonna bring the presents?!" I told her I bet God would provide the presents :). Then we changed the subject for a few minutes. As I was getting her out of her car seat she said, "Mommy, does everybody go to heaven?" Again, you can imagine my surprise at this question and my mind racing wondering how I should answer this question to a 3-year-old. I decided to be honest (that's what God would want me to do, right?). I told her that not everyone went to heaven. She then asked, "Am I going to go to heaven?" I promptly put my face very close to hers and looked her in the eyes and told her that if she wanted to go to heaven that as she grew up (like we do now), she has to read her Bible and pray and trust that Jesus is her savior and have a relationship with God (let's face it, I don't think she's old enough to understand the concept of grace). She said, "Mommy, I want to do all those good things." My heart melted. I mean, I never thought I would ever be having a conversation like that with any 3-year-old, much less mine. Such a sweet, tender heart, and conversations like these make me understand more fully the importance of reading the Bible to our kids and talking openly and honestly with them about our Savior. She may not fully understand everything right now, but God is definitely planting seeds in her heart!

I'm not sure you can read this (click on it to make it larger), but this is what Avi brought home from Sunday School on Father's Day (thanks, Ms. Amy Fountain!). She was so proud of it, and we have it on the refrigerator! Drew thought it was so sweet and seemed pretty proud of it himself! I'm glad they didn't do this on Mother's Day! No telling what it would have said!

Beach Pics (WARNING: lots of pics!)

Yep, this first picture pretty much sums up our picture adventure this year at the beach! Avi was non-compliant. I neglected to have my "If you take pictures like a sweet little girl, I will reward you with xxxxxx," talk before we ventured to the beach to take pictures! Ugh. It was frustrating. I was able to get some fairly good shots nonetheless.

This one is my favorite of the two of them together! This pose didn't last long!!

Look at that grin...she was conjuring up all the ways she could not cooperate for pictures! HA!

Sweet little grin :)

Love this picture of mom, Madison and John Michael!

The outtakes of these pictures are priceless! Add Sally Sharp to the mix, and they get even funnier! This is probably the best of everyone except SS.

I asked my sister if it was bad that the best pictures of Avi this year are from behind?! Just kidding--I think.

I'm not sure why I like this picture, but I do for some reason.

Sweet brother and sister.

John Michael is rather talented on the guitar, and I'm pleased with how the pics of him turned out.

LOVE the cousins!

Beach Fun!

We had so much fun at the beach last week!! I truly did not want to come home. The weather was absolutely perfect the entire week: 85 degrees and breezy. The girls were great. We enjoyed the company of my older sister and her kids and my mom (we missed my younger sister but she was having fun on her own trip!). I just can't tell you how wonderful and relaxing this trip was for me, and boy did I need it!

Sally Sharp has become very mobile over the last several weeks. She started pulling up while we were at the beach (on Monday, May 23rd to be exact), so as you can imagine, she did not sit still for any length of time! One particular afternoon we were getting ready to go to the pool, and she was leaned back and relaxing (for probably the first time all week!). It was very sweet, and I love this picture of her relaxed with her sister looking on. Of course, they were already slathered with sunscreen, so excuse the white faces!

Sally Sharp loved the sand. It did not bother her in the least. She crawled all around in it. She even put it in her mouth several times, and it didn't phase her. She kept right on about what she was doing! Avi also had a great time in the sand this year. She played and played in the sand and by the end of the week also loved looking for seashells and jumping the waves at the edge of the ocean.

Sally Sharp loved to "steal" Avi's sand toys as she was playing with them!

Avi became fond of jumping the waves as they came into the shore. Thankfully she became brave enough to jump them without having to hold someone's hand by the last day! Ha.

AND, she also slept. I love seeing my babies sleep. I wasn't brave enough to take a picture of Sally Sharp, though! More pictures to come.

This is what we've been doing...

THE BEACH!! And, we are having so much fun. It's only Monday night, and I already dread going home on Saturday. The weather has been AMAZING! Warm, but not burning up, with a nice breeze. I'm hoping it stays this way all week. We are at the Beach Club in Fort Morgan, AL. We stayed here last year, and we are loving it again this year.

Sally Sharp enjoyed her first visit to the beach this afternoon! She loved it! She crawled around and chased the sea gulls. She picked up the sand and rubbed it in her fingers...it was definitely a new texture for her, and she loved discovering it! She also didn't mind the waves washing up onto her chunky little legs. It was a fun first for us!

I must say that my little Avi is swimming quite well. Prior to coming to the beach, she took 4 weeks of swimming lessons (her first lessons). When we got here on Saturday, we ventured to the pool, and she did pretty well. She was very confident in the water, but her swimming left a little to be desired. However, yesterday and today she has improved drastically! I am so proud of my little fish. She is swimming everywhere and having a blast doing it!

This is the sweetest video of Avi on the beach. She is loving the sand this year (she's still a little afraid of the ocean, and I'm pretty okay with that). She really is a sweet child, and I am enjoying every minute of this vacation with both of my girls.

P.S. If the videos are off to the left on your screen, I have no idea why. I can't figure out how to fix it...for another evening! Off to play some Bananagrams with the fam.

A few house pictures

I wish I could say we were finished with our house and we have moved in, but that's just not the case! Things are moving along--slowly--but they are moving nonetheless! That's about all I can say about it!

This archway is one of the coolest features of the house in my opinion. I have had a lot of people ask me about the taller "tower" (brick wall) on the outside of the house. This is what the inside of the "tower" looks like. At the top of the arch is a window, and the opening to the tower leads into a hallway that takes you to a guest suite above the garage. I love it.

These are some built-in cabinets in Sally Sharp's room. If they look familiar, I copied them from here (without the top shelves). I showed our carpenter a picture, and he built them into the wall for me. He's pretty handy like that.

This picture was taken in Avi's room. She has a few built-in shelves as well, but not as many as Sally Sharp!

This subway tile is the surround in the girls' bathtub/shower (not grouted).

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Love, love, love the floor in the girls' bathroom (not grouted)!

The guest bedroom above the garage is one of my favorite rooms in the house. I will have to take some pictures of it next time I'm at the house. The tile being installed is in the bathroom attached to that bedroom. I can't wait to see it finished.

The hardwood floors have been installed.

The doors to my office...I actually have a room to put MY STUFF! It probably needs to be double the size that it is, but I'm not complaining!

More built-in cabinets in the hallway outside of the girls' bathroom.