Patience

patience...that is the name of the game when it comes to my first born, my oldest, my boy...so patience we must have with him.

see my little guy came into the world two months early.

he weighed 2lbs and 14oz

the picture above was the first time that i got to hold him...eight days after he was born...

...patience (he weighed 2lbs 9.2oz)

weight gain was difficult because he was such a fighter....very active and always moving...

...patience

he started having apnea spells after a bottle attempt that was probably to soon...

...patience

after 48 days in the NICU we were able to take him home (but on an apnea/heart monitor)...

...patience
at three months old he had to have surgery for an inguinal hernia...

...patience

over a year old and he still wasn't walking...

...patience

at three years and three months his speech still seemed like it wasn't improving with speech therapy and we found out he needed hearing aids....

...patience

he is now almost four and is speaking full sentences. there is still lots more to work on when it comes to understanding his speech but he is doing so wonderfully.

so as you can see...we've needed patience through it all.

NOW LOOK AT HIM!

to participate in this challenge, check out this post.

Twist

Photography...I love it

to look at it and the idea of it

Photographer...I am not

my mom and my sister got that

I take pictures to remember

moments...

this may or may not be a moment that i want to remember.

right now, as we are going through it, it's not one I want to remember.

lots of reasons too...

diapers...expensive
poop and pee...gross
struggling with a strong baby...not fun

but wanting to remember because she will never be this small, this age, going through this stage again.

so remember moments like this...definitely

as for the photo...may not be the best shot/capture but it will be there for me to remember and that's enough for me.

so,

twist.

my baby girl, twisting on her changing table

she does it afer her bath, when it's time to get dressed, and for diaper changes

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New Baby

there is a new baby in our life. not our's but my niece, Jianna Paisley. she is so sweet. look at those pretty lips.

11 Months

i can't believe that i am just now getting her 11 month picture up but even more so i can't believe that she is already 11 months. it went by way, way, way to fast.

Tornados

it's strange when i open my fridge to see it so empty. but then i think of all the people that lost their fridge, family and maybe even life. as I'm sure you know or may have even heard we had terrible tornado's tear through the Tennessee valley last Wednesday. they are calling it April's fury. over a week later and there are still trees to pick up, debris to go through, and families devastated from this disaster. we had no electricity for 6 days. what a relief it was to get it back. there are so many things that we take for granted.

a good friend of mine posted this about the tornados and i agree with her. i grew up in an area with bad hurricanes and i would for sure take a hurricane over this. (although ask the people hit by Katrina and they may tell you different) tornado's are just so unpredictable. there is just no where to hide from them. just please continue to pray for the people who lost homes and family members and were majorly affected by this. I am so blessed that my family and friends are all safe and untouched by this disaster. my in laws had a tree pulled up by the roots in her back yard and it was a foot away from the house. blessed indeed.

Festivals

my hubby and i love to go to festivals. spring or fall it doesn't matter. if we don't have plans we and there is one going on, we are there.
this weekend we went camping with some friends and on the way home from the camping trip we stopped in south Pittsburgh, Tennessee. there were yellow signs on side of the interstate for the National Cornbread Festival. never heard of it and definitely had never been to it so my hubby looked over and me and smiled. i knew that we would be stopping.

once we entered we were amazed at how great it was. we had such a good time. there was cornbread to taste (lots of it and unusual and fun kinds) the bacon, jalapeno, ranch was our fave. we were surprised at how big it was, and how well of a job that they did on keeping it clean. there were a lot of youth that were making sure the trash was empty and everything looking nice. it was great. we knew that we would be coming back next year for the event.

i was very upset that i didn't have my camera with me while there but little guy slept the whole time and baby girl just took in the sights. the photo above, of our cornbread pan, stamped hand is it for pictures. shows we were there, right?!?! for me i was amazed with the porta potties. strange i know but they had a woman's and men's section and in the woman's there were silk flowers in the urinal (no need to have a urinal in the woman's one but i understand they they come all made the same) and then there was some silk vines hanging behind the seat part. it made it look nice (for a porta potty) and they had a flower scent to them so you didn't have an overwhelming scent of pee when you walked in. all in all, we were very impressed with the festival and are excited to go back next year.