Happy Birthday Rob!

Today Rob celebrated his 40th Birthday! 20 of those 40
Birthdays I have been blessed to share with him!!! After
going out to eat as a family, we came home and had my Mom
& Dad and my sister and her family all come over for
cake and ice cream. A special thanks to my Mom & Dad
and my sister's family for always making our birthdays
a special occasion to celebrate. We are blessed to have
them live close by. We all agreed that Rob is a very
special guy that means the world to so many! He is such
a humble person and really didn't know why we were making
such a fuss over his birthday but consented to let me blow
up balloons and do what I needed to do to make his day
special. I often think to myself, if I could have 1/2 as
much patience as he does I would be such a nice person :)
He loves unconditionally and without judgement. He is not
perfect, but he is exactly what God knew I needed. He is
such a terrific husband and father! So today, I am thankful
for that tiny, frail baby boy born 2 months premature 40
years ago! Today that baby boy is a strong, compassionate man
who is simply "My Rock". I sincerely hope that I get to
spend at least 40 more birthdays with him!!! Happy Birthday
Rob! We love you!!!

Aiden is Okay!

Today Aiden is acting like his old self and into
everything. So far only one eye has blacked!
We are thankful that he is doing okay!

Our First Trip to the ER

Tonight Aiden made his first trip to the Emergency Room!
As he was running across the living room he stumbled and
fell face first into the wooden coffee table! Ouch!!
We have baby proofed every possible "corner" in the house
but didn't think to do the coffee table because it
is oval and has no pointed edges. Poor little guy screamed
and screamed!!!! Daddy got to him first and applied pressure
while I grabbed a wet rag. It immediately started swelling
and turning a vast array of colors so I thought maybe he
had broken his nose. So... off to the ER we trekked!
Thankfully the x-ray indicated nothing was broken! Yeah!
The Doctor said both of Aiden's eyes would probably be
"black" tomorrow. We are thankful it did not need stitches!
It could have been much, much worse and we are thanking God
that he was not seriously injured!

Laughter is the best Medicine!

After I took this video of Aiden, it really struck me just how blessed we are to hear these giggles and laughs from him. He has been through a lot in his little life!! Often times children who have been institutionalized for as long as Aiden, have social and emotional issues that may cause the children to be quiet and withdrawn. We feel very blessed that he is so happy, social and simply full of life! He can be shy around people he doesn't know well (which is healthy) but once he gets to know you he is all smiles. I love to hear him giggle!! It is a reminder of the life he now has and is symbolic of the bright future he has in store for him!

New Hairdos for the Kiddos!

Today it was time for new hairstyles for the kids. Rob did
a wonderful job giving Aiden a new "spike" look but I was
not about to try giving Shaelyn a new do. So off to the
beauty salon Shaelyn and I went. Here are after pictures
of both of them. Shaelyn loves her new look and Mommy just
loves Aiden's new "man look" :)

Growing Up!

I just had to post these pictures I have of Shaelyn
and Dakota (A.K.A Shae-Shae and CoCo.) WOW! They have
grown up so much!!

Shaelyn and Dakota

Here are some pictures of Shaelyn and Dakota. He and Shae
were like brother and sister for the first few years of
their lives. Dakota is "Nana's" grandson and for a few
years Nana babysat Shaelyn and Dakota at the same time.
All the time they spent playing together for 5 days a week
created a special bond they still share. Unfortunately,
Dakota moved out of State with his family a few years ago
and they don't get to see each other very often. When
Dakota is in town they love to get together and go to
Mr Gaddie's (A Pizzeria) to play in the arcade. We met
Nana and Dakota at Mr Gaddie's yesterday and the kids
had a really good time. It's amazing to see the two of
them together so grown up!

19 years today!

Nineteen years ago today Rob and I were married at
Salisbury Wesleyan Chapel at 1:00 PM. That morning
I remember waking up and there was dense fog everywhere.
I gulped when I realized that our balloon release wouldn't
be all that grand if you couldn't see 2 feet in front
of your face! I remember praying Lord please lift the
fog. Of course by 1:00 PM the weather was a beautiful
70 degrees and sunny. I was so nervous about the wedding
and hoped that all my hard work and planning would pay off.
I have to admit that I did not enjoy my wedding because
I was far too involved in every aspect of it. I learned
so much from my wedding that I now use when directing and
organizing the many weddings I have done since then. One
of the most important things I learned is...Let the Bride
just be "The Bride" on the day! Anyway, the wedding went
off without too many errors and about day three of the
honeymoon I had finally settled down and had my nerves
unraveled from the many knots they had been in. :) What
I did not fully realize on that sunny day in March was that
I had just married the most wonderful man on the planet!
He is so patient with me and keeps this Type A
personality of mine in check. He finds the good in
every situation and his favorite quote is "Life is Good".
He is such a hard worker and loves his family so much!
He has embraced me throughout my infertility saga and
has been quick to correct me and say "our" infertility
saga. He loves the two children God has blessed us with
as though they were biologically his. Yes he has had
his share of faults and our marriage has not always been
perfect but we are better people today because of the
trials we have been through. At our wedding we sang
together the song "Household of Faith". Nineteen years later
I can say that our marriage is where it is today because
of our "Faith". Faith in a God that we knew would walk
with us through the storms of life. I love you Rob and
hope we have many more years together.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad will celebrate his 67th Birthday tomorrow!
My Sister and Niece planned a little party tonight
for him and made him blow out 67 candles on his cake!
It was quite funny because the candles were trick
candles and kept relighting. We had cake and ice
cream and gave him a few gifts. I am so thankful
for my Dad and all he does for his family. He loves
his children and grandchildren so much! One thing
I have always loved about my Dad is his positive attitude!
He can find something good in about every situation.
We love you Dad and hope to have many more Birthday
celebrations with you!! Happy Birthday!

Flexi-Boy

Tonight Aiden decided he would show us how flexible
he was. He went around the house putting his head
on the floor without bending his knees. I was not
only amazed at his flexibility but thought it was just
adorable as well. He was pretty proud of the attention
he was getting from it as too :)

Winter Wonderland!

We got about 5 inches of snow last night! It was beautiful
coming down and even more beautiful after the storm was
over. I had to go to work but Rob let the kids play in it
and they even built a snowman. They couldn't get the snow
to pack until it had started melting some, then they
were able to make the snowman. Rob was so good to take
pictures for me so I could see some of what they did. Of
course there was no school today and we just were notified
there will be no school tomorrow either. Shae is thrilled!

Daddy's Boy

This is my all time favorite picture! Aiden is such a
Daddy's boy! He is so attached to him and you can
just see by the expression on Aiden's face in this picture
that the "world is right" when Daddy is close by. I just
love it!