Grade School Spring Concert

Rhys's 1st grade class.


Cambry's 3rd grade class. She had one of two speaking parts this year. She did EXCELLENT!!!

Baby Dedication

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17

Creed slept through baby dedication!! Thank you to our Hillcrest Baptist Church Family for Creed's first picture Bible!


We love you Creed!

Creed ~ 5 months old

Saturday afternoon, Creed mastered the art of sitting up alone!!


Playing games with Cambry and Rhys!


Creed 5 months old!

Congratulations Cake

Cambry made this cake to congratulate Shelby on making cheerleader!

Cheerleader Shelby

After 4 days of intense cheer practices & 2 long days of try-outs ~ Shelby has officially made 2010/2011 Elkhart Middle School Cheerleader!!!! WOW!!! We are so very proud of you Shelby & we love you so very much! You did an awesome job & your hard work paid off, honey!! Now, relax & enjoy your success!!!

A note on "mommy feelings" ~
As we enter all this new season of life with Shelby, it's such a new world for us. This mommy is not sure how much of this she can take!! I'm not sure who lost more sleep, me or her! And I KNOW I lost at least a pound or two! Now that it's over, I have to sit back & reflect on what a learning experience this has been. Learning to have healthy competition, learning to win & lose, learning to work together with others, learning to support others, learning to listen, learning to change, learning to be role model for little sister, and many other life lessons. She is growing up sooooo quickly! :( I don't want to miss even one single second! Most of all, she is learning to lean on God through prayer & thanksgiving! Trusting God to "know the plans He has for her" & seeking to follow those plans!!! AMAZING to see our God at work right before our very eyes! I may have lost sleep & lost pounds, but I have gained some amazing parenting moments!! Watching your child work VERY hard & succeed ~ priceless! Shelby, I am honored, priviledged, & proud to be your mom!! Thank you for being, well, wonderful YOU!!!

No Hair?

Saturday morning Creed woke up with NO hair on the top of his head!? Yes, he looks pretty funny!

I LOVE Facebook!

ICE!

Big Brother's Toys

Oh my! I found my Big Brother Rhys's toys! I think I want to turn this truck over...



I DID IT!!



Now it's time to play!

Cambry's Basketball Team

This was Cambry's first year to play Rec basketball. She had a wonderful time and learned so much!! Thanks Coach Kristi and Coach Shan!!

Creed's Better!!!

Creed loves his stroller so much that we use it inside the house!! Yes ~ we are desperate for anything that works for this baby!!! :)


We just had to try on his new swim suit! It's a little big but at the rate he's growing, it will fit great in July! (He weighs 15lbs 6oz!!)


I only caught the beginning of his conversation with Shelby!! He loves talking to his big sisters & big brother!! We'll try to catch one later that's a little longer. He really enjoys his new hi-chair ~ Thank you Daddy!!!

Gettin' Ready for Summer Vacation

Yes, it's only February but the kids are already looking forward to our family vacation to Florida over July 4th. This is the first BIG family vacation we have ever taken. Of course, Grady will be in the middle of hay & will more than likely have to fly out, so my parents are going along with us! We are all very excited!! When we first started planning this trip, the girls decided we needed to have a countdown. Here is our poster that we mark off each day & see how many are left. Shelby & Cambry, you did an awesome job!!

Only 128 days left!!!

WE ARE HOME!!!

Creed was released from the hospital Friday around noon!!!! He is recovering well, just LOTS of medicine. We have a new feeding schedule & it's taking him awhile to get adjusted. He gets 2 to 3 oz., every 1 to 2 hours. Lots of bottles!!!! This method keeps the formula in his tummy with no spitting up, therefore no chance of aspiration into the lungs, which is what landed us in the hospital with severe breathing problems. He just never seems totally satisfied & this schedule leaves very little time for much needed sleep! We will see our dr. on Thursday for a check-up. We want to say a HUGE "thank you" to everyone for your prayers, food, time, & phone calls during this super rough week!!! We ask that you continue to lift our little guy up in prayer!

Prayers Please!

Please keep Creed in your prayers during these tough times.

FINALLY ~ Sleep

The past 10 weeks have been some of the hardest parenting weeks we have yet to experience! I dare not say THE hardest ~ I'm certain those are to come!! :) We followed my mother instinct today & found a new dr. to care for Creed. He seems to be having some health issues & this new dr. finally listened to us!!! YEAH!!!! Had blood drawn(TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE) & 2 x-rays. Praise God, we have no intestinal problems!! The blood work does show that his little body is fighting very hard against an infection. It's holding it's own for now. We will check blood again in a week unless his body shows signs of distress before then. Please pray for healing!! The feeding, digestion, crying, projectile vomiting, & spitting-up issues are another ball game. We left there with a trial & error plan for the next 7 days. Part of this plan means taking him off breastmilk. Now, any mother who has breastfed her babies will know what I'm talking about when I say I can't stop crying!!! If you don't know what I mean, just ignore that ~ you probably think I'm crazy!! We are looking at possible milk allergy & acid reflux. He has sooooo many symptoms & we need to address each one individually to make him more comfortable. So, the title above & the photo below will mean ALOT to any parent who has been through this ~ FINALLY, SLEEP!!! Now, if mommy can just stop the tears! We can't walk away from the bed because this is way to sweet ~ SLEEP!!! :) So, we ask that you pray for us (all 6 of the sleep deprived & confused members of this family) the next 7 days. We feel confident that this dr. will help us & Creed will be the happy baby we only see on occasion!!! WE LOVE YOU BABY CREED & promise to find answers soon!!!

ps ~ Our "little" guy weighs 14 pounds!!!

Shelby's Conservation Awards

Last night at the Morton County Conservation District Annual Meeting & Awards Ceremony, Shelby won 2nd place in the limerick contest & honorable mention in the essay contest!! We are VERY proud of you Shelby!!! Keep up the fantastic work!

Big Boy Creed

Creed is 7 weeks old! He is smiling & cooing lots! This was right before his bath ~ his favorite time of the day!

Still long!

He now weighs 12lbs 13.6oz!

The Swing ~ Creed's favorite place to sleep

Already a Red Raider Fan, thanks to big sis Shelby!!!