Crawling

EMH started crawling last week. So at 9 1/2 months he decided that he wanted to be on the move. He can get anywhere he wants too and is pulling up on things as well. Last Tuesday is when he started. I was cooking supper and I had sat him in our bedroom to play with some of his toys on the floor and I realized that I had not heard him in the last few minutes. I went in to find that he had made his way over to where we have the monitor plugged in and he had unplugged it and was chewing on the cord. :o Yikes! So needless to say we have had to do a little baby proofing. All of our blinds are pulled up, outlet covers are in place, the kitchen cabinets have the baby proof latches on them, the fireplace has a baby gate in front of it, Bonnie's dog bowl gets moved several times a day and many other things have been moved and put away. This morning I had to retrieve from his mouth a loose bead that came off of one of sister's necklaces. Thank goodness he was right under my feet and out of the corner of my eye I saw him put something in his mouth. Somehow it had found a way onto the kitchen floor. Her room is definitely off limits but it's going to be hard to prevent stuff like that. Lately he has just been following me around. I kind of feel sorry for him because by the time he gets to me, I am off to doing something else. He gets stuck under the kitchen table a lot and bumps his head. He hasn't figured that one out yet. I was too panicked to get a picture of him with the monitor but I have gotten a few more.

"Hmmm, this drawer looks interesting."

"Too heavy...can't get it open."

"If Bonnie can get through this then maybe I can????" I just realized when looking at this picture that I missed an outlet plug.

"Why are you taking a picture of me mommy? I am busy."

Portrait Pictures

We had some pictures taken a couple of months ago of EMH and I. I had taken a picture of just AEH and I when she was 11 months old and I wanted one of EMH and I. We ended up taking several more and of course I ended up getting more than I intended. The kids did so good and took some great pictures.
My mom came over today and we hung them. I think they turned out good and I am very proud of them.
These pictures aren't that great...especially with taking a picture of a picture. I really need a new camera. I just don't want to learn a new one and take the time to go get one.

AEH and I when she was 11 months old.

AEH and EMH

EMH and I

Happy Father's Day

We have had a great Father's Day weekend. We celebrated with my dad on Friday night over at our house and today we celebrated with Mr. L over at he and Ms. Judy's house.
We missed getting to see SLH's dad in Chattanooga... wish we could have topped it off with seeing him. We are both so blessed with loving and Godly fathers. What an example they have been of our heavenly Father. Of course we think we have the best fathers in the whole world. :)
The kids gave SLH a famous "Father's Day shirt" and a sweet card this morning. Audrey gave SLH a card that you can record your message on it and this is what she said..."I give my daddy a perfect diamond ring and I love you, under God." Now let me explain. We have been dealing with, and she has been talking about how she wants to marry him. When I say he is my husband and that she can't marry her daddy, she gets upset. What a compliment that is to SLH that his daughter loves him so much and thinks the world of him that she wants to marry him. The "Under God" part is her getting a little confused with the pledges that we did at VBS. :) She just kind of throws that in to some things, especially her prayers. My mom made SLH a memory book for EMH to give him and it is so cute!
SLH is such a hands on dad and he loves spending time with our children. I know God blessed us with two precious children but God also blessed them with a Godly father who loves them unconditionally and wants nothing but the best for them.
We had a great Father's Day weekend and we thank God for the Fathers in our life!
This morning after church.

My dad and AEH...or should I say "Ariel".

Mr. L and SLH

EMH giving SLH his memory book.

Memory Book

AEH giving SLH his card.

This is how SLH ended the day...doing what he loves to do.

Our Anniversary

Today was mine and SLH's 14th Wedding Anniversary. 14 years ago I married the man that I know God sent my way. If you were to ask me what the most memorable and best day of my life was, I would say my wedding day. It was everything and more that I had hoped and imagined it would be.

We were introduced by a friend of mine in hygiene school and her husband. Her husband went to Mississippi College with SLH and they set us up on a blind date. Yes, I said blind date...they do work. :) We ate at Kyoto's and then went to their apartment to watch the movie "Summersby". The thing we talk and kid about from our first date is that SLH went to sleep during the movie. Thank goodness I didn't analyze this too much. In his defense he had been working out of town all week and when he was coming back to Jackson he had a flat tire. He did have a hard day and now that I know how quickly he can fall asleep, I know it wasn't the company. He called me the next week and asked me out and I told him I had a big test to study for (I really did). At that point he thought that I wasn't interested and wasn't sure about calling me back. My friend assured him that he definitely needed to call me back. He did and we have been together from that moment on. We dated for a year and a half and 14 years ago he became my husband in my home town of, Magee, MS. Like I said, that was the best day of my life.

My husband is a Godly man who is caring, sensitive, good looking, a hard worker and 4 1/2 years ago he became a loving father to our children. Yes, we have had some hard times over the years. We suffered two miscarriages and then were faced with infertility. SLH was my rock during some times when I wasn't sure I could go on. We prayed and seeked God's Will for us regarding children and he blessed us with 2 beautiful children through adoption that we love as if they were biologically ours. My friend TRP says it best, "Not what we planned but better than we could have imagined".

I love my husband and kids and I thank God for blessing me with much more than I ever deserved. Everyday that I am given to be a part of this family is a gift and I will do my best to not take it for granted and cherish every moment.
I pray that we will be blessed with many more anniversaries to celebrate!

June 17th, 1995...stop laughing at my hair and his glasses. We thought we looked good. ;)

Now


Our Gifts To Each Other: We are planning a weekend trip out of town in the next couple of months, so we had decided not to get each other anything. Well, you know how that goes...SLH gave me a sweet card and a gift card to one of my favorite stores and I gave him a card and book.

The Innocence Of A Child

As I was taking Audrey to school this morning, this is the conversation we had in the car.

AEH - "Mom, Will you get me one of those bicycle's with a helicopter on top so I can fly up in the air"

Me - After I stopped laughing I said, " Where did you see one of those?". You know how us moms always want to know where they saw it or heard about it.

AEH - "Care Bears had one on Car -a- Lot's Birthday."

Me - "Oh, I would be so scared that you would get hurt and not come back to me."

Then she says as seriously and innocent as a 4 year old, who doesn't like seeing her mom hurt.

AEH - "I could touch the sky and I guess I could bring Belle back to you."


We sure do miss our little girl. We are taking it one day at a time. The hardest part is coming home and being at home. AEH still thinks she will be back with us. Bonnie (our 8 year old Yorkie) seems to be doing okay right now. We've just been trying to give her extra attention.

Thanks to all of you for your calls, sweet comments and for thinking about us during this time.

Our Hearts are Hurting

Our precious Belle passed away tonight. We thought she might be okay and would get to come home but this afternoon she died of complications with her heart, lungs and possibly a blood clot. Her doctors did several tests over the last two days and it turns out that she had a lot going on and that we would probably have had to make a decision tomorrow. I guess the one good thing is we didn't have to make that decision. You know, that was Belle, she never caused problems. She was so easy going and she lived to please us. She never acted like she was in pain even up until the time she passed away. She just went to sleep in her doctor's arms (he had been her doctor since we got her). When the doctor called and said she had suddenly taken a turn for the worse we rushed up to the clinic but she died before we could get there. We got to see her and pet her. We all cried, talked and even laughed about the many experiences with Belle over the last 13 years. I was wrong in my previous post. She would have been 13 years old this July.
We buried her tonight and now we just have to take it one day at a time. Of course everything we do and everything we walk by, reminds us of her. We can see her in every room of our house and tonight when we go to bed she won't be beside us. We threw away her thyroid medicine, put her bowl in the dishwasher, and put her scarf in the dirty clothes to wash. There will be many other circumstances and reminders of Belle in the next few weeks. Our hearts and arms ache to hold our Belle and the tears are flowing. She brought a lot of fun and happiness into our lives. She will be missed but we are thankful for the good times we had with her.
We love you our "sweet Belle".

Praying for Belle

Our oldest puppy Belle (12 years old next month) gave us a big scare this morning. She was having trouble breathing and she was weak and disoriented. SLH took her to our Vet and when he handed her to the technician he told her that he thought that she just died. They took her back and started giving her oxygen and checking her out. We talked to her doctor around lunch time and she said that Belle is doing much better. She had a lot of fluid on her lungs and her heart was enlarged. They are going to run some more test on her this afternoon and see if they can figure out what caused this.
We feel a little better now but we still don't know what this means for Belle. Obviously we don't want her in pain and we don't want to keep her alive if she is in pain. She almost died last year on the operating table for some liver problems so we know there is not a lot they can do for her at this point because of her age and poor health. She only weighs about 6 pounds but she is fighter and has already been through a lot.
We got Belle when she was 6 weeks old. We had been married 2 years, so she was our first little baby. We've been through a lot with her. We didn't realize at the time but she came from one of those puppy farms and doesn't have the best genetics. She has had a lot of health problems over the years and we have spent many of dollars on surgeries but we would do it all over again. She is very loving and one of the smartest dogs I have ever had, and I have had many of dogs throughout my life. My family and SLH's family are both big animal lovers. We both grew up with several pets during our childhood and knew early on after we got married that we wanted pets. They are a lot of work but the unconditional love and joy that they bring to a family is so worth it. Unfortunately we know that most likely we will out live our pets and loosing them is very hard.
We are praying for you "our little Belle"!

Getting Close

EMH is getting close. He can get one knee up but then he falls flat. He wants to go so badly. I don't think it will be much longer before our days of him staying in one spot are over.



Trying to get that "paci".


We are having a great time at VBS this week. I'll post later on that! Gotta go to swimming lessons right now. We've got a busy week!