The Last Day of School

Today was the last day of class. This will sound a little bit prideful but today I am giving myself a pat on the back. I did a good job and now it is over. The hardest school year ever. Not only did the school have a hard year with violence, budget cuts, and turn over but I had a hard emotional year. It was harder than I ever imagined to leave Noah in the care of someone else. I'll never forget crying in the secretaries office his first day of daycare. Or not being able to care for him and comfort him when he had the flu, stomach virus and RSV. And missing all his checkups. All of those things mommies are supposed to do. I am thankful Adam got to do those things, necessity and sacrifice have made him the kind of dad every mom desires to have as a partner. Balancing teacher and mother was difficult for an unorganized procrastinator like myself and it has taught me so much about self discipline. And I am proud of myself because I did not just survive or skate by. I did a good job. I loved on my children this semester with a new kind of love and understanding. I tried new and cool things in the classroom that brought more success than before. I'm not saying I did a great or fantastic job but a good one. I know God is proud of the ways I tried to honor him in the place where he has me. He is joyful in the smiles and positive attitude I tried to attack each day with. I accomplished things with my time and outlook I never thought I could handle. I will enjoy every second of this summer when teacher takes a back seat to mother, wife, friend, daughter, sister. I am proud of the effort I gave and of the tenure letter I hold!!!

The Photographs

We are spending memorial day weekend with MiMi and Papa while Adam is at the lake. And of course MiMi is taking pictures!

The Park

Today MiMi and I took Noah to Homwood Park for the first time. This is a special place to me. I grew up in this park, in fact I took my first steps there. I swam there as a teenager or rather I boy watched. I watched movies there for free on Friday nights with hundreds of other Homewoodians. I went to dances there. Adam and I would walk there with Moses (my parents dog) and dream about our life together. And I always dreamed about taking my babies there. Today I did and here are the pictures to prove it. Enjoy a dream come true!

The New Teeth

Look real close to see my new teeth!

The Two New Teeth

I know that I have been overwhelming you with all of the new posts all of the sudden but we had a busy week. This post finishes all other news from the weekend and I will be done for a while! I just simply wanted to report that little man has two new teeth! We saw the first one Monday night. It explained several things about his behavior. Noah is such a happy baby. He smiled and laughed through the flu, stomach virus, RSV and asthma. He rarely cries. Mostly just if its past bedtime or time for a nap. Sunday at the dedication and after he was a fussy boy. I thought he was overwhelmed and tired. He also had "I was fussy" checked off at school a couple of days. And then bam, there was tooth number one and yesterday we got a note, "Two new teeth, WOW!" from school. And sure enough right next to the other on is tooth number two. So Noah is still a happy baby. He has been in a great mood for cutting two new teeth! As soon as they pop out a little more I will be sure to take some pictures. And now I promise to give the postings a little break.

The 28th Birthday

On Monday my amazing husband turned 28!! Happy birthday Adam. I love him so much and I am so blessed to have him as my partner through life.

I wanted to celebrate Adam on the blog. But I didn't want make a list since 28 things would be a lot! So I will do another teacherish thing and make him an acronym.
A is for Amazing! Adam is such an amazing man. His character is strong, he is humble, a servant, sweet, and patient! He is an amazing husband and father!

D is for Dependable! Adam is one of the most dependable people I know. His sense of loyalty is amazing and humbling.

A is for Adoration! Adam adores me and Noah. I don't say this to brag but out of amazement. He looks at me after a long exhausting day, make up everywhere, hair in a mess, half asleep and thinks I am beautiful. I love that about him!

M is for Man of God. Adam has an amazing heart that seeks to follow Jesus and guide our family by God's truths. I am so thankful to have such a leader.


So Happy Birthday Adam!! I love you very much!

The Baby Dedication

ded-i-cate (v) : to devote to worship of a divine being: to set apart: to commit to a way of life


On Sunday Noah was dedicated at Calvary Baptist Church. We committed to love each other with God's love as Christ loves the church thus providing Noah with an example of God's love. We committed to praying for him and bringing him up in a Christian home that was a safe haven from the world. It was a public and formal commitment of a promise already made internally. Something that made the ceremony even more special was the support of our family and friends and being able to make these promises along side Dan and Jana. After the service we had lunch at our house where we had a time of prayer for both boys and some family had prepared written blessings for Noah. It was so humbling to have all these blessings and prayers poured out on Noah and to us as we attempt to raise him to love God and others.

I wanted to thank people for all the help and love they gave to make the day special for Noah:
Nana and Puddin' - thank you for coming and sharing your wisdom and special words (and for fruit and veggies :) )

Aunt Robin and Uncle Chris- thank you for making such a special effort to come and celebrate with us, it means so much to the three of us that you would come from Texas!

MiMi and Papa- thank you for coming after a exciting week in New York, I know that was stressful, thank you for your example of love (and the contributions to lunch!)

Aunt Jenny- Thank you for coming and being my sanity and bring me self confidence! (and for the yummy dips!)

Uncle JJ and Michael- thank you for getting up early and being such a big help, I love having you two there to celebrate!

Aunt Emy- Thank you for coming to love on us and for being the go to girl when stuff needed to be done, he wouldn't have been so adorable if his outfit had stayed in Northport!

Aunt Laura and Uncle John- thank you for coming up from Montgomery to love on us and support us, you both bring me such peace and comfort! Laura you are like my security blanket! (thanks for the pitchers!)

Thomas, Dusti and Sela- Thank you for making an appearance with such a tiny baby and helping calm Noah down! I was so glad you could come and be a part of the day!

Grace, Clint, John Barrett, and Sadie- your family is such an inspiration and example of Christian love, I was so thankful that you could come and be a part of the promise we made on Noah's behalf

Dan, Jana, and Micah- thank you for the privilege of sharing such a special day with you, I loved having there next to us making the same commitment, it was a special moment I will not forget!


I must admit that the devil tried to steal this day from me. From low expectations of its specialness ( growing up Episcopal I am used to tradition rich baptisms) a panic attack over nothing to wear, pulling everything together, leaving his outfit at home and realizing it in the church parking lot, cramps that rivaled labor pains, pressure of hosting several groups of people who all wanted the baby, a tooth finally breaking through the gum (didn't know this at the time) but with the love of family and friends he did not succeed. The day was beautiful and will be a great memory and leave a legacy of blessings for my baby boy!

The Visitors

This weekend I had the pleasure of having Jana, Dan and Micah come and stay with us Friday and Saturday. They were town for a brief visit to come to graduation at Hillcrest. It was a tease as to what our life would be like if we lived in the same town. We were both very busy with things but we did get to have some down time to catch up and watch our little men interact. The Hillens are an amazing little family and seeing them this weekend just made me miss them even more! Jana is a friend that a treasure and look up to. When she walked through my door Friday it was as if they had never left Tuscaloosa. She is laid back and a great listener. Someone I can be real with. I appreciate her friendship more than I can say in words! Micah is more adorable in person than his adorable pictures. It was cool to see his personality. He is a sweet boy and loves to explore everything with his hands! Micah and Noah are just two days apart so Friday we celebrated their six month birthdays by eating cupcakes for them! And Sunday the boys were dedicated together at Calvary. He and Noah make a good team. I love Dan too! It was fun to see him in the role of father. Here are some pictures from out time together.

The Six Month Birthday

Birthdays were always a big deal at our house growing up. I think they are a day to make a person feel special, to bless them in a special way and to celebrate what they mean to you. My mom always made a big deal out of birthdays. So much so that in college my roomate Allison and I would celebrate our birthmonth. So I am continuing that tradition with Noah. A great thing about being a baby is you have so many milestones to celebrate. You have a birthday every month! I felt that six months was a big deal so I wanted to make Noah's six month birthday special. So I made him and Micah who was visiting and also turned six months cupcakes. I lit candles and sang. But don't worry we ate the cupcakes not the babies! To celebrate Noah's six months I thought I would pick six words that describe them. A totally teacherish thing to do!

1. CHALLENGE - being a parent is a challenge, Noah has had many challenges with all the sickness to overcome, being a working mom is a challenge, balancing everything is a challenge

2. JOY- Noah brings joy, I never knew such joy until I saw his little face and then his first smile

3. NEW- Noah is always doing something new, sometimes it seems like something new is always wrong, there are always new things to learn about being a mom

4. LOVE- Noah is a breathing living result of our love for each other, I just plain love him, he made me fall even more in love with Adam, with God, with my parents

5. FAITH- a requirement, deeper understanding of what faith is, a desire to teach him faith, wanting to provide an example of faith

6. DEPENDENCE- humbling to have him depend on me, me being dependent on Adam, I really couldn't do this without him, a total dependence on God for strength and patience and joy!

I also decided to commemorate Noah's six months by interviewing him. He didn't have much to say :)

The Dream

My sweet Noah,
I love to watch you grow bigger and taller and stronger each day. I love holding you close and having you fit safely in my arms. I wish I could always hold you close and shield you from the heartbreak the world has in store for you. But the truth is in order to define the good things and the blessing in your life you must have the pain to contrast it. I can not shield you from hurt or pain or sadness. I only hope to equip you with the tools you will need to combat these things with the assurance and security of your place in God's kingdom.
Noah, even when the world is dark and tragedy seems unsurmountable I want you to have faith and hold on to it strong. I want you to find strength and encouragement and stories of hope in God's word and throughout history.
I want you to have a dream. And I want it to be big. I want you to work hard to realize it. I want to support you as you work towards it. And I want to be on the front row giving you a standing ovation when you achieve it.
I want the world to look at you and see a pure loving heart. And I never want you to doubt the love I have for you. And I always want that love to point you towards the one who loves you even more!
Love Momma

The First Mother's Day

Motherhood. Sentiments about moms and motherhood bombard you from every direction, commercials cards, well wishers, strangers. Everyone tries to put their thanks and appreciation for their mother into words. I have always appreciated my mother. I love her for her wisdom and comfort, belief in me and encouragement. But I really never understood the sacrifice and true depth of her or any mother's love until this year when I became one. I stand in awe of all mothers and the love for their children and I am in awe that this feeling of love I have for Noah is how God feels about me but more so! I hope all the moms had a great mothers day!
My first mother's day began with chocolate chip waffles, eggs, and sausage in bed. When we were done with breakfast we saw we had missed the start of church by twenty minutes. So we stayed in bed a little longer and then got ready for our busy day. I had made our moms hardcover books of Noah pictures from Blurb.com and I was so excited to give them to Nana and MiMi. We ate lunch with Nana and Puddin at the Melting Pot in Birmingham. It was a fantastic meal. Melted yummy cheese, lots of meat and sauce, and to top it off melted chocolate! It was a perfect Mother's Day lunch. But the best part was giving Nana her present. I think she liked it! After the meal Adam had to go to work so Noah and I headed to MiMi's alone.

It was apparently Spa Jenny at MiMi's. MiMi loved her book and I loved relaxing with my sisters and laughing and of course the pedicure! After a sweet nap in the hammock we ate a steak dinner. It was hard to leave. All in all it was great first mother's day!I forgot... God, Adam, and Noah gave me a great gift! An answer to prayer. We found an elliptical machine at our neighbor's garage sale Saturday. Better than I had hoped for! So I received the gift of better self confidence and health!!!

The Wordless Wednesday A Day Early: Noah and Aunt Jenny

The Good News

Noah has had two doctor's appointments since I last posted. And the good news is he is not allergic to Charlie!! Charlie was oblivious his fate had been up in the air but was happy for the extra petting and love. Noah actually had no indoor allergies. So the asthma is not allergen induced. This means when the congestion clears up he probably will be done with the asthma all together. Thank you all for the prayers! God is good and faithful and that is the best news of all!