Miller wants to be a thumbsucker like his Aunt Emys. Really bad. He tries and tries to get that thumb into his cute little mouth. It continues to be a struggle. But one he is determined to overcome. Sometimes I watch him trying in his sleep on the monitor. He's such a cutie.
Today when I was getting Noah ready for school he hopped up in his rocking chair with all his stuffed animals and smiled real big at me and said, "Mommy! Take a picture of me and my happy friends!" Noah has never asked to take a picture. So of course I complied. He was so excited about it. It reminded me of a quote that struck me from a book I read. It was something along the lines of .."taking a picture of me meant that my parents were so delighted with me and what I was doing that they made the time and effort to record it so they could remember it forever." Noah is delightful and I hope I will use the thousands of pictures I have taken the past three years to remember his infectious joy!
I hope that coloring and gluing things with me is one of Noah's favorite memories, they are some of mine.
and then last year it was things that go.
I had things much more planned out at this point. Including the perfect presents. I'm not sure what we will get Noah. He loves to play with his cars (he doesn't need more of those) and do crafts with me. But I really have no idea as to what he would get excited about. Suggestions on toys for three year old boys??? He has grown very imaginative so I thought about some playsets. He loves the zoo so I thought a membership, but I'm not sure he would understand. And I have successfully distracted myself from the pain for twenty minutes. Thanks for indulging me. Any suggestions on birthdays would be apprciated. I have to go now, Noah just ran by with his potty seat headed for my bedroom. 
Bennett Farms is in Heflin in East Alabama just a few miles from my Granny's house. I thought it would be a good place to try out since it was much closer to Georgia than some of the other farms we had been to (so Jenny and Jason could come too). I visited their website and just fell in love with place. The owner was inspired by his grandfather and longs to create a loving Christian experience for all his visitors. It just got to my heart. Last Saturday we met up with Mimi, Papa, Emy, Xander, Jenn, Jason, Lillie and Michael. 
Mom had made the little ones matching spider shirts. They were all too cute. Bennett Farms was much smaller than some of the other places we have been in the past but it was very well done. Lots of cute details and room to grow in the coming years.
The staff was super friendly and the owner made an effort to speak to everyone. We told him how we found the patch and why we decided to come. He checked in with us a few times and even gave Xander a little pumpkin. We were able to lay out a quilt as headquarters while we did the petting zoo, hay maze, and hayride. They had a concession stand with corndogs, hot dogs, hamburgers, and homemade pork skins and teacakes that they made in a little kitchen where you could watch and get samples. The whole experience was charming. After several hours of enjoying eachother's company we decided to check on Granny's house. 
It is my parents plan to fix up the property as a little country retreat where kids can be kids and run and run til they can't run anymore. They walked us through the plans for fixing and expanding the house. It is going to be great. I think Granny would be very happy. I look forward to feeling her smiling in heaven as she watches her great grandchildren enjoy the land much like we did. I can't wait to sit on the porch with my cousin Michael and watching our kids and my nieces and nephews enjoying the country! For dinner we drove into Anniston for dinner at one of Adam's favorite pizza places. (He interned at The Anniston Star). We listened to the game and semi saw the fourth quarter at the pizza place. Isn't it crazy to be an Auburn Tiger this season? We drove back to Tuscaloosa and fell into our beds happy but tired after a family and fun filled day. What a blessing a day in the country can be. I am so thankful to be surrounded by God's bounty and love!
In my very last post I talked about how I felt that God had reinforced His message of character building and perseverance through the nursing struggles I have been facing. I went to bed Sunday night full of hope and resolve to die to self and endure the pain a little longer because surely relief would be around the corner. Wouldn't you know that at 3am I woke up in horrible pain. By nine am I had chills. Nursing was near unbearable. And by 11 I had a fever and full blown mastitis again. Again. Again. I read and talked to nurses. The said some women just get it again and again. I don't want to be one of those women. Besides the compounding excruciating pain of mastits combined with thrush I was supposed to go to the zoo with Mimi, Emy Xander and the boys Tuesday. My parents of course came to my aid and too Noah Monday night for 24 hours so I could be in bed and only worry about Miller. By Monday night my milk supply had cut in half. Romans may teach about perseverance but Ecclesiastes says there is there is a time for everything. After Miller's two month checkup and he came in the 25th percentile in weight I felt like I was working real hard to push through the pain and keep things going and it wasn't helping him at all. I thought about how I had only two months left before going back to work. I decided I don't want to spend them battling more bouts of mastits and more thrush from more antibiotics. I want to spend them cuddling and enjoying both my boys. I decided to stop nursing Miller. I don't feel like a failure like I did with Noah. I feel like I did a good job making it nine weeks. I got in lots of bonding time. I enough frozen breastmilk to do 1/2 and 1/2 for several more weeks. So he will still receive some more good antibodies. I worried about how he would take it. I shouldn't have. He refused me. He likes his bottles. I am a little sad, especially tonight at bedtime. But just as I felt encouraged by the message to persevere, I feel like this is the right choice for Miller, for me, and even for Noah and the next few months we have together. I feel grateful and blessed to have made it this long, I have really enjoyed the special time with Miller.
He will be two months already on Sunday. Time is really flying by. I don't have the time to go into a lengthy post and clear my heart and head of all I am thinking and feeling. Suffice to say that today I feel peace in some things, ovewhelm in others, tired, and blessed all at once. Can anyone sympathize?
