Surprise!!!

Stephen, the boys and I returned today from a really fun trip to Gatlinburg. This past Monday was our 13th wedding anniversary. Where does the time go? It seems like we were newlyweds not all that long ago and now here we are three kids and a lot of years later. If getting away for a few days wasn't enough of an anniversary present, you will not believe what surprise I came home to today. Check out the pictures below. Our master bedroom and study were transformed from a very plain room with some pretty furniture to this.....

custom bedding, notice the monogramming and the beautiful fabric

custom drapes that are absolutely beautiful!!



a view into the study

more drapes

monogrammed drapes in the study


There are so many small, personal details that make the room special. A few of my favorites...

a corkboard with personalized pictures

our wedding photos and check out the magazine rack mounted on the wall by the bed

There are a couple of faux finishes (Connie's specialty!) in the room. This is one of my favorites and in the center is one of my favorite pictures of the boys.

I love this grouping of pictures of the boys and of the barn at my parent's house.

This is probably one of my favorite things of all. This is in the study. These are a few of my favorite pictures of the boys in black and white .

There is so much more that I could post. I love every inch of it! Thank you so much Connie for all of your hard work. I love everything!!! I could not ask for a more wonderful space or a more wonderful friend. Thank you mother for all of your hard work this week and Melinda too! Your pictures helped to make the room so special (not to mention your painting). Did I mention my mother cleaned out every single closet in the house? That was no small task seeing as how I am lacking in organization. And Stephen - what can I say? I always knew you were incredibly sweet but this just tops everything. And you kept it a secret! I love you more than you know. You are an amazing husband and daddy. Happy 13th Anniversary! Thank you for making all of this happen.

Birthdays and Snow

It has been a busy few days around here. Friday was Harrison's 10th birthday. I can't believe that my first baby is now 10. Something about moving into the double digit numbers kind of makes me sad. It just makes me realize how fast the time goes by. I would love to just stop time for a little bit and keep all of the kids right where they are. Maybe that is me being selfish. They certainly can't wait to get bigger and bigger.

And today...snow in Alabama on March 1st. It was really fun while it lasted. That's how snow is here. It lasts for only a couple of hours and then it is gone. It made a morning of fun for the boys though. I have to say, I don't think I would like to live somewhere where it snows a lot. I spent the entire morning cleaning up all of the snow, melted snow and wet clothes from the ten thousand trips outside. They couldn't seem to stay outside or keep on one pair of clothes or keep from tracking snow all over the house. But it was lots of fun. If only it could have happened tomorrow so that we could all have a snow day!

Harrison's Snowman

Sunny checking out the snow

Nathan

Andrew

Harrison

Nathan & His Best Friend!

Some of you may remember Sunny from this post. Check out how big he his now. The boys and I just love Sunny, not so sure about Stephen. I think Stephen is coming around though.

MOMMY PLEASE.....

Well, I just might win the worst mom award tonight. I had been out to get my hair cut and went to dinner with a friend and didn't get home until about 8:45. It seems that Nathan went to bed without taking his evening medicine. You might think, well that's okay, take it in the morning. But, no, it does not work that way around here with Nathan. We never miss his meds because they are so important for the health of his transplanted liver. His most important medicine is his Rapamune (anti-rejection) which he takes in the morning. He has never missed a dose of it. Two times a day he also takes an anti-viral drug to fight this little virus (EBV) that he has. Tonight he went to sleep without the anti-viral. It probably would not be the end of the world if he didn't take it till morning, but it was only 8:45, and he had only been asleep for 30 minutes. So let's just say I was determined that he was going to take the medicine. Nathan had other plans though. He is a very heavy sleeper, and he absolutely refused to wake up. He moaned and he groaned and cried MOMMY....many, many times. Then he got really upset and just cried and cried and cried. I would stand him up, he would lay down on the floor and cry. He would get back in bed and cry some more. All the while I keep after him to just PLEASE swallow this one syringe of medicine. At this point it might have been more productive to just let him sleep. We literally fought over it for about 30 minutes. Nathan is the most strong willed person I have ever met (those of you who know him I'm sure will agree)! All the while, I don't think he was ever truly awake. Then it really hit me. I just had this wave of sadness come over me. All I could think was, how sad that he has to take medicine each day that is so important for his very survival. How sad that I can't just let him sleep when all he wants to do is sleep. Trust me, I am not feeling sorry for myself or him. Quite the contrary. I am abuntantly thankful that he has medication that he can take every day that helps his body to accept his liver and fight infections. It's just that as much as I like to think that everything is back to normal around here, it never really is. Every now and then I am reminded anew that this is a life long journey for Nathan. I sometimes just wish that he could have one day of his life without medicine. But that just is not in the plan. And that's okay. I am long past the point of questioning all of this. I feel better just getting it off my chest though. By the way, he finally took the medicine and drifted right back to sleep. I feel certain he won't even remember it in the morning. Now if I could just forget....