Christmas with our family

My grandma, affectionately known as Gaga, unbenonst to us, never had a stocking to open on Christmas morning. Dad and Lori made sure she would have one this year. On another note, if you take the first couple letters of Gabriella Grace, it's real close to Gaga ~ if she is as spunky as Gaga, our entire family will have our hands full ~ in a good way:)

The little elves passing out all the Christmas gifts.

We were all so blessed on Christmas at Papaw and Grandma's. We all have each other, our health and a family that continues to grow. Tiana, the beautiful young lady with the pink box will be my new sister in law next year ~ she said yes when Clint proposed and the entire family is thrilled! Welcome to the family Tiana and Landon!

Uncle Denny is teaching Nicholas how to play his new guitar he received from Santa Christmas morning. Nicholas, you will be able to play it just as pretty as Uncle Denny is after you get started on your guitar lessons.

Christmas morning at home

For the first time in 21 years we celebrated Christmas morning in our home. Normally we celebrate here on Christmas Eve morning however, for a variety of reasons it was different this year. We had a warm cozy fire in the fireplace, Christmas music playing on the stereo, biscuits and gravy for breakfast and most of all a wonderful time enjoying our family.

Merry Christmas and good morning even though I'm not quite awake yet.

Is this really what I think it is? Are you serious?

Ohhhh my gosh! It's a cell phone! My very own cell phone!

I thought I had to wait until I was 12 years old for this!

I can't believe this is really happening!

It's mine! I have a cell phone! Thank you soooooo much mom and dad! Now I can reach out and touch everyone...and he has!

Ok, so we told mom and dad we thought he was totally spoiled getting a cell phone a year earlier than what our family rule is, but he is pretty excited and sort of cute while he is opening it.

Hey, is this what I think it is?

YES! Santa brought me the video recorder that I really wanted!!

Alright!! A George For*man grill! I said I needed to learn how to cook and thought this would be cool ~ guess it's time to start cooking:)

Our little elf

I know that every child out there loves Christmas but I have to tell you that Jordan, our 15 year old elf loves Christmas almost more than anyone I know. He enjoys shopping for presents, wrapping the gifts, going to the Christmas Eve service and then...his night begins. Though Nicholas, his younger brother, now understands about Santa, Jordan still feels Nicholas needs to go to bed early and makes sure of this each year. After Nicholas is tucked into bed Jordan brings the Santa gifts out and puts them around the tree. He will beg to put the stockings out too but mom won't budge on that one, I still like the stockings to be a surprise.

Later, while everyone is snug in our beds and sleeping soundly, around 3:00 am, Jordan will wake up and go downstairs. At this time, he will arrange all the gifts for each family member into their own piles and place them around the family room ~ we all know where our seats are each Christmas morning and we don't have to spend time passing out gifts, our little elf has already taken care of this for us. Once everyone has come down, it's time for the fun to begin!

What Christmas is all about

The neonatal intensive care unit had the privilege of being able to adopt a family for Christmas. Today, Tanya and her hubby, along with our family loaded up the gifts that everyone in our unit was so kind to donate. A few days prior, Daniel and Jordan went out and did some shopping of their own for the children of the family we adopted. Their hearts were so into the true meaning of Christmas this year and little did I know, but it was the beginning of one of the most memorable Christmas' we have ever had.

This is the family we had the honor of adopting this year (posted with permission from mom), please notice the candy canes their precious little girl is holding. They were an amazing family and it was truly a privilege to meet them. The excitement that was on all of their faces and the heart-felt gratitude they had is something that will hold a place in our families hearts forever. If you really want to experience the true meaning of Christmas, please adopt a family next year.

The little girl used the candy canes to decorate the tree. She then took a couple of candy canes out, first offering candy canes to our boys and then giving one to her little brother and one for herself.

This little guy was just adorable and enjoyed every bite of his candy cane. Thank you to EVERYONE in the NICU who participated in a Christmas miracle for this family. We would also like to thank this family as they allowed us to experience what the true meaning of Christmas is all about.

Beth and Tony have Emme

While we were all sleeping last night, our friends, Tony and Beth, were handed their precious little girl, Emme, in China. Their family of four just became a family of five. Click here to go to their blog and then click on travel journals on the left hand side to see pictures and read all about their trip. Please feel free to say a prayer for them while Emme is adjusting to her new life and family, who love her very much and have waited a long time for this moment:)

Dad's Christmas Party

We had a wonderful evening out attending dad's company Christmas party. It was so nice being able to visit with people that I've known since I was a little girl. It was pretty ironic as we were seated at a family table and there was just one other couple seated at the table that weren't family. This couple had friends, who are flying out with our friends, on December 18th, on the same flight, with the same adoption agency and will both be receiving their daughters, in China, on the same day. Considering there were close to 100 people at the party, we were a little surprised when this came up as conversation at our table. We had a wonderful dinner and a great time visiting with friends and family, dancing and enjoying the evening ~ thanks for a great night dad!

Nicholas turns eleven!

We are amazed at what a wonderful and caring young man Nicholas has turned into. Though he is 100% boy, loves playing basketball, football and golf, not to mention keeps up with his older brothers without missing a beat, he is truly one of the most caring and compassionate young men you could meet. We can't believe 11 years have passed so quickly and we cherish every moment we have with him:)

Eleven years ago, on a rainy Sunday afternoon at 1:10 pm Nicholas Blaine was born. Nicholas took his time deciding to come out and meet us, but when he arrived he was perfect! Ten fingers, ten toes and sweet as could be!

Where has the time gone ~ he was so little and couldn't have been any more perfect.

Pa-paw and Grandma surprised us and had been waiting in the waiting room ~ they were

just a little excited to come and meet their newest grandson.

Daniel and Jordan arrived later that afternoon to check out their little brother ~ they gave him

their kiss of approval and then went out to eat with Grandma and Pa-paw.

We are getting ready to go home ~ what an amazing early Christmas gift!

Daniel and Jordan were excited to have Nicholas home, however they wanted to make sure
that he wasn't the only thing that would be under the tree for them on Christmas morning:)



We went to Ft Meyers when Nicholas was 5 months old and had just gotten over the chicken pox that his brothers had so kindly shared with him. After being at home, in the house for 6 weeks with three boys, palm trees and sunny sky's were just what the doctor ordered.

Swimming with daddy for the very first time at Gulf Harbour.


Cuddle time with mom was one of his favorite things...

Can you tell where my blue eyes came from?

A Surprise 18th Birthday Party for Daniel

We had a surprise 18th birthday party for Daniel with over 20 family members who came to celebrate. Daniel, who is normally pretty talkative, was momentarily speechless when he walked into the Italian restaurant and saw everyone there. The inside pictures didn't come out to well but we had a great time! One very special treat was that Jeremy, who had just had major surgery the week before, was able to come and be part of our celebration ~ this truly made the night perfect and we were very thankful:) The food was delicious, the fellowship was fabulous, and the look on Daniel's face when he realized it was a surprise party for him...priceless!

The boys were excited to go on a carriage ride ~ I think they were more excited to get under the blankets in the carriage as it was a COLD evening to be outside.

We had a nice time talking with Daniel and Alyssa during our carriage ride. There is a cherub that "watches over" downtown Indy during the holiday season and we attempted to find him during our ride, we didn't find him during the ride but dad called us to disclose his secret location later that evening.

Uncle Tony and Aunt Cheryl rode in the carriage with Jordan and Nicholas. Jordan was thrilled as he knew Tony would talk basketball with him while they were on their carriage ride.

Curtis and I had a great night with all our family celebrating Daniel's 18th birthday. It brought back memories of when we lived in Ft Wayne and we went on a carriage ride one evening then decided Con*y Island sounded good afterwards. Not the most romantic date night... but if you live in Ft Wayne...let's just say you understand:)

We all had a wonderful carriage ride around downtown Indy and the circle of lights, it was a night we will always remember.

Uncle Tony always has a smile on his face and the boys enjoyed being with he and Aunt Cheryl.

Daniel turns 18

Eighteen years ago today we had the most adorable baby boy.
He weighed 6lbs, 1 ounce and was 19 inches long. He had strawberry blond hair and beautiful blue eyes. His eye are still blue and his hair stayed blond. On our first night home from the hospital we stayed awake calling all of our friends and family because we were scared to go to sleep, we wanted to stay awake to watch over him and protect him. Yes, we finally did go to sleep but 18 years later the desire to watch him and protect him is still present. However, he has grown into an incredible young man, one we couldn't be more proud of and with great anticipation we are excited to see what God has in store for him in the next chapter of his life.

Thankful

When I think of the things I'm thankful for the list is very long. I'm thankful for three of the most incredible boys a mom could ask for and that they are healthy and happy. I'm thankful for a wonderful husband who supports me in everything ~ changing jobs this year, completing a masters degree in nursing, running our family and adopting a little girl from China all at the same time. I'm also thankful for great friends who I love dearly and an extended family. However, one thing I'm extremely thankful for is for the special time I've been able to spend with my sister, Tammi, over the last year. Have I mentioned how fun it can be to have a psychologist as a sister? We have truly had a great year spending time together and doing a lot of things sisters enjoy doing and for that I'm very thankful:)

The Night Before Thanksgiving...

Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse ~ MOUSE, yes, when I went out to the garage to get something out of the garage refrigerator I saw a MOUSE!! Nicholas was going over our menu and checking things off when he heard me scream and realized he was stuck at home, with mom, and a mouse ~ not a good combination! Two pound babies in the NICU don't scare me, but a 2 inch mouse ~ that's a whole different story!

He and I put our heads together and decided that Rebel, our younger of the two cats, would be our best defense in taking care of our mouse situation. However, Rebel had just finished eating so his desire to go hunting in the garage didn't pan out so well and he was rather bored with the whole situation.

We finally opted to go back to cooking our Thanksgiving feast and tried to ignore the mouse situation that was transpiring out in the garage. Nicholas had requested a chocolate cake as part of our Thanksgiving meal. I can't say that's a norm in our menu, but, as he doesn't care for apple, pumpkin or pecan pie I can see how chocolate cake would be appealing. He was very proud of the cake he made and was getting ready to bake and as this was round two with the cake, as round one ended up on the floor with all the mouse excitement, he was quite relieved when it finally made it into the oven ~ his cake received rave reviews on Thanksgiving:)

Rocks vs. Panthers ~ 1st game of the season

The Rocks had their first game tonight and played the Panthers. Though the Panthers gave them a run for their money, the Rocks came out winning the game 27-23. All of the boys played a great game and we are so proud of them. Jordan had an incredible play where he jumped up, blocked the ball at mid-court, stole the ball and passed it to a team mate for an alley-oop ~ even the Panthers fans were applauding the play.
Great job Rocks ~ we can't wait for the next game on Monday:)

Our Mr. Basketball

We are very excited to announce that the freshman high school basketball tryouts were last week and not only did Jordan make the freshman team, he was selected as one of two captins for his team! We are very proud of you Jordan!

Our future nurses of tomorrow

I have had the privalge of spending the last ten weeks with some of the most caring, compassionate, intelligent, fun loving, professional and dedicated people to the nursing profession that I have ever met. Their hard work when I asked for more patho and details on care plans ~ their deligence in researching every medication and knowing where it was metabolized, excreted and all the side effects that went along with it and answering the big question of was it WNL ~ their dedication to continue when they were met with great challenges and realizing that on some days, we as nurses, can be the ones who are truly blessed by learning some of lifes most important lesson from our patients, has made this group of students a group I will always cherish, remember and feel very blessed that they were my very first group of student nurses.

Our Boys...

For all you out there with children who can't drive quite yet....this is to show you what happens when they can drive and have their own spending money. Curtis and I came home to an 8' Santa Claus going up and down, headfirst into the chimney. The boys have plans to turn our house into a Christmas wonderland ~ I'll take pictures and keep you posted on how it goes:)

A very special teacher

Nicholas' fifth grade teacher, who we will call Ms. "S" was very sweet and "just happened" to be at Nicholas 8:00 AM basketball game this weekend. Nicholas absolutley loves her and we can see why! After she came to the game Nicholas scored 6 points and had two steals! Thank you Ms "S" ~ you made his day:)