I Love God Moments

Yesterday was NICU Nurses Day! I didn't know such a day existed until our Footprints Ministry coordinator, Kim, sent a reminder email. Since I'm not too far from the hospital I volunteered to be the delivery girl and take a special surprise to the NICU nurses that mean so much to us. This trip ended up being a God moment. I sent an email to Kim & Nicole from Footprints explaining the story, so I'll just copy and paste it here for you to read..

I just dropped off the cake at STV. It was quite funny. The nurses had no idea that today was NICU Nurses Day! They asked if we made it up! J They were very excited about the cake.

However, there’s more to this story than just giving a cake to the nurses. When I arrived at Publix to pick up the cookie cake I’d ordered yesterday I was told that they didn’t have it ready because their truck ran late this morning. I found myself getting frustrated because I was pressed for time, but quickly reminded myself what this cake was all about and to calm down. The lady quickly made the cutest little cake and I was very pleased!

As I was leaving the Customer Service Desk, one of the employees insisted that he help me to my car. I tried to tell him that I didn’t need any help, but he wouldn’t take no for answer. As he was walking me to the car he asked who the cake was for and I explained Footprints Ministry. He stopped, looked at me and asked what hospital it was for. I responded with “St. Vincents”. He said, “My daughter is in the NICU at Children’s.” So of course, I wanted to hear his story. It turns out his daughter, Emma Marie, was born at 33 weeks at Brookwood. She was transferred to Children’s after developing BPD. She has a trach and is on a ventilator. She’s now 6 months old. His wife has mild cerebal palsey and is battling post-partum depression. He said that their marriage is falling apart at the seams and the bills are piling up every day. It took all I had not to start crying for his family. I told him that we weren’t in Children’s, but that I would see what we could do. I mentioned the idea of giving him a gift card to a local restaurant and you would have thought that I’d offered him $1,000! He said that he’d love nothing more than to be able to take his wife out on a date again, but at this point he just can’t afford it. I don’t know what we can do, if anything, but I wanted to share this amazing story. He is a Christian and asked that we pray for Emma Marie and their family.

There’s no such thing as a coincidence. God meant for me to have to wait on that cake and He encouraged this sweet Daddy to help me to my car.

After sending the email Kim immediately replied and gave me the go ahead to purchase a gift card for a local restaurant for the family. I was able to do buy the card and get it to Emma's Dad before he went home for the day. It wasn't much, but he was so grateful and it warmed my heart to know that we were all following God's call. He amazes me everyday. I would ask that you be in prayer for this family and especially baby Emma Marie.

Here's a picture of the cake!

Things We NEVER do at Home

We've woken up every morning and eaten a huge breakfast.

After breakfast we've watched dolphins play from our balcony.

Then we get all greased up with sunscreen and head to the sandy shores.

Spend the morning hours splashing in the water, strolling (or running in J.K.'s case) down the beach and building sandcastles.

Then it's time for a picnic on the beach complete with sandwich, chips and/or goldfish crackers and a cookie (you must have cookies and goldfish on the beach).

Play a bit more.

Then head back to the room for an afternoon nap.

Wake up.

Head to the pool.

Splash in the pool for an hour or so.

Head back to the room.

Get ready to go out for dinner or just be lazy and eat in.

This has been our life the last few days. It's been a rainy one today, but that is just fine. We've watched football, taken a nap and even swam in the rain.

It's been a perfect vacation. :)

We're on Vacation and Life is Good

We drove south on Tuesday evening and spent the evening on the Avery Farm with MawMaw and the rest of the family. We spent Wednesday playing with the cows, chickens, geese and horses. However, I forgot to get pictures of J.K. playing with the farm animals. I'm such a slacker! :)


However, I did manage to snap a quick shot of J.K. petting a puppy.

After a nice morning in the country we packed up the car again and drove an hour further South and ended here..


Ahhh....yes, the beach. My most favorite destination in the world. The weather is great. The food is delicious as always and the view is splendid!


As soon as we made it to the beach J.K. and his Daddy started working on their sand castle buiding skills.


It's a rough life.

Baby Steps & Family Fun

Life in the Avery house has been..ummm..hectic lately, but who's house isn't a bit crazy from time to time? Between my travels, hubby's crazy schedules and a non-stop 22 month old there hasn't been much time for our little blog. So I guess it's time to play catch up.

J.K. is a sponge. It amazes me at how much he's learning everyday. I love seeing the world through his eyes. Everything is new to him. We drove past the mall the other day and you would have thought he'd just seen Time Square for the first time! He gets so excited at anything that's even slightly larger than life and it makes me smile!

This past weekend we had a great time as a little fam. We started bright and early Saturday morning with the 1st Annual Baby Steps 5K Memorial Run/Walk. The race was in memory of babies we've lost too soon, with proceeds going to our favorite grief counseling service, The Amelia Center. We had a team of 10 great friends and family who all ran and walked in memory of Olivia. The 5K was a huge success with more than 350 participants, which is great considering this was the first year. We ended the race on a high note when Cici's name was announced as the 2nd place winner in her age group! Go Mom!

While at the 5K I was given the opportunity to meet several other families who have experienced the loss of a child. Many of them are in the very early stages of their journey. Although it isn't a job I asked for, it gives me so much peace to have the strength to talk to these Moms and let them know that they will be okay. I sometimes forget that there are so many families dealing with loss everyday. Saturday helped me to remember that I'm not alone and that I should always pray for these Moms and Dads, even those I've never met.

Sunday was spent at church and celebrating my Meme's 76th birthday. My grandmother is one of the most beautiful women I know, inside and out. I hope to soon write a post just about her and explain just how great she is!

Without further ado, here are a few pictures from the Baby Steps 5K:


The babies getting ready for the big race!


Our little fam before the race.


J.K. and Daddy playing in the park.


Cici and J.K. celebrate her BIG WIN! She placed 2nd in her age group! GO CICI!


J.K. getting his leg painted because he wouldn't let the lady near his face!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

After saying our meal time prayers J.K. and I had the following conversation:

Me: J.K. where does God live?

J.K.: With Livvy (Olivia).


I'm speechless. This just happened and I didn't want to forget it.

Not Me Monday

It's been months since I've participated in MckMama's Not Me Monday and I'm most certainly not participating because I couldn't think of a post on my own.

I definitely haven't not taken a picture of my child in what seems like forever and therefore have zero new pictures of the little tyke.

I have not been feeling guilty for being away from home for the past two weekends. I wish I could say that I didn't make a whirlwind trip to Louisville, KY Friday-Saturday, but yeah I did that. However, I most certainly did not fall asleep at 7 p.m. when I arrived home on Saturday and left the hubby to care for J.K. because I was exhausted.

I didn't forget to tell hubby to attend the parent/teacher conference day at school on Saturday while I was away, and then say, "My hubby never remembers anything!" while chatting w/the teacher this morning. Me?? Never!


Need some good, free therapy? Tell us what you didn't do this week by visiting MckMama and joining in the fun!

You Know You're a Toddler Parent if..

I was thinking that I didn't have much to post about. Between work and mommyhood life has been hectic. Then I thought about all of the things that seem so small, but mean so much to me as J.K.'s Mommy. I think that all of the Moms out there can relate to these sweet moments that just make me smile. I often find myself overlooking the little things, then remind myself of how quickly time passes and do all I can to relish the moment.

So, you know you're a toddler parent if...

You spend 20 minutes looking for shoes because he was playing with them the night before. I found one under the couch and one in the bathroom.

You have to force yourself not to laugh when your child throws his carrots on the floor for the dogs to eat, thinking you're not watching. The sad thing? The dogs wouldn't even eat the carrots.

Only you can have a complete conversation with your child, while the rest of the world has no clue what he just said.

You know who Mouse, Manny and Monkey (or other character nicknames) are.

You either hate or love Yo Gabba Gabba. Personally, I think it's awesome, but the hubby thinks they're on crack.

You think that their scribbled artwork are masterpieces that should cover the refrigerator.

You no longer have the gag reflex that you once had. Puke just doesn't seem to bother you these days.

Even though you're not in the bath tub, you're usually soaked after bath time.

You are Supermom, even though you don't always feel like it!

Your heart melts when your sweet toddler gives you a kiss, wants a hug or just wants to cuddle.

You love nothing more than watching that sweet baby sleep peacefully.

You thank God everyday for this amazing gift and you never knew your heart could love someone so much.