Happy Birthday Olivia

Happy Birthday Olivia! Today is our sweet angel's 2nd birthday. I cannot believe that it has been two years since the day she was born. God has been with us every step of the way and I know that He will continue to give us strength as we move forward. There really is nothing like that peace beyond all understanding that only He can give. Today is definitely a difficult day for me and Ben, but we have faith that everything in life has its purpose. Olivia changed us forver. She helped us to become better people and she allowed us to understand what it means to cling to your faith. Are we sad today? Of course we are, but we have peace knowing that our sweet baby is perfectly okay in His hands.

We will celebrate Olivia's birthday by visiting the cemetery and releasing balloons into the Heavens above. I got the balloon idea from a fellow preemie mom, Lauren Hess, I think it's a wonderful way to honor our babies. We will then just spend time as a family and enjoy our time together with Jeffrey. I see so much of her in him everyday. If you'd like to do anything for us today we just ask that you say a prayer for strength and continued peace.

Thanks for listening,
Lurenda :)

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

We had a nice and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. Jeffrey and I drove down to the lake Friday morning and we stayed through Monday afternoon. While we were there he enjoyed his first boat ride, first popsicle and lots of time with family and friends. The weather was great all weekend long, which allowed for lots of time on the water. He loves helping his Pawpaw drive the boat and was surprisingly comfortable in the life jacket. All in all we had a wonderful weekend and got some much needed rest.


Afternoon boat cruise. Jeffrey is blowing rasberries, his new favorite talent.

Picnic on the boat. :)

I got this Pawpaw..You go chill out with Cici.

Jeffrey & his Cici.

First boat ride!!

I'm the Cap'n of this ship!

First boat ride and first popsicle all in one day!!

Sweet Addy Maddy.

Hey! It's my turn!

Just a swangin'!

Time to Babyproof..And a Bit of Sentiment.

Look out world! Jeffrey is on the move!! He is skootin' around pretty well these days. He's perfecting his skooting/crawling skills everyday. He's even trying to sit up by himself. He still falls over pretty easily, but he's trying. We've also just moved up to 3 feedings of baby food per day. He's just growing so fast! I can't believe that he's already 6 months old.

The video is of Jeffrey skooting across the floor. It was over Mother's Day weekend. Speaking of which, I had a great 1st Mother's Day! Jeffrey and Ben took me shopping and bought me two beautiful dresses. We went to church Sunday morning and I was given a beautiful bible for being the newest Mommy in the congregation!

On Sundy I gave myself the opportunity to sit back and reflect on all that has happened in our lives since Mother's Day two years ago when I was pregnant with Olivia. So much has changed and I have probably experienced every emotion in the book. However, Olivia taught me so much about life. I have learned there are three things that matter the most in this world and they are faith, family and friends. Without these three things I don't know how we would have made it to where we are now. I look at Jeffrey with complete amazement. I'm so grateful to have a healthy baby and I pray everyday that he will grow up to be a strong man who understands the importance of faith, family and friends.

Thank you to all of our family and friends who have held us up when we just couldn't stand on our own. Thank you for vacuuming my floor when cleaning my house was the last thing on my mind. Thank you for being a shoulder to cry on, more than just a few times. Thank you for being so supportive when we found out that Jeffrey was on the way. Thank you for making sure Ben didn't have to cook every night because I wasn't allowed off of the couch. Thank you for just sitting with me and talking about anything and everything when I was about to pull my hair out after being stuck in the house for so many weeks. Thank you for the love you all show for Jeffrey. This baby has no idea how blessed he truly is. But most of all thank you for loving us.

Okay,so now that I've rambled on and been all sentimental..Enjoy the video! :)

Go Olivia's Butterflies!!

What a weekend!! We had a great Saturday at the March of Dimes March for Babies! Our team, Olivia's Butterflies, raised almost $4,000 for MOD!! Thanks to everyone who made a donation! We had a great time as we walked 4.2 miles through downtown Birmingham. Thanks to all of our friends and family who walked with us. A BIG thanks goes to Julie Harbin for being our MVP! She raised more than $1,500 and then finished the walk with some really bad blisters on her feet, but never gave up!! We love you all!


Whew! That was a long walk! I'm pooped. ;)

Me, Jeffrey (he's there you just can't see him), Kim and Avery, one of Jeffrey's many girlfriends.

Our sweet friends Margie and Julie! They are AWESOME!


Sweet Baby Avery poses for the camera.

More team pictures to come.

Jeffrey's Baptism

Jeffrey was baptized on Sunday, April 20th at our church, Oakmont UMC. It was a great service with our two favorite ministers, Revs. Lynn Dimon and Alex Oberneder, baptizing our sweet boy. After the baptism we enjoyed a luncheon at Cici & Pawpaw's house with family and friends.

The family on Jeffrey's big day.


Mama Lynn loves the babies!


Mama Lynn and Alex with Jeffrey.


Our little family.