Help Us Celebrate Olivia's 3rd Birthday

Tomorrow would be our sweet Olivia's 3rd birthday and I would love for all of my friends to celebrate her life with us. It is because of our sweet daughter that I have become the woman that I am. It is because of her that I can hold the hand of another mother who has lost a child or send a card to a family with a sick baby. It is because of her that I can truly give back.

I want to celebrate Olivia by giving back, not monetarily, but through words of love and compassion. I've prayed and prayed about the best way to celebrate and I believe this is it. I want to invite you to write a post on your blog about a person who changed your life for the better. Then, if you would like, take an extra step. If that person is still with us, drop them a card in the mail to let them know just how much they mean to you.

I think this is a wonderful way to celebrate the memory of our sweet girl and the memories of so many other children who have left our arms way too soon. I want her birthday to be a day of joy and smiles. I'm sure there will be more tears, but my heart is finally at peace.

So, if you want to participate just write your post and maybe make a note that it's in honor of Olivia's 3rd Birthday. Once you've posted, please come back and link it up here (through Mr. Linky, hopefully it will cooperate) so that we can read your sweet stories. Thanks so much for helping us celebrate!

Ahhh Vacation How I Miss You So

So I'm back to The Real World. Boo Hoo!! We had way too much fun while we were away on vacation. We had a blast celebrating our 7th anniversary and my BIG 3-0 Birthday! Here are a few pictures from our trip:


My Sweet Daddy let us borrow his super sweet SSR for the ride down. It was entirely too much fun. However, Ben was so worried about it getting the slightest ding or scratch. Everywhere we went we had to park a mile away from any other vehicles in sight.


Me and Ben getting ready for a nice dinner out with Jenn and Scott.


Me and my BFF Jenn. We spent our time on the beach reminiscing about the good ol' days. You know, back when we weighed 110 and thought we were fat.


Ben and I took an amazing sunset sail to celebrate our anniversary. It's highly recommended!


My handsome hubby enjoying the view.


We were brave enough to visit the bow of the ship. It was pretty scary up there.


Captain Lu!


And finally, the gorgeous view from our balcony.

OH, and I guess I need to include some info about Mr. J.K. He spent his week being spoiled ROTTEN by his Cici and Pawpaw. He hung out at the lake and at their house. From what I hear, his new favorite thing is Pawpaw's golf cart. They couldn't keep him off of it! Here are some pics of the little guy after we returned from the beach.


J.K. and his Daddy enjoying an afternoon boat ride. The child LOVES his Diego life jacket, which is awesome considering he's always near the water.


J.K. and his best girl, Sadie.


Captain Pawpaw and First Mate J.K.


The End.

Check it out..

The blog needed a major facelift. The fun part? I made the banner myself! Go me! It was surprisingly easy.

In other news, it's T-minus 36 hours before hubby and I head to the beach for a much-needed getaway..sans J.K. That's right girls, and Daniel, I get not 1, not 2, not 3, but 6 days ALONE with my husband. I'm afraid we won't know what to do...or then again, maybe we will. I'm looking forward to a lot of R&R. I even get a bonus, my IRL BFF Jenn and her man, Scott, are meeting us Saturday night for dinner and fun. We never see each other because she's in Mobile and we're in Birmingham. All in all this is going to be a WONDERFUL trip.

I'll have my laptop and crackberry so I'm sure I'll be in touch with the world, but hopefully not too much. If you don't hear from me - have a fabulous weekend and I'll be thinking of my bloggy friends while I'm lying on the beach, sippin' margaritas.

Not Me Monday!

It's been way, way, way too long since I've last participated in MckMama's Not Me Mondays. This is a great way to confess all of the horrid things that we did not do over the last week and some awesome free therapy. So here it goes..

I did not intentionally leave my child at daycare this morning without his beloved Baboo (aka: pacifier) in hopes that his teachers could work on weaning him for me. We only have one more week in this daycare and that would just be horribly wrong of me.

No, no, no I didn't allow my child to play with the plunger in the restroom at his dentist office this morning. That's nasty! However, if I had done that I would have washed his hands with hot water and soap after his gross playtime.

I never allow my child to eat breakfast to watch Playhouse Disney while I get ready in the mornings. That would make me a neglectful mother.

I'm not counting down the days until the hubby and I leave for the beach....4 days, 12 hours, 22 minutes and 13 seconds..But who's counting?

So that's all I have for now. What did you not do this week??

The Pictures

As promised weeks ago, here are the pictures from our photo shoot with the amazingly talented Karie Mitchell. Seriously, I LOVE her!! Her work proves just how awesome she is. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

My Month is Her Month

It's getting closer. I'm having one of those days. May used to be "my month". It was my birthday and wedding anniversary month all rolled into one. Now the 29th just hovers over my month like a dark rain cloud. I try to be happy and celebrate her life, but sometimes it just hurts too much. I've moved forward. My life is better because of Olivia. But I want my soon-to-be 3 year old little girl here with me. I want to take her to her first dance lesson. Watch her play with her baby brother. I want kisses and hugs. I'll never get these things from her. I've accepted it.

I miss her. How has it been 3 years?

Life Lessons

Life Lesson #1 - Never Say It Can't Get Worse!

Sometimes you just have to laugh. I've learned this week to never say "It can't get worse." As soon as you say it, something happens. For instance, I was talking to my real life BFF Tiff, venting about the madness of my week. Dealing with death in the family is never easy and when it's MY family it gets to the point of being so insane that it's comical. I sure wish I could blog about the craziness of it all, but I can't. Tiff is trying to convince me to create an anonymous blog just so that others can laugh along with us. If we weren't laughing, we'd be in those jackets that don't have any arms (as my Mom likes to put it).

So anyway, I digress. I was taking J.K. to daycare just venting away to Tiff (yes, I drive and talk on my cell at the same time, everyone does it) and I ended the conversation with "It can't get worse than this."

I get J.K. out of the car and into his classroom. And then..yep, it got worse..I hear blllaagghh...that would be the sound of J.K. puking all over himself and the daycare floor. I nearly sat in the floor and started crying. But I didn't. I quickly picked him up and cleaned him off. I knew the cause of the random upset belly - motion sickness. He gets it from me. The child gets sick in the car more often than I want to admit. By the grace of God his teachers believed me and gave me a chance to get into the office and actually get some work done. Oh, and I was right. He was fine the rest of the day. But I have now learned to never say "It can't get worse!" Because it can!

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Life Lesson #2 - Don't be a Fish Killer

Now I love my hubby more than life itself, but sometimes I just want to bang my head against the wall. You see, we are still in the process of completing the yard landscaping project and hubby built a really nice pond for the family to enjoy. It's surrounded by plants and even has a little waterfall. It's very peaceful. A few weeks ago we rescued several fish from a pet store and brought them to live at the fish haven. They were loving life - swimming, eating, growing. One of J.K.'s favorite times of the day was fish feeding time.

Then the hubby decided it was time to clean the pond. I tried to tell him to take the fish out and let the water sit for awhile, but Noooo. I wasn't the fish whisperer - he was. So I shrugged my shoulders and went back to cooking dinner. After dinner I went out to the car and noticed that the catfish was swimming sideways and not looking so hot. So I went inside and casually informed the hubby that he had killed his catfish. The man darted outside to the fish's rescue (note: this is the same guy who catches, cleans and eats catfish). He tried his best to save the little guy, but with no luck. The fish went to the big pond in the sky. Then, another fish, and another and another until there was only one little lonely goldfish left. Yes, hubby is a fish killer. Five fish died on that tragic Saturday and it was taking every amount of restraint I had not to do the I told you so dance!

After an evening of mourning, we returned once again to the evil pet store and rescued more fish from their little tanks. Or at least I hope they've been rescued and not doomed for a life of cold, chlorine-filled, deathly water! The hubby and J.K. have their fish feeding time again and all is right with the world.

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It's been a while since I've posted pictures of the little guy. He's growing so fast it's ridiculous. He's running, jumping, climbing and doing all things boy!

Easter Morning

The Easter Bunny left a basket full of goodies just for J.K.





He loves helping Pawpaw in the yard.


Hunting Easter eggs with Big Cousin E. We tried to get a picture in their church clothes, but it didn't happen.


Despite the look on J.K.'s face, I promise we're a happy family.



Priceless.