Happy Mother's Day!

Today was the first Mother's day for me- and it was WONDERFUL! It started out with the Mother's Day program at Church-the committee did a great job! Then we had Mexican for lunch- we were able to eat outside by the pool, which was WONDERFUL. It was beautiful outside and the weather was perfect. I was a little sad, my mom had to work, but she will be staying with us W-F of this week, so I would rather spend that time with her than just one day! She will be leaving for Vacaville, CA on Saturday- which upsets me greatly, but I know she will be back soon and I will survive. It will help that we will be out of school in 13 days and I will have all summer to spend with Little Bit and Seth- at Memaw's pool! :) Then, this afternoon we came home and Janie Ann FINALLY took a nap- so everyone took a nap until 7:30 tonight...so Janie Ann went back to sleep around 9:30 and now Seth and I are up catching up on our DVR.

What did I get for my first mother's day? Well, Seth bought me a pearl and diamond necklace before Janie Ann was born (when he bought my push present), and he kept it a secret as long as he could....I got it for Christmas! But it was supposed to be my Mother's Day gift. So, I told him not to get me anything...but Janie Ann and him went last week to the Pickett Fence in Opelika and got me the cutest beach bag and cooler. The beach bag is HUGE and I LOVE it! I can't wait to use it next weekend when I go on a girl's trip (Yes, Janie Ann is going!) to the beach with Karin and Jodie...and possibly Marie.

Happy Mother's Day everyone- make sure to give your mom a hug and kiss her every chance you get! Thank you to my mom and my second mom for everything that you do for me and my family. I love you, mom and my second mom, Mrs. Vickie!

Happy Mother's Day!

Ok, this is my first Mother's Day where I am actually a mother- very surreal to me! I feel so blessed to have a beautiful 6 month old angel to call my own. I feel very blessed that the Lord has allowed Seth and I to raise this baby and I often times just sit and stare at her in amazement. Of course, that often leads to crying because of how amazing she and He truly are. I don't have any pictures to upload, I'm at work waiting on Seth to get done with detention duty- and thought it would be a perfect time to update!

This morning I received an email from a friend titled: Newborns conversations with God.

A baby asked God, 'They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?'

God said, 'Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you'

The child further inquired, 'But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.'

God said, 'Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy.'

Again the child asked, 'And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don' t know the language?'

God said, 'Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.'

'And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?'

God said, 'Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.

''Who will protect me?'

God said, 'Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.'

'But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.'

God said, 'Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.'

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, 'God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.'

God said, 'You will simply call her, ' Mom .

Of course I immediately wanted to cry- God has blessed me and now it is my job to raise this child to Love God and trust Him with everything. I pray every night with Janie Ann before I lay her down and my main prayer is that I raise her the way the Lord wants me to. I just pray that I don't fail at my job.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Work in progress!

The start of the project. Seth has decided to build a privacy fence in the back yard for Janie Ann and mostly Cadillac! Cadillac likes to run down the street when we let him out the front door now, so Seth decided that he needed somewhere to be let out, but couldn't run away. Mr. Billy (Seth's dad) has just about completed the privacy fence around their pool, and it looks wonderful, so Seth decided that he would do one, too. So far, so good! Seth working hard to get the fence ready for his little girl! This is what he has done as of Saturday afternoon... it's beginning to really look great and I can't wait until we have the back porch set up with the TV and a kiddie pool this summer! (For the day's we aren't at Memaw's or before we head to Memaw's!)You know, Janie Ann is one lucky little girl to have such a wonderful, hard-working daddy! If anyone asks, I think she has the best daddy EVER!

Product Endorsements

I've been wanting to do this for a while, but I have no idea how to use Seth's Apple computer to save pictures (using the right click function on a PC)- so I have tried and tried to save pictures with no luck... so here goes with no pictures!

1. The best camera EVER! We purchased a Nikon D60- it has now been replaced with the Nikon D3000. It's the same camera, new number! I have thoroughly enjoyed using it to take priceless pictures of Janie Ann. I am still experimenting with it and lenses and by no means am I a professional, but I think I am!

2. Lily Padz!! They are breast pads and they are washable/reusable! I love them, I just wish I would have gotten them sooner. Rosalyn told me about them, but I was still skeptical until I realized that swimsuit season was approaching and I would need something to use then! :) So to any mom or mom-to-be that plans on breastfeeding, I highly suggest getting these- they are supposed to last 2-3 months or longer, depending on well you take care of them. To go along with the padz, I love my pump, too! Medela- enough said!

3. Janie Ann's swaddle!! We have used it every night since we brought her home from the hospital and she can be wide awake, but once we swaddle her she puts herself to sleep! I have no idea what we are going to do when she out-grows her current one!!

4. My last product endorsement for the day? Shutterfly. Its wonderful and easy. They also give you free prints (50) when you register with them and all you have to pay is shipping and handling! It's so easy to order pictures and have them delivered to your door! No more Wal-Mart trips to have pictures developed for me!!

Is there anything that you can't live without?

How blessed are we?

VERY!!! These next 5 pictures are of our wonderful babysitters!! That's right, Janie Ann does not have to attend a daycare because we are so blessed to have family to help us! This post is to say how much we appreciate them and are so very thankful that we can trust them with our little girl! THANK YOU so much!!

Uncle Mark, Aunt Steph and Janie Ann

Aunt Steph is able to keep Janie Ann when my mom has a class at the hospital on a Thursday or Friday! She is also able to help us out when we are in a bind and need someone for any other day of the week!!

Mamaw Parker (Janie Ann's great grandmother)

Mamaw is able to keep Janie Ann if Aunt Steph has to work or has other plans when we call on short notice! Janie Ann is so lucky to have a great-grandmother young enough to still be able to care for her!! Seth and I enjoy picking her up from Mamaw's because we know that there will be a wonderful salad for dinner when we get there!! :)

MeMaw (keeps Janie Ann on most M,T, and sometimes W)

Last summer was MeMaw decided (I'm sure she decided way before then) that she was going to stop working a "real" job and be able to stay at home to keep her grand-children. How lucky are we? She keeps Shelly's twins everyday and Janie Ann on most Mondays, Tuesdays and sometimes Wednesdays. She lets Janie Ann sleep in the "big bed" and spoils them rotten! I'm so lucky that Janie Ann is able to grow-up with her cousins since they are so close in age. I'm sure she is more advanced by watching there every move (when she is awake) at MeMaw's house!

Grand-daddy and Janie Ann

While my dad isn't able to keep Janie Ann, he helps us in the best way possible every morning! If you don't know where Daviston is located- think of the more rural place ever, go 20 more miles out into desolation and that is where we live! So at first Seth and I were waking up super early to be able to drop Janie Ann off at MeMaw's...well that means we have to leave an extra 20 minutes earlier to get to work and we already have to leave by 6:40am! So Grand-daddy came to the rescue! He comes by every morning that she has to go to Alex City or New Site and he takes her for us!! He doesn't think he is doing much, but he is doing TONS by doing that for us... a little more time to get ready, not being rushed out the door, not turning in on 2 wheels at MeMaw's running her in and running back out... its wonderful to have someone you can trust to take your daughter to their appropriate location and not have to worry about the getting their safely!

Gigi and Janie Ann

Finally, Gigi. She comes to our house every Tuesday or Wednesday night and stays with us until Friday! Yep! We don't have to put Janie Ann in a car seat or anything on the days Gigi can keep her, we just have to wake Gigi up! Most afternoons when we come in the dishes have been put in the dishwasher or put up, dinner is on the stove cooking and the house is pretty clean! Gigi might be going to leave soon to work in Balitmore for 13 weeks- she finds out soon. We will miss her greatly while she is gone, but she promised she will be back for the start of the school year!

Janie Ann is so lucky to have so many people that love her so much! And so are Seth and I!! There is a daycare in Alex City that accepts kids once they are 3 and Seth and I have talked about letting her go there, but I'm not sure if I can let her go... Harrison and Clark go there now and they both love it, and I love the Christmas programs each year...and while I know is a long time away, it will be here before I know it! Anyways- Seth and I are very blessed to have such wonderful family to take care of Janie Ann right now- thank you to everyone!!!

*Yes, I know these pictures are old- I don't have updated pictures with everyone!

Janie Ann and Jackson Davis!

Yes, Jackson finally came to visit us!! And of course we took TONS of pictures!! I am just posting a few- the one above is my favorite! Bless them, there is no telling how many more pictures of them in "matching" outfits will be taken!

Josh, Rosalyn and Jackson came down Saturday morning- they were supposed to leave B'ham around 9, but finally pulled out at 10! :) Ah, the joys of traveling with a baby!! They arrived at 12:30- in time to get settled and changed for the shower that I helped host for Jackson! When Rosalyn was pregnant we tried and tried to get a weekend together to throw her a shower in Auburn, but since it was so close to the holidays we had the fabulous idea of waiting until he was here and do a "meet-n-greet" shower, which was WONDERFUL! She got a lot of fab gifts and we got to spend time with cute Jackson!

Abby, Rosalyn, Jackson, me and Kim (the hostess w/the guests of honor)

Janie Ann LOVED his hand- Jackson wasn't too sure about it!

I LOVE this one- they are trying to figure each other out!! Jackson is so tiny!!

We can't wait until they come back this summer!! Hopefully they will be able to stay longer than a day and we can go swimming at MeMaw's and hang out in the back yard and grill out!! I'm so excited, too, that Janie Ann will not only have all of her cousins to grow up with, but Jackson will be along for the ride!! We will have a great time this summer and football season- I can't wait!! (But I wish the time would go by slower, my BABY girl is growing up WAY too fast!)

Easter 2010

This was our first Easter with Janie Ann and while she is still to little to understand, we had a blast!! She attended a couple of Easter Egg hunts...she ate through one and then slept through the other two!! One day after school I had my mom meet us at my Papaw Goss' house (he has bunnies in his back yard) and I took TONS of pictures- I will post a few for your viewing pleasure (if you haven't seen them already on Facebook). Janie Ann was so sweet and beautiful! I can't wait until she truly understands the REAL meaning of Easter and what a major sacrifice was made for her and everyone else!