Prayers needed for a sweet baby boy

PLEASE Pray for Stellan!!
I am an avid reader of MckMama's blog. They are an amazing family who love life, theie family, and most importantly the Lord. She has been such a huge inspiration to me with her faith and my heart hurts for what they are going through right now...Their youngest, 4 month old Stellan, is very sick and could really use all the prayers he can get! There are updates on her blog, but in short, he has an enlarged heart with a heart rate of nearly 300 bpm. The doctors have tried almost everything (including stopping his heart and restarting it) so far nothing has worked. He has had a really rough couple of days and his heart is growing weary I am sure. God has given this family a miracle once! Please pray for another one. Stellan was diagnosed with several severe heart conditions in the womb and was told he would never live on this earth. When he was born, a healthy full term baby, they couldn't find anything wrong with his heart. Apparently, this episode was brought on by a breathing treatment he was given when taken to the ER Sunday night for respiratory problems. Please pray for this family and this baby, please pray for complete healing for Stellan, and strength and comfort for his mom and dad.

And remember to give thanks for the MANY blessings in your own life each and every day :)

March Madness!

Hello, yep it HAS been AWHILE huh? Well, guess that is what happens around here in the craziness of life! But I will say it is most definitely a CRAZY BEAUTIFUL life ;) Since my last post we have been working hard and trying our best to remember to play hard too... The snow quickly melted and our winter wonderland became a distant memory thanks to fantastic 70 degree weather the following weekend. It was beautiful but a little too much too quickly, I will gladly settle for milder temps in March and April. Give me some 6o degree days and I am a happy camper! We made to most of the beautiful weather and headed outside for playtime as much as we could. Lucas absolutely loves to go exploring and has mastered all kinds of terrain including our driveway which is quite a feet ;) He loves running through the leaves in the woods and finding all kinds of treasures- AKA: rocks and sticks ;) I really think he is going to LOVE growing up out here and playing with all of his little friends!
Along with outside playtime we have stayed busy with work and the usually during the week. You all know the drill- work/school, dinner, playtime, bath time, bedtime, sleep....Repeat... But we have made the most of our time together and the weekends by spending quality time with each other and with great friends!
I got to have a fun afternoon of girl time while Todd and Lucas hung out at home :) About 25 of the Richmond area DZ's got together for an afternoon of girl time-gabbing, sunshine, good drinks, and good friends ;) I had a great time! We also got to catch up with good friends- The Edmonds and the Fulops. We spent an evening with the Edmonds family, which is always fun when we get the three kids all together! Lucas adores Preston and mimics his every move. I think they are so much alike in so many ways it is almost scary :)Maybe it is just boys but I think there are even more similarities...with the exception that Preston is 3 1/2 and Lucas is 1 1/2 of course...;) They both had some humorous (in that quick turn your head so they don't see you laughing) dinner escapades that landed them both in trouble. Then they had fun playing in the bathtub- you gotta make the most of your time with friends and little ones! The following week Todd headed off for a great golf trip to NC with a good friend and Lucas and I stayed behind to have our mommy/son weekend. I was nervous going into it since it was Thur.-Sun. and Todd is such a BIG help all-around with Lucas, and the house. I didn't think I could manage it all on my own without forgetting to feed someone or make it anywhere on time. Well, all in all we did good :) I did find that I need about 15 minutes extra on the weekdays to get somewhere without Todd! Bailey and Nala came out of it OK too- potty breaks and chow times unscathed...whew! We missed daddy lots but made the most of our time and the rainy weekend. We enjoyed celebrating Hunter Fulop's 1st birthday with his family and friends. Lucas REALLY enjoyed himself- running all over the house, eating pizza, cheese balls, and cake, playing with Hunter's grandpas, and attempting to open lots of his gifts! I couldn't stop him so he pretty much became Rachael's little present helper. It was funny to watch Hunter and his "whatever" attitude toward the presents, the paper was much more exciting :). I remember Lucas was exactly like that at his birthday. Now things are definitely different, wow, 6 months makes a big difference!

Making the most of our rainy weekend:

(is it just me or is my baby growing up too fast?)going, going, going......Gone! This is a favorite pastime for Lucas, he does like to stack them back up though ;)

Hunter's birthday party fun :

This past weekend we spent lots of time outside again enjoying the sunshine that spring has welcomed. Todd has kept up his golf lessons and seems to be enjoying himself. I am plugging away at my cake decorating classes :) having a good time and sharing the yummy benefits with everyone! We also had a fun date night with good friends enjoying the great food and atmosphere of The Cheesecake Factory. It was so much fun to go out and enjoy ourselves with such great company! Lucas had fun at home with Ms. Karen again and welcomed us home with pure excitement from his adventures :) All in all another great weekend!

Hope you enjoyed catching up with us ;) Happy Monday to you all! ;)

a little snooze in the car....

yummy girl scout cookie!!!

Wow, it really DOES snow around here!

Well we FINALLY got our first big snow since God knows when.Big snow aside, how about ANY measurable snow? I think it was in 2003-2004? And by that I mean, enough snow to actually get outside and play in it :) I had NO CLUE it was coming until I received my brother's text Sunday AM. "6-10 inches of snow expected along the I-95 corridor this afternoon and evening". YIPPEE but YIKES since I was heading to Fredericksburg with Lucas and Bailey for the day to go to Erica's baby shower. I am not a fan of driving in bad weather, regardless of my vehicle's 4 wheel drive ability. I had an accident back in 2003 and haven't recovered since. We still ventured north but quickly returned after the shower was over. Not quick enough, it took 2 hours to get home in the messy road conditions. It was amazing how fast it got really bad! This was definitely a winter storm- complete with fast falling large amounts of super wet snow, heavy winds, and even lightening! I made it home safely with the precious cargo and was so happy to see Todd as he rescued us from the 4-runner! :)

The power flickered that night and finally went out for good around 10pm. We all nestled snug in our beds and layered on the blankets until the AM when we awoke to temperatures in the mid 50's. After breakfast by the gas fireplace we headed out in the snow to attempt to regain some form of communication since losing power meant no phone line, no Internet, AND our cell phones lost signal! Thank God we didn't have any kind of emergency. We almost got to Mechanicsville before getting coverage back. Todd took me in to work- gotta save the babies, even on snow days!; and he and the rest of the crew sought warm shelter at The Smith's house :) Scarlett and Lucas had a great day playing and learning how to share, Bailey and Rocky also enjoyed romping around together. Later on we all had a yummy dinner, played in the snow, and had a fun slumber party! It was so sweet of them to take us in- we are blessed with so many great friends :)

Venturing out Monday AM to find warmth and go to work...

Playing at the Smith's When all was said and done it sounds like we got about 10-12 inches (we did not measure but a co-worker who lives nearby us did). I really don't think we have had one that big since 96' or 98'? Well power came back on after 20 hours and we got back to normal for the most part yesterday. We did venture back out to check out the snow last night with Lucas. He loves to walk around in it but gets frustrated due to the amount and having to step so high and with the sheer weight of clothing :) After a few big steps he tended to fall down and last night he did a face plant in a snow drift, he wasn't a fan of the snow on his rosy cheeks! Hopefully we can get some more like this in the next few years to really have some fun with him... We'll break out the sled then! ;)

How do Jon and Kate do it?

Lucas and I had a great weekend with good friends Feb. 21-22. Three of my sorority sisters have toddlers very close in age to Lucas and we have been saying how much fun it would be to all get together for a mommy/baby weekend. Well we finally picked a date and did it!

It was so great to get to catch up with everyone and see the kids interact with each other. They are all so unique in their little personalities but are definitely all going through the same milestones as 1 year old toddlers. I definitely would love to make this a quarterly or biannual event and even include the daddy’s in on the fun! We just spent time chatting and chasing wee-ones around but it was so much fun.

I really miss these girls and it is crazy to think that we all left Longwood 9 years ago to venture out into the real world….time flies! I knew when I met these ladies and spent those college years with them that they would always be an important part of my life. We all went our separate ways after graduation and try harder to stay in touch now with Facebook and blogging. It has been awesome that we all have reconnected and are sharing the parenthood adventure together. I love being able to keep up with all of their adventures and bouncing questions off of one another.

Lucas seemed to really like being with the other kids just like his little friends at school. He and Shanna’s little boy Grayson are only a day apart; Jaime’s little girl Ainsley, and Carrie’s little girl Addie are both July 2007 babies so they are just 3 months ahead of the boys. I do have to say that the girls were much more vocal-but, I think Lucas is breaking into that territory fast and furious! I actually think he picked up some of Ainsley’s habits from that weekend, yep Jaime- we have heard "Mines" this week ;) Ainsley is quite the social butterfly and provided some great entertainment for all of us with her singing renditions and strong willed battles with momma. But she is so sweet and smarter than some of us grown ups I believe! ;) Addie was so generous to share all of her toys with the rest of the munchkins. She was a sweetheart giving everyone kisses and amused me by reading to herself- so cute! I wish Lucas would pick up that habit! He loves to read with us all of the time but sometimes he really wants it at the most inopportune time for us- AKA getting ready to leave in the AM, etc. and gets mad if mommy and daddy say not right now. He knows what he wants and when he wants it that is for sure! Grayson was such a sweet easy going baby that just went along so smoothly with the flow. He and Lucas are both quite attached to their pacifiers, leave it to the boys. They were all so cute and so much fun to watch.

I think we were all a little nervous about bedtime but they did great. Carrie and Tim spread us all out around the house and everyone got a pretty good nights sleep. I must say, it is sad how pooped you are after a day full of toddler fun, 12 am bedtimes just aren’t what they used to be! The kids were ready to go for round two the next AM. So much so that after a few hours of playing, they crashed for super long naps. We really had a great time and look forward to our next group adventure. A BIG thank you to our fantastic hosts- The Hewitt family, and to Jaime and Ainsley for letting Lucas and I carpool with you guys.
We all were on the same page at the end of our adventure- how the heck do Jon and Kate and the Duggars do it?!?! I don't think I could could handle sextuplets, that is for sure ;) But give me a house full of toddler mayhem for a short while with great friends, ANYTIME!

The crew sharing the chair for picture time
Lucas and Ainsley throughly (well, maybe?) enjoying the ride at the grocery store
Addie giving Lucas a smooch :)
Wouldn't they make a really cute couple?- well, in about 25 years ;)!!!Addie is a dollbaby. (picture courtesy of Carrie)

The paci boys bonding....

Cheese! Ainsley takes great pictures, such a little ham ;)
Mommies and wee ones playing ring around the rosie

The boys "sharing" the car (they really all were pushing each other over this one). It is obviously a toy favorite!

Grayson and Lucas enjoying lunch after long naps

Grayson is such a sweetie :)
"Look ma, cheesy poof hands!!! :)"