Christmas 2009 "Nathaniel"

We had a blast with our little Nathaniel on Christmas day. Papa made him a rocking horse and he of course loved it. He's still a little small for it but he will grow into it just like our oldest grandson Luke did his. I guess now he has to make Eli on once they get to Arkanasas. The little guy wasn't feeling the greatest that day but he sure did make us laugh just the same. I can't wait untill next year when all three of our grandsons will be here for the holidays. Now thats what Christmas is about.

What a great holiday season this is going to be for our family. We started it out with a great Thanksgiving with our Son, Daughter-in-law, and our newest grandson Nathaniel. Later that day to be joined by Great Gram. Lots of food and being with family. One of the things that make it so special is I know that by this time next year all of our kids and grandkids will be living in the state of Arkansas and the holidays can finally be shared together by all. The other thing that makes it so special is the circumstances behind or little Nathaniel. We thank God for him everyday. Today I came to my sons house to watch Nathaniel while he worked and our daughter-in-law slept. Well they had there tree up and I couldn't resist taking pictures of him under the tree. Next weekend we get to see the other two boys while they house hunt. Hmmm I bet this means more pictures.

"Princess Beauty"

When I got home from Chris & Erica's today I had a package from Luke & Eli for my birthday. When I opened it up we had a new addition to our family "Princess Beauty" ( as named by Luke) a Build-a-Bear picked out clothes and all by Luke. She is pink with a beautiful purple dress with a matching necklase and purse. And when I squeez her hand I hear Lukes voice saying "I love you Meega" and if that wasn't enough he painted me a master piece. Thanks boy's Meega loves her present and will cherish them forever!!!!!

NATHANIEL..... What a joy. Its hard to believe that this little guy started out at 2lbs 6ozs. Look at him now. Since I've been off of work I've spent alot of time with the little guy and he never seizes to amaze me. Even when he was in NICU from the very beginning this little guy has always smiled. He has got such a good personality. When he smiles his whole face smiles. He tries so hard to talk to us and it just cracks me up to see him make little circles with his mouth trying to form words but nothing but sounds come out. Coo's, oohs, and ahh's is his vocabulary right now and its so cute. Your getting big our little man. Here in just a few days you will be six months old.

A week of first's

Our daughter and her family came in for our oldest grandsons 4th birthday all the way from the Washington DC area. They live in the town of Bowie Maryland so we haven't got to share in many of his special events in life. While here we had alot of firsts to happen. They flew into the Little Rock airport so we met them in Russellville @ Cracker Barrell to eat. On the way to our house Luke rode with Meega & Papa which is the first time he has ever got to do that. Since he doesn't live close by we don't get many of the simple pleasures like that so this was really a treat for us. We also had our first "sleepover" as he called it when he slept two nights in the bed with us. He also camped for the first time in our back yard with his Papa & Daddy. We took him to The Janet Huckabee Nature center where he fished for the first time with his brand new spider man fishing pole. He didn't catch anything that day but the very next day Papa took him and his Daddy out on the Paris city lake on his first canoe ride and he caught his first fish. A pretty good sized catfish which wieghed 3-4 lbs on his spiderman fishing pole. The only one who caught anything might I add. He had a great birthday which was military themed at his request and he got to spend the day with one of our local service men who gave up his saturday to make a little boys dream of spending his birthday with a real soldior in a real uniform. Thanks Sonny Watts for doing this for him. There was also many other firsts. Eli while visiting us said Daddy for the first time and the two oldest boys got to meet their new cousin Nathaniel. And Nathaniel got to meet Luke, Eli, Aunt Laura and Uncle Aaron for the first time. This morning was a sad day as we had to say goodbye when they drove away on the way to the airport. I don't think they seen me cry as I headed back into the house to put away all the toys once again untill they come back to Meega and Papa's once more. Or untill our little Nathaniel is old enough for us to once again get them back out. Yep it was a week of first. But I believe in prayer and I'm believing it won't be the last.

Yesterday me and Papa went and seen our little guy. He is getting so big. We had a blast with him watching him laugh and try to get his tongue to to do something but just lay there. I swear the little guy was trying hard to talk. He is so sweet. Just two more days and he will get to meet his cousins Luke & Eli who are coming in all the way from Bowie MD. I can't wait to have all our kids together at one time.

This is our little Maryland boys. Mom and Dad took them to Fort McHenry and they said Luke was absolutely thrilled since he is so facinated now with the American flag and the Army stuff. Two adorable little guys. Meega and Papa can't wait to see them again. Just a few more weeks and they will finally be here for a visit again.

This the day! Woohoo it is finally here. Our little Nathaniel is legaly ours. We went to court today. It was funny when they told us they were getting him I was so shocked I couldn't do anything but just sit there with my mouth open saying wow. I didn't cry at all. I went home after seeing him and finally broke down just thinking about him. But today, I wasn't expecting it but right there in the court room when the judge told us we could go in and get a family picture with out warning after looking at the judge and asking him is he ours, he said yes he is I just started crying and couldn't stop. I didn't realize it but I geuss for the last three months I've been holding my breath. He turned three months old monday, All 7lb 6oz of him is ours. Oh glorious day.

We had a visitor this evening. Much to our delight our little grandson, Nathaniel came to see Meega and Papa. The picture with the bear is the bear that Luke picked out for Papa for his b-day and he and Eli sent to him. I wanted to take this picture so that maybe luke could see just how tiny he is. The one picture with his little hand to his face just looks to me like he is just sooo tired and I just had to get a shot of him doing this. He has grown a lot in the last two months. He is now 2 months old *today*. He is now a hefty 5 lbs 6 oz. Well actualy he might even be a little more now as that was the beginning of the week.

April 13th a little boy was born into this world in the 27th week of pregnancy at the birth wieght of 2 lbs 6 oz. Five days later we found out we had a new grandson and that our son and daughter-in-law would be adopting this little guy. Today at the healthy wieght of 4lbs 14 oz they were able to take him home. He has come such a long way. When he was born you could count every rib he had. He was wrinkled and didn't look much like a newborn. Now he is sooo beautiful, cheeks becoming chubby and no counting those ribs as he is starting to fill out. When my son and daughter-in-law got married I told them that because of certain circumstances in their lives that it was a "God thing" that He had put them together and that this had definitly made it a "God thing". Well I told them the other day as I looked into the face of our newborn grandson that once again this was a "God thing" that I felt that God himself had once again had a hand in thier lives and had chosen them for this special little guy. Welcome home little Nathaniel. Meega and Papa love you little guy welcome to our family.

Finally! Woohoo, our little man is finally eating from a bottle. And might I add he is loving it. And he made it to the big wieght of 4 lbs today. Pictures just don't do him justice. He is so adorable. This is the first time our son fed his new son. God is good! This little dude has been our miracle baby from day one. We are truly blessed.

Woohoo! I did it. I can't believe at my age I graduated college and on top of that as an Honor Grad. I think back at school as a child and how much I hated it and couldn't wait to get out. And here so many years later I'm graduating for the first time. I quit school in my senior year of high school so this is actually my first graduation. I've made new friends and memories that I'm so very thankful for. One of my closest friends is a young women my sons age, Roberta, but we turned out to be such good friends and the age didn't make a difference at all. In the one picture you see me and two other women all Honor graduates I might add. In the other one is me, Roberta, and our dear teacher Ms Johnson.

Today we got a box from Bowie Maryland from two little boys for Papa's Birthday. Luke our oldest grandson insisted on buying Papa a Build-a-Bear for his birthday. Mommy being the good sport she is took the two boys to a Build-a-Bear work shop and let Luke pick out the bear clothes and all for Papa. As an extra bonus when you squeeze " Papa Bears" paw you hear "I love you Papa" recorded in Lukes voice. It was funny everytime the bear said that Papa responded by saying I love you too little buddy. The boy's got to see Papa open up the box with "Papa Bear" in it via web-cam.

Nathaniel! Wow our little guy is becoming quit the heavy wieght, he is now up to 3lb 3oz. Woohoo!!!. It is so exciting to see him grow and start filling out and look more like a little baby. He is still so small but it is so exciting to see him over 3 pounds. God is good.

This a friend of mine from College at our awards banquet tonight. Even though she is my sons age we are really good friends. We studied together, crammed for tests, had classes together and even took tests together. Even though we are generations apart we will graduate together next weekend. It just goes to show you age doesn't matter when you open your mind to new things and just be you.

We went and seen our little guy again tonight. He now wieghs 2 lbs 9 oz and believe it or not is starting to look more like a baby. He is doing great but still has a long ways to go. We are still praying and believing that he will be a perfect, healthy little boy with no problems. I can't wait until we are able to take him home.

Well we went and seen our baby last night. I sat there holding that little guy and I do mean little 2 lbs 6 oz and my heart was just over flowing for him. I didn't think it would be possible to love a little one as much as I do my biological grandsons but let me tell you this little guy has captured our hearts. I feel like God just dropped him down from heaven into our lives. I knew I needed to get up and let him go so that my DH could go in and hold him a while but I just didn't want to. I am so thankful that his birth parents didn't want him but at the same time it enrages me. I look down at this little person and just wonder how anyone could just walk away. I later looked at the picture that our son took of his dad when I fianally let him take his turn and I could tell by the look on his face that he felt the same. As I write this the tears for some reason just fall knowing that this little guy still has such a long way to go. But like I told our daughter in-law, he knows he's loved and that will make all the difference.

PETS! I guess I need to explain about the goldfish. You see our little Luke is highly allergic to furry animals. Being around them causes a bad reaction which in turn causes an asthma attack. He loves animals and wanted a pet so bad. So much so at the age of three he told his mom the other day that he had asked God to take away his allergies but God was too busy to listen. Well for easter he recieved some money so he took his money along with some of Daddy's money and got to pick out a gold fish. No its not a dog, cat, or some other furry critter he could hold but as you can see by the look on his face he is tickled. Even if it is just a little fish this is one happy little boy.

Ok all you Sp people. Yeah you know who I mean. Here it is the long awaited blog. Now do tell what do I do? HMMMM! As Nancy said regarding her doing one this will probably bore you but it just gives me another place to show off my three little boys. That is if I can figure out how to do it. I would like to figure out how to personilize this so it isn't so ugly and boring.