What a beautiful weekend!

What a gorgeous weekend! We spent Saturday in the yard & then the afternoon at Brooke & Josh's house. Then we had a great day at church...had FiVE GUYS for lunch with Nana & Pop & came home & did LOTS of work on the house! Blayne pressure washed everything...it looks great! We are almost ready to put a sign in the yard.

I am so thankful for this beautiful weather. We have had a fun time playing outside....Cole could live out there:)

See my photography blog for more pictures! Lucy just steals the show now:)

http://www.meglowryphotography.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday TaTa

Happy Birthday TaTa!

We celebrated TaTa's birthday at Nanny & Pappy's house Sunday night.

TaTa is 23....I cannot believe it!

It seems like only yesterday TaTa was a little girl. Now she is all grown up and we are all so proud of her. She teachers PE at a school in Tuscaloosa. She is also dating a really sweet guy named Ron. He is a coach at Minor.

But most of all...Cole, Addy, & Lucy LOVE their TaTa!

Lucy James

Lucy James is almost 5months old!

She got her cast off this week. The surgery worked & the 3 months of a cast have been worth it. She now goes to a brace that she will wear for 6 weeks. She can take it off for 4 hours everyday. She can also have a bath now and wear diapers again...YAY!

She is so precious! She loves to be held...so yes she is rotten! She has the sweetest smile and she loves for you to talk to her!

We are enjoying all of our time with her & we are so glad her cast is finally OFF and she can start to play soon!

2 year check up

Well...I forgot to post our update on our 2 year old check up. Cole is 25.4 lbs and 33 1/2 in tall. He has finally made it up to the 25% for both! We are so excited because it looks as though we are headed in the right direction! Everything else looks good. The daily pulmicort through the nebulizer is working so we are going to stay on it until summer & try to come off during the warm months. He is meeting all of his milestones...talking amazingly. He told me the other night... " Daddy is crazy..." I wonder where he learned that from?
Here are a few of his favorite toys right now....

• Little Tykes truck from Santa
• an old red riding car passed down from Ashton
• Elmo anything
• green giraffe
• mikey mouse
• race track
• ball pit
• dinosaur
• his Little People collection (boat, plane, helicopter, bulldozer etc.)
• tent
• Barney videos
• lots of books although Goodnight Moom still ranks the highest
• balls ...any kind!

Favorite songs....

• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• Jesus Loves Me
• ABCs
• Old McDonald

Favorite Foods

• McDonalds & Jacks burgers & fries
• honeybuns
• goldfish
• chips & dip
• cheez-its
• hotdogs
• ravioli
• oranges
• applesauce
• tomatoes
• M&Ms
• spaghetti
• cheese ( preferably the kind shaped like Mickey Mouse)

Favorite things to say...

• No No Mommy
• I do it
• I walk
• Mine
• I love you ( I wub you)
• Bye Bye Mommy Bye Bye daddy
• I go to Pop's
• Stoney
• Addy
• Ashton
• Mrs. Jo
• Mrs. Jean
• I watch Barney
• Give Daddy some love
• I jump
• I want my Pa ( paci)
• Is that Nanny's Car?
• Is that Emmie's car?
• I want Josh
• I want Lulu
• He basically says whatever he wants now......which can be good and bad:)

He is in to EVERYTHING> We cannot not turn our back for a minute. He jumps off everything...the toilet is his favorite. He pushes every button ( dishwashers, washing machines, etc.) We have those annoying door things on all the doors now because he can open all doors and unlock & lock dead bolts. He likes to throw things.He likes to throw tantrums. He likes to jump on the bed. DO you see a trend?

We are loving every second though! He is wonderful...for every tantrum he throws...he does twice that in sweetness! Two is going to be fun..we can already tell!

Updates & prayers

Papaw- He came home!! He is a tough one. He is still struggling walking and getting around but he is home!

Lucy- she has her last cast on right now and hopefully it will come off for good on Feb 28th YAY!

Prayers.... Please pray & add them to any prayer list at yor church!

Austin- he is a first grader at or school with brain cancer. Please pray for his healing process and his family.


Please pray for my friend Andrea's mom. We call her Nana. She got a diagnosis of sorosis of the liver last week.....possibly medicine induced form diabetes. She went for more scans Friday & will get results Moday to see treatment options. Please pray that the doctors will be able to help her. She is so precious & the only grandparent figure to Andrea's children. They really need her.

Luke- he is a student in my room battling a very bad infection and has spent 3 weeks in the hospital. Please pray for healing.

G-Nana

Blayne's grandmother passed away Wednesday. We had services Thursday night and yesterday morning. Although it was snowing...it turned out to be very beautiful.

We are glad she is no longer in pain and will no longer suffer from the cancer.

Snow Day

I just love snow & Cole does too! We had so much fun yesterday!!!

Cole rode on the sled & he is quite the dare devil! He even rode head first! He played at Josh & Brooke's house & then when we picked him up.... we came home and played at Josh, Lori, & Jonah's house. He & Jonah are going to be big buddies. They play so good together now.

It was a great day....one we needed.

Ashton turns 5

We celebrated Ashton's 5th birthday last weekend. She had a party at Fox's pizza. The kids had a a great time! Its really hard to believe she is 5. It seems like only yesterday she was toddling around here and learning to talk. Now she says anything and is well beyond her years.

She is so funny and has a very cute personality.

She loves Taylor Swift, strawberry shortcake, her dog Bell, school, her friends, anything girly, gymnastics, clothes, baby dolls, ...angain...anything involving GIRL! Its fun to have nieces because it allows me to purchase PINK:)

My first baby....

Well....it took me a while, but I can finally do a blog about Bowden.

I guess I'll start at the beginning. Blayne wanted a bull mastiff for a while. He researched them and read about them & drove me CRAZY about them. I told him to keep dreaming b/c I didn't want a mean dog...I didn't want a HUGE dog ,and they cost WAY .too much! So he probably thought he'd never get one. He kept trying though. Finally in the summer of 05, I had to attend ARI training & we got paid for it but I never told Blayne. I was going to save the money & buy him a bull mastiff for Christmas. Well, I saved it & I found a good price on one & we got it a little early in November that year. He was so excited & although I didn't think I would be, I was too! We picked him out on a Sunday & I went back Monday afternoon with cash & me and Gina rode home with him while Blayne was at work. He was so adorable. He was so tiny and WILD when he was a puppy. He would hide under the couch & we would have to trap him to get him out. He potty trained quickly and before we knew it...we couldn't remember life without him. He grew SO fast! he never barked and chewed very little. He was only little for a SHORT time! He was rotten & slept in our room every night. He was my first baby. He was my only baby for a while and when times were tough through fertility and wondering if I'd ever have a baby.... I probably would have never made it without having him to take care of in our house. He was such a good dog. He loved playing with Ashton & Addy when they came over and although he weighed 125lbs...they never acted afraid.

Well in January 08 we had COle...I wondered how he would do...I should have never wondered. He loved Cole at first sight. He was always gentle and sweet & they were best buddies. They played together and Bowden gained 10 pounds the year Cole joined us b/c of the table food Cole would feed him;) Bowden was one of the first words Cole learned. He loved to feed him goldfish & ride him like a horse. I'll never forget those times.

Well, last week I came home and Bowden broke out the fence for the 2nd time. The first time I found him...this time we did not. After a HUGE search from more people than I'll ever know...we found him dead Wednesday afternoon. It appears as though he were hit by a car. 2 very nice men helped me load him up and Casey & Blayne buried him in our fence that night. Its still doesn't seem real that our Bowden is gone. I know he was just a dog...but to us..he was our family.

I'll miss his slobber that I used to scream about all the time. I miss the dog hair I vacuumed up...I'll miss the snoring at night...but most of all...I'll miss all the joy he brought to me, Blayne , and Cole. Its quiet here without him. Cole asks for him atleast 20 times a day. I look for him outside and have to remind myself he's gone. We miss him so much and its a hurt that I never thought an animal could give you.

I know we'll get another one one day...we talked about it. But it won't be him...he was such a good dog....I am sure 20 years from now...we'll still miss him....but I am so glad we had him and that we found him and we won't worry about him. I am glad Cole had him as a friend.

I am glad I gave in & got him...

I'll miss my first baby.....

Farewell sweet Bowden

Today I received a phone call with very sad news. Bowden is dead. Thank you for searching and calling and praying. Tonight we are very sad...glad he's home...but very sad. I am going to do a special blog about him...however I can't tonight. Instead I leave you with a quote from a movie that broke my heart & at the time I had no idea I would later be able to relate.



" A dog has no use for big homes, fancy cars, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare, and pure, and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary? "- quote from Marley & Me

Bowden is missing!

If you live in the Odenville Area...please help us find Bowden! He is a bull mastiff...about 120lbs. He is 4 years old. He is super sweet. He has been out since yesterday sometime during the day. We are offereing a CASH reward to anyone who returns him! Please pass the word & help us find our baby!!!!