Weekend Spoiler

Okay, so I have been looking forward to this past weekend for many weeks now. My parents were coming into town, my Dad's birthday was Saturday and they were having a baby blessing at Church. I was psyched! Friday night we went out to eat Mexican food and all was well, then at 3:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, James woke up with the stomach virus...in a very fierce way! He was sick all night and pretty much all of the next day. My Dad hates nothing worse than the stomach virus and I just knew that he would freak out. "Happy Birthday, and James may have given you the stomach bug!" Anyway, my parents went ahead and stayed on Saturday, hoping for the best. We went to breakfast (without James, of course) at Brother Juniper's and it was delicious and then we all went shopping to stay out of the house as much as possible to avoid getting James' germs. I also walked around the house with Chlorox wipes trying to disinfect any and everything that James might have touched, but it didn't matter...at 3:00 a.m. on Sunday morning....yep, you guessed it, I woke up with the stomach virus. So much for going to Church for the baby blessing service. My parents got up about 6:30 and headed back home so they could get sick in their own house. Luckily, Case only seems to have gotten a mild version of what we had, thank goodness, but he's still had an upset tummy and a little fever that we're hoping to be rid of by tomorrow so we can get back to work and life as usual. And I talked to my mom today and thankfully, they both escaped without getting it. Anyway, the weekend I so looked forward to was definitely not what I had hoped for! Oh, well. That's just how it goes sometimes...and it could have been worse! Happy Birthday, Dad! I had hoped to take lots of pics over the fun-filled weekend, but this is all I got on my camera phone. My Dad and Case at Brother Juniper's.

Going Deeper

Okay, okay, so I know that my blog posts are always very lighthearted updates on my precious baby. No politics, philosophy or religion, etc...But, I thought I'd throw in a deep one for once.

One of my friends at work has a cute little box of cards that are "conversation starters." Today a few of us were sitting around answering the questions and having a good time, and then a rather serious, thought-provoking topic was broached. "Your most spiritual experience" or something to that effect. The first things that came to mind were my most thankful moments, but later I got to thinking more about it and my most "thankful" moments weren't necessarily what I would consider "spiritual" moments. I mean those don't happen every day...So I've thought all night about my truly most "spiritual" moment and I really can think of only a very few, one of which really stands out in my mind and I thought I'd share.

In September of 2007, I had a miscarriage. It was a difficult time in my life and the Sunday following, we were at Church in our usual spots singing the same 'ole songs...and honestly, I really wasn't overly thrilled to be there. I think James made me go. And then, we sang a particular song. A song that I've always been especially fond of, but this day it suddenly took on a new meaning and I was so moved as I listened to the lyrics and worshiped, that I was powerfully and most definitely "moved" by the spirit and I knew that the Lord was with me at that exact moment and was holding me together and keeping my heart from breaking. It was at that moment that I knew that things were going to be okay...that I was going to be okay. The song is "Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt Redman. Here are some of the lyrics:

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be

'Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your Name

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

I realized something that morning. Something that I'd said my whole life, but never really believed until that moment. Good things and bad things happen in this life, but no matter what happens, the Lord is good and he is there t0 hold us together. We are still "blessed" no matter what our circumstances are...good, bad or ugly.

Now, more than a year later, I have a precious baby boy that I am so thankful for. And while the loss was difficult for us at the time, it's comforting to know that if my first pregnancy had gone as we had hoped, then we wouldn't have Case, and I can't imagine life without him. He is our greatest blessing, and so darn cute, don't you think?

Okay, okay, so enough of the "deep" stuff. I promise the next blog post to be back to lighthearted stories and pics of my boy!

Splish Splash!

This weekend, Case took a bath like a big boy for the first time. He's sitting up so good these days, I decided it was time to ditch the thing he normally lays in for his bath. I think he liked it. He didn't know what to think at first, but enjoyed hitting the water with his hands and making a big splash!

Lindsey Lissau Photography

A few weeks ago, Case had his six month portrait session. Below are a few of our favorites from the shoot. If you ever need pics for any occasion, please check Lindsey out. She's really great! Her website is www.lindseylissau.com.

Fun in the Mayan Sun!

We had such a great time in Mexico on vacation! James and I did discover that vacationing with a baby is definitely different than without! We were certainly glad to have his parents with us! We were also glad to have a direct flight. These two factors made all the difference in the world! Case was a real trooper...we are really lucky to have such a great baby! We did all get sick while we were there, but other than that our trip couldn't have gone any better! Case just had a little cold and James and I both got sinus infections and battled stopped up heads and sore throats. I'm still struggling with mine...but we didn't let that stop us from having a ton of fun! The weather was absolutely PERFECT! Here are lots of pics taking you through from start to finish...



Case on the plane on the way there. He did GREAT. He took two naps and entertained those around us! We had to wait for our bus to pick us up to take us to customs. The line at customs was ridiculously long...I dreaded it, but since we had a baby, we got to skip line!!! How cool is that! We were so glad that we had him! :)

Here are pics of the first place we stayed. This is the view from the second floor porch.

This is the view from our room.

Case loved being out in the breeze!

Case with Gramps at breakfast! Man, we had some delicious Mexican breakfasts while we were there...yummy! Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

This is the second place that we stayed. I was so excited that it had a pool. I just new that Case would love it....

...WRONG...he hated it! The water was too cold and he didn't even want his feet in it! Oh well.... Here he is checking out the sand with Daddy.

Case and Daddy working on their tans! Two peas in a pod, those two! Just alike! Case just has a bigger belly...at least for now...

Case and Gramps again...

Granna holding a worn out Case. James' mom was a pro at getting him to nap while we were there.

James took this picture...what was he doing??? He's just a little off, unless he was trying to photograph the jet ski!

I spent most of my time just like this...on the beach reading Twilight! It is so good! I can't wait to read the rest of the series and go see the movie! James even read it after me and he liked it too. I've even convinced him to go see the movie with me!

Case is really into chewing on his toes. This was in the Cancun airport waiting on our delayed flight home.

He slept the entire two hour flight back to Memphis! He was worn out!

We had a great time, but are glad to be back at home. Now, if we can all just get well!

In Like a Lion!

March 1st and snowed in! Yesterday afternoon about 2:00, I just happened to look outside and noticed that it was snowing! We've had ice in the last five years in Memphis, but no snow! I was so excited, but didn't think it would amount to anything! Boy, was I wrong...

These pics were all taken from our front door looking out across the street. This next picture was taken about 6:00 PM. Roads still clear and it was still 36 degrees, so I still didn't have my hopes up...

This is what we woke up to this morning! Looks like a winter wonderland! I love it!!!

And here's our house...

When it first started snowing the dogs didn't know what to think. They started barking at it! It was hilarious. This morning, they have been running around on the deck and in the back yard playing and rolling around in it like crazy. They love it. But, it makes them look so dirty. We think they look white until we see them in the white snow and they look grungy!

And here are a couple pics of the Case Man. We've just spent the entire weekend lounging around.