Keep praying for Jacob!

Baby Jacob is having surgery in the morning, (Friday, January 30) to move his liver down in the correct spot, fix the hole in his diaphragm, and then see how his lung(s) respond. Please get down on your knees and pray specifically to 1)be with the surgeons and that they will have the knowledge and the ability to fix sweet Jacob 2) to give Jeff and Julie the peace and endurance to deal with the ups and downs of tomorrow and the coming days and weeks, and 3) to be with Jacob and prove that he is a miracle and will defeat the odds! Our God is good . . . thank you to those of you who are praying! You can check Jacob's blog HERE. He is a cutie!

Baby Jacob is here!

We just got the word from Vanderbilt:

Julie had to have a C-section this evening. The cord was wrapped around Jacob's neck, which was causing his heart rate to drop. He was born at 7:45, 6 lbs. 13 oz, with blonde curly hair. He screamed when the doctors removed him (which was good) and they then intubated him. He is now in the children's hospital on a ventilator, which is better than the ECMO machine they thought he would have to be on. Julie is stable and has gone to her room.

Keep praying for baby Jacob! You can check out their blog HERE.

And the winner is . . .

I know that everyone has been anxiously awaiting the winner . . . (not really, but let me humor myself!) but we've had a busy day today! First we took both kids to the doctor this morning. Carolina went last Sunday for an ear infection and has still been acting like she feels bad- not eating and pulling at her ears. But she got a green light - she's just fussy I guess- her ears are getting better (her 4th ear infection!) Lawton has had a fever off and on since Thursday - soaring all the way up to 103.7! He has no other symptoms, but we took him on in (just in case) since we were heading to the doctor anyways. But he got a green light too, just a "fever virus" I guess! Sooo . . . we got the kids dressed after being cooped up in the house a couple of days. . .

. . . they were giddy with excitement . . .

. . . and do you know where we went????

to the CIRCUS!

We had a great time! I have wanted to go for several years now and we finally went! My favorite part was the elephants, and my palms seriously got sweaty watching the trapeze man hang from a looped rope with his FOOT (and had NO safety net!) I was a nervous wreck. It made me think of the first time I can remember being scared of heights. Someone (ahem - Dad) made me look over a cliff while we were camping with a group from church. I was shaking in my boots (actually, probably Tretorns {remember those?}) . SCARY!

Lawton was mesmerized!

Side note: I found this on the Ringling Bros. website - if you register your child before they turn a year old, you can get their first ticket FREE! Children under two are free anyways if you hold them in your lap, but when Carolina turns three, she will have a free ticket (if I can keep up with it for that long! :) However, we only paid $6.50 for our tickets - which weren't that bad! Go HERE if you want to sign up for a free ticket!

But, oh yeah, do you want to know who won? I put all the numbers in my cute snowman bowl and drew out . . .

#11!! Congrats to Hollee! Lilly and Marlee (her two girls from her TRIO!) will love a new bow holder! (And now I have to figure out how to send it to TX! :) Hollee, just e-mail me at chadandlaurabeth@yahoo.com and we can get the details worked out! Thanks for entering!

Pray over these babies!

Okay all my blogging buddies, we need to cover these babies and their families in prayers, and I feel called to share with all of you and charge you to spread the word!

Pray for Jacob
First, our friends Jeff and Julie Tuley are expecting their first child. Julie teaches at Chad's school and we actually went to Lipscomb with Jeff. Anyways, sweet Jacob Elliot was diagnosed with a diaphragmatic hernia at the 2o week ultrasound and they have received very discouraging news since that day. Jeff and Julie are faithful believers in God and are going to be induced to deliver at Vanderbilt this Sunday night, January 25 and have elected to let the doctors perform surgery immediately upon his arrival. Now, I know that a lot of you who are reading this "don't have time to make comments" or like to remain anonymous. But, will you please make an exception this one time? They have recently started a blog - will you please go there, leave them a comment that you are thinking about them and praying for them. I can't imagine how comforting it would be to have tangible evidence that people are praying for them - fervently. Help lift up little Jacob to our heavenly Father and plead that God will perform a miracle. You can click HERE to see their blog.

Pray for Reed
A prayer of thanksgiving! Ryan and Keeley White, friends that go to church with us, had twin boys back in November. Braden was (and is) completely healthy, but Reed has been waiting for a new heart since he was born. On Monday he underwent a successful heart transplant and is recovering wonderfully! Pray that he continues to have a smooth, speedy recovery and that God will comfort the donating family and their loss. You can click HERE to see their blog.

Pray for Harper
I don't know this family personally, but have been touched by Kelly and her blog and her story. Harper was born last Friday, (9 lbs. 12 oz!) but was somehow born with pneumonia and is very critical but stable condition. You can click HERE to see Kelly's blog.

Pray for Witt
Annalee, a friend of mine from Shiloh days, has a very sick nephew, Witt. He was born with a chromosomal condition (originally thought to be Trisomy 18 but I don't think it is) and needs our prayers. You can read more about Witt HERE.

Please cover these babies and their families in prayer!

(And on a totally unrelated, unimportant note, don't forget to sign up for my give away on my last post! I'm feeling a little worried that none of you like the board . . . or are afraid because you don't have kids or have boys . . . but I can make a boy bulletin board - promise! I'll close the give away on Friday night!)

My first give away ever!

Hip, hip, hooray! It's Mommy's first give away!
This past week, Chad and I were blessed with two pleasant surprises. Chad and I ran into an acquaintance from college twice over the past month. This week we received a box full of five Christian and parenting books from him - as his personal ministry to others. It was such a kind, thoughtful gift.
Friday night, Chad and I actually went on a rare date to use an Outback gift card that we received for Christmas. After being seated, a man that Chad has gotten to know through his school came over and chatted. About half way through the meal, the manager came over and told us that our dinner had been taken care of and he insisted that we get dessert and after dinner drinks, too. (decaf coffee for us - ha!) Chad and I were so excited! We thought that only happened in the movies!
So, I thought I would "pay it forward" in my small way (and still look for other ways in the meantime). I'm giving away a bow holder board thingy! :) I have gone crazy and organized the entire house - drawers, closets, cabinets, etc. While cleaning up, I realized that I had all the materials to make Carolina a bow holder (minus some extra ribbon), so away I went!

Here are the step by step instructions if you want to do one yourself . . . but go to the end of the post if you want enter for me to make your own custom board!

First, I hot glued some batting (found at fabric stores) on foam core board (found at Wal-Mart, craft stores, etc.) When I do this for one of you, I will wrap the batting around the edges. You'll see why at the end. . .

Then I hot glued the fabric around to the back, pulling tightly, but not too tight.

I evenly spaced out the vertical ribbons, testing out how far I wanted them apart by putting some bows on as "testers". I hot glued them to the back.

Then I played around with how I wanted the "horizontal" ribbons. This design was way too busy.

This was a little too boring for my taste. :)

I thought that this design was a nice compromise, and went with it. Did I make the right choice?

Here's the finished product! The edges are a little bumpy, and my perfectionistic ways are a little bothered by it, but the truth is, hardly anyone will see it when you walk in the room because the bathroom door that links our room to hers usually is open and covers it. I let it go. Aren't you proud of me? :) I hung it by nailing straight through the fabric and board - the ribbon covers up the nails.

Just in case you were wondering, all her little bows that she wears now are hanging up inside her closet. When Chad saw the "big" bows (that were passed on to me from my friend, Melanie - hallelujah!), he said, "Wow! Those bows are big! I just laughed and told him - just wait! They will get so big before we are done with bows! he! he! :)

And you know how Carolina wears a lot of my clothes that my mom made? These are all of the LITTLE clothes that my mom made for me and my sister. There are two more big boxes still at her house of bigger sizes. Can you believe it? She made some beautiful things - and most of these are spring/summer dresses (at least in my mind).

Okay, for the giveaway! I am going to change my settings so that anonymous people can leave a comment. Just be sure to leave your name! And sorry to the moms of only boys or no kids- but you can try to win for your niece, your friend's kid, or, wait, I guess this could be a bulletin board, too!

I have two types of fabric that I can use - but if you want it to really match the room you will have to send me the fabric and I will buy the ribbon and everything else.

Leave a comment of something nice someone has done for you lately - or if you can't think of anything, what would you do for someone else? I will leave it open until Friday at 6:00 p.m. Good luck and spread the word! :)

Pray for Harper

A few months ago I stumbled upon Kelly's blog and did the tour de'nursery if any of you remember that. Anyhow, I kept going back because this girl is the sweetest, most Southern :), most spiritual blogger. After struggling with infertility, she got pregnant and was induced to have Harper on Friday, expecting a completely normal delivery. In short, the doctors didn't know if Harper would survive at all and flew her to Tulsa, OK (Kelly lives in Arkansas). You can click on the button to the right to get updates and join me in praying!

The sounds of Carolina

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

These are just a few of Carolina's more prevalent sounds. The girl likes to talk! Enjoy the trill (usually when she is mad or frustrated), the growl/gurgle, and the "Commodore honk" as Houston terms it! I love these sweet baby sounds!

A fun family getaway!

Right after Christmas we went to a nice house in Burnside, Kentucky (on Cumberland Lake) with my parents, sister and brother-in-law and nephew. We had a great time and just did a lot of relaxing, playing with the kids, and just hanging out! They had an old Nintendo (which Lawton quickly discovered and figured how to play :), ping pong/pool (my dad LOVES to play ping pong - he is pretty competitive!) and a foos ball table. We had a great time with our family! I broke up the trip into several posts tonight, so keep scrolling down (if you really care, ha!!!)

Carolina was just talking and squealing in the bath tub having a good ol' time. Poor Luke, he got scared by this squealy girl (which he did all weekend) and started crying . . .

Carolina is like "What's the matter, cuz? I'm just talkin'! Do ya want my cup?"

"Mommmmmieee! He hurt my feelings!" (We were all just dying laughing at them. . . why are crying babies funny sometimes?)

On a rock in the front yard

She was squealing again! We got these matching outfits for them last year while we were pregnant! :)

Dandy getting in some snuggle time!

There could be nothing better but to chew on all these toys in our pajamas!

Just a strollin'

The house we stayed at had a double stroller, so we took advantage of it! We went out and enjoyed the beautiful weather and let Lawton try out his new bicycle!

Luke and Carolina were enamored by Lawton and his constant motion!

Aren't they cute? :)

Boys will be boys

What is it about boys throwing rocks in water? They never get too old! I made Lawton sit down on this rock beside me and not get up while we were throwing rocks in the lake. The Wolf Creek Dam is the highest priority in the nation right now because of it's risk to fail. They have lowered the lake by forty feet to help ease the strain, so we are actually sitting where it used to be underwater. You can see when Chad hurls the biggest rock possible off the cliff (you have to listen closely to hear it hit) that it is a huge drop off the cliff. I was so nervous he was going to slip and fall. . . Oh, and at the end of the video Lawton says "I'm a rumor weed" like in one of his Veggie Tales videos. Just to clear that up . . .

Cumberland Falls

We checked out Cumberland Falls one day that was just about 2o minutes away from where we were staying. It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed a picnic lunch on some rocks while we were there. I included this picture above not because it is a great picture, but because it will forever remind me how Lawton kept on drilling Chad in the head with the binoculars. Chad is so patient. When we were leaving Lawton said his favorite part of the Falls was looking though Noni's binoculars!

Our only family picture. Carolina was asleep while we were near the waterfall.

Lawton ate lunch on his very own self-proclaimed "pirate ship". Don't you see it? :) What made it great was that some girls eating nearby gave Chad a toy from their Happy Meal for Lawton. Chad hid it in some tall grass and sent Lawton to look for "treasures". Lawton was so surprised and excited because he thought he had truly found a treasure!

Ooohhh! The wind is blowing in my face! (Carolina has Chad wrapped around her little finger)

In front of the falls (minus Carolina who was asleep in the stroller)

Kathryn, Andrew and Luke - and guess what? Andrew is going to be the preacher at a church in Russellville, Kentucky! We are excited for them and know God will use them in great ways! They just accepted the position this past week.

Cumberland Falls video

Here's a shot of the awesomeness of Cumberland Falls in Kentucky.

And . . . she's off!

This girl is sooo busy now! She started crawling and sitting up from her stomach/back a few days ago. So, that is all she wants to do now! She is too busy to nurse or to fall asleep . . . she will just sit herself up and try to play in her bed. Is it possible to have a child just as busy as Lawton - or busier - or have we just forgotton this stage? We could be in trouble . . .

Pickler/Thomas Christmas

We got together with our lifelong friends, the Picklers, the day after Christmas. Things were a little bit different this year with three babies vs. one two year old last year!

This picture is about the best I was able to capture of the four of them. However, I'm glad I captured this because Lawton is ALWAYS kissing on Carolina's hands and cheeks. ALL THE TIME. She apparently, though, was oblivious to him!

Poor Luke. I think all the paparazzi scared him! Jonah has the cutest curls now! You can't really see them here though.

Carolina, on the other hand was happy as could be with all the flashing cameras!

When Lawton opened this sweater from Sissy, he exclaimed "AWESOME!" with so much enthusiasm. It cracked me up . . . he was truly excited . . . and we have never had the "how to react to presents" speech. :)

Nick and Amy, Jeremy and Marie, Chad and me, and Andrew and Kathryn

The grandparents and grandchildren! Poor Sissy - she fell and broke her ankle a couple of weeks ago while on vacation - thus the wheelchair. :( She and Buddy finished out their vacation, though!

We had a good time getting together with lifelong friends!

Santa actually did come . . .

. . . despite what he had threatened earlier. He actually was very nice and brought Lawton and Carolina exactly what they both wanted, plus a little extra! ;)

Here is Lawton's loot from Santa - the red bike he had been wanting, a Hot Wheels bike helmet, some books, a calendar, and a stocking full of fun goodies!

Okay, here's the hilarious part of the morning . . . Lawton, like always, woke up around 6:15 and came and crawled into bed with us. We were afraid that he might be so excited about Santa that he would run into the living room and check things out without us. So, the night before, Chad and I created a barrier with chairs and blankets in the doorway from the hallway into the living room since his room is six feet down the hall and there is no door. After he crawled up into bed and sat there a minute, we had to remind him that Santa had come. Once we did, he immediately perked up. Chad and I had him wait in the walk-through room, "my craft/junk room" while we got the cameras ready, etc. While waiting for us to get ready, he found a little ceramic schoolhouse ornament that someone had given Chad at school that just hadn't made it to the tree yet. So, we told him to come on in and he is holding the ornament up, saying "Look what I found!! I found an ornament! I'm going to hang it on the tree!" and then proceeds to hang it on the tree, his loot all right behind him as he walked 9 inches away from it. Then, he looks up at the stocking shelf and notices that all the stockings are missing. He then happens to notice Carolina's stocking sitting in the recliner and all her presents and gets so excited looking at them. We had to ask/remind him to look for his. He finally notices his in the corner of the room by the front door and gets so excited. . . Chad and I were dying with laughter at his obliviousness and innocence.

We frequently call him Mr. Oblivious because he will step on our feet over and over and not even notice, whack Chad in the head and um, other places, while he is sitting in his lap, almost plow over little old ladies at church and in stores and be completely unaware of his surroundings. . . (He doesn't run into things or trip, though - just causes pain to others around him.) So, to document his obliviousness, I wrote on the bottom of the schoolhouse ornament, "Mr. Oblivious - Christmas morning 2008" to remember next year during my trip around the tree.

If I can figure out how to get a snippet of video off of my real video camera, I might post it sometime. Chad documented the whole zig zag around the room . . . :)

Trying out the new helmet and bicycle. . .

And here is Carolina with all her goodies - a baby doll (Madame Alexander Baby Hug'ums), her very own girly towel, a suitcase, books and a stocking full of goodies! "Hey, is this a baby like me?"

"Let me fix her hair!"

Carolina loved her new baby doll! (And bless her heart, her bow is slipping out of the six hairs it is clinging to! Ha!)

She is getting into her stocking . . . a sippy cup, puffs, yogurt melts and a little bitty baby, too!

Lawton was so excited to rip into his stocking, too!

And did you read the note at the top of the page? Santa was so thoughtful that he brought doughnuts from Krispy Kreme for breakfast! That Santa must have known that would be a special Christmas morning treat! What a guy! (notice Lawton had put on the Transformer costume already!)

And then while we were getting ready, Carolina was playing in her crib. I looked in and saw her standing up! We had just lowered her bed the day before and I thought she had finally pulled herself up after trying so hard. I excitedly took a picture and called Chad in to look. He calmly said, "I stood her up there". . . Oh. It's a cute picture anyways. But, she did pull herself up last night for the first true time and she has started scooting all around and can sit up from laying down, all since the day after Christmas. I tell ya, she is a very obedient girl (and now she is a very crazy, busy girl)! I told her she could start crawling after Christmas when all the decorations were put away and she listened to me! :) That's my girl! What a Merry Christmas morning!