2005-2010...Maybe 2011 will break the cycle!

This is worth a short post on New Year's Eve...

I was thinking tonight of big events this past year and of course, Jonathan's birth came to mind. I then began to think about Stephen and Caleb as babies and realized something kinda crazy...I've been pregnant every year since 2005!!! What???

Here's the breakdown:

2005-Pregnant with Stephen
2006-Stephen was born (April)
2007-Wreck (Miscarriage of precious little one)
2008-Pregnant with Caleb/Caleb was born (October)
2009-Pregnant with Jonathan
2010-Jonathan was born (August)

And there you have it...6 years full of bellies, babies, and blessings!

Oh, and for the record, we are not planning on continuing the trend!!!=)

Happy New Years!

Christmas in Pics!

Here's the short, picture-edition of our Christmas:

Snacks for Santa on Christmas Eve


Reading a Christmas book before bed (notice my Jonathan-slobber shoulders!)


Stephen & Caleb with their cousin Ava at my Maw-Maw's house


Caleb forcing Jonathan to take a present


Me and Jeremy bundled up to walk from my parents' house to Maw-Maw's late one night


Opening the last doors on our Christmas calendar with Daddy


Christmas Eve pj's (a family tradition)

Our 3 boys with my Dad, Maw-Maw, and brother (Brian) watching a movie (praise Jesus I was handsfree for a moment!!)


Stephen and his Wii racecar


We took an unexpected trip to Chad and Dawn's for a night. The boys (all 6 of them!) had fun making sugar cookies!


Building with Keva blocks


All the grandkids on Jeremy's side of the family (notice there's only 1 girl!)


Sweet Jonathan fell asleep on the couch one afternoon snuggled up in a Christmas blanket!


Fun all around on Christmas morning!

We had a great time together as a family as well as spending time with our extended families! I'm so thankful for Christmas and the gift of a Savior we have to celebrate!

Merry Christmas!

What's Christmas without the Chick-fil-a Cow???

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Reminded of Miracles

If you've ever wondered why I originally "titled" this blog Miracles Happen, it goes back to the amazing miracles God performed in our family's life in August 2007.

Since most of you know our story, I'll skip sharing it this time (let me know if you have know idea what I'm talking about...), and focus on the miracle reminder I got tonight.

The boys have thoroughly enjoyed having the bounce house out the past couple weeks and are coming up with new tricks each day! Tonight I noticed Stephen's new skill of doing hand stands again the net sides. I did my best to capture the picture above.

This may not seem like a big deal for most kids, but when I remember that our little man's neck is supported by a metal plate, 7 screws, and 1 of his ribs, I am in awe again at the miracle God has performed in his life. We were so close to losing him, and that fear was closely followed by a fear of partial paralysis after his neck surgery.

After seeing how stiff Stephen's neck was when he got his brace off and watching him struggle with physical therapy, I now rejoice in his healing! Dr. Coutier, his neurosurgeon, would be surprised at his progress I'm sure. There's no doubt he's surpassed the 50% neck movement they predicted he'd have.

And tonight, as I watched him fearlessly bounce and bend this way and that, I was in awe all over again. Our God does miracles every day...I choose not to miss them!

Nearly a Year...

Christmas Eve will mark the 1 year anniversary of my Paw-Paw's homegoing. This time last year, he was in the hospital, and we were wondering what lay ahead. I was in the midst of spending as much time as possible with him and praying for God's peace and will to transpire in his life.

There are so many things I could write about Paw-Paw. You can read my deepest thoughts about him in a post I did last February. The link is:

http://tiffanylovesherboys.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=50

Tonight Jeremy and I were talking about last year's Christmas, and 2 things came to mind that mark last year as memorable. The first was Paw-Paw's death on Christmas Eve, and the mixed emotion of sadness and joy that all of us felt. The other was the shock of finding out were expecting our precious Jonathan.

It still amazes me that last year as I wept for the loss of one life, God was intricately creating a new one deep inside me. I felt the outer pain of loss while God knew the inner joy He was making.

My sweetest memory of the end of Paw-Paw's life was the last smile he gave me as he lays only days away from death. His eyes seemed to look right through mine as he smiled the most innocent, "I love you" smile you can imagine. Even now, I'm brought to tears as I remember that smile that lit up his entire face before he left this world.

And now, I have the sweet, innocent smile of Jonathan each morning. He looks at me with those big blue eyes, and I feel true love to the core. I get giddy inside and laugh outloud when I see those sweet lips turn up.

Who would have thought this time last year that the Lord would have given and taken away in such an amazing way? His plans are perfect, and I'll cherish every smile.

A Brief Disney Recap!

Here it is...my Disney post! I could do multiple posts on our exciting trip the other week, and load over 200 pictures on here, but I will refrain. There are so many fun things we did and funny stories I would love to tell, but again, it would take entirely too long. I will say, though, that we had an amazing time, and it was a perfect Christmas present from my parents! Thanks Mom and Dad!!!!

I also must say that our plans worked out very well! We did have to move at somewhat slower pace than usual because of having the 2 extremes of my nearly 80 year old Grandma, and our 3 month old little Jonathan! It was fun, though, all around, and I'll hit some of the highlights below...

My favorite memories were:
-Riding rides with Jeremy & Stephen at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party late one night
-Eating with the whole family at Rainforest Cafe
-Seeing how my Grandma was so amazed at everything Disney and getting her on some roller coasters...she'd never done anything like this before
-Laughing at how stunned Mama was when she got off Test Track (it's really not that bad!)
-Seeing all the beautiful Christmas decorations (my favorite was the light show at Hollywood Studios)
-Watching the boys play in the nightly "snowfall" in the small town of Celebration, Florida
-And so much more........

I also enjoyed the ride back home with the boys. I know that sounds crazy, but I had so many surprise toys and fun things in the car to do that it became another memory for us. I realize that this is just a season and before I know it, they'll be driving and not wanting to ride with Mom and Dad anymore! Those 9 hours ended up more precious than I could have planned for.

We had a great trip! It's always good to be home but truly, there's no place more magical than Disney!

The Many Hats of Caleb!

Have I ever mentioned how free spirited Caleb is??? Oh my word! Back in the summer he went through a spell of wearing a bike helmet everywhere we went. I rarely noticed he had it on until I caught a stranger looking at us oddly! After many, many weeks of helmet-wear, I weaned Caleb off it by hiding it in the garage. He hasn't asked for it in months, and I finally know what our son looks like without it on!=)

Saturday night, though, Caleb had been playing upstairs and came down wearing a "new hat." It's a cotton conductor's hat that goes with a Thomas Halloween costume Stephen wore a couple years ago. We laughed hysterically when he came downstairs with it on, but then laughed even more when he fell asleep with it on that night in his crib!

Although he hasn't worn it any today, I'm wondering if it's his new "helmet!" I really don't know where he comes up with these things, but it sure makes us laugh!=)

...Complete with a chocolate face!

Busy, Busy Saturday

(Stephen's in the blue coat, bending down and grabbing candy!)

Being a homebody myself, leaving our house on Saturday at 8:45 in the morning and not returning til 8:45 that night equals a hugely busy (rarely happens) day for our family! We've gotten into a kinda "late morning slump," where Caleb rarely wiggles til 9:30 in the morning, and we don't get downstairs to breakfast til after 10. I know, it might sound like we're lazy, but these cold days have caused the boys and I to kind of hibernate. I'm so blessed to have these quiet, do nothing days at home!

Saturday, though, was super fun despite being gone so much! We started off our day at the Bahama Christmas parade with some great Summit families. The family who hosted everyone had a delicious spread for us to enjoy. The parade was fun, and I don't know that I've ever seen that much candy being thrown out! The boys loved it!

After the parade, Jeremy went to speak at a Habitat for Humanity ceremony while the boys and I went to the Franks' house for lunch. Stephen and Caleb had a great time with the other kids that were there and again, the food was delicious!

Right before we planned to leave, it started snowing like crazy. Stephen and Caleb begged to go outside with the other boys, so we ended up staying a little longer than planned. They sledded, threw snowballs, and even had snow cream!

Afterwards, we drove to Graham where we had Christmas with my Mom's side of the family. It was nice seeing some cousins that we rarely get to see any other time of the year.

I realize during Christmas more than ever how blessed I am to have amazing friends and family!

Oh What Fun It Is To Ride...

A family tradition we started last year is taking a sleigh ride in Brier Creek. Despite the cold, we bundled up, headed to Jumpin' Johnny's for dinner (we LOVE that place!!), and enjoyed a fun ride through the shopping center. Stephen waved at the cars that drove by, and Caleb was in awe that a "horsie" was pulling us. The lady "driving" the sleigh suggested we sing Jingle Bells, and the boys joined right in. It was another precious memory for us this Christmas!

Christmas Snacks/Crafts Begin...

I love making things with the boys that go along with the holidays/seasons we are in. This year we haven't done much since we were at Disney last week.

We have, however, gotten a start the past couple days with frosted Christmas trees and a Gingerbread train. I sometimes doubt the messes are worth the fun, but the boys really enjoy it. In fact, I think the more messier it is, the more fun they have! Caleb especially likes tasting every thing we make! Can't wait to try some new "recipes" this coming week!

When the Weather Outside is Frightful...

It's way too cold to go outside and not enough snow to enjoy (or even look at for that matter), so we pulled out last year's Christmas present...the inflatable bouncer! The boys have enjoyed it more this morning than last year now that Caleb's older. I only fear that one of them will eventually end up with a bloody nose or something. I guess that's boys!=)

A Lap Full...

Yesterday we visited Santa at Southpoint Mall after having Christmas pictures made. Amazing how he looked totally different on the Santa Train!=) The boys did good talking to him, and no one cried…seriously, that’s a big deal!=) Stephen asked Santa for things that I’ve never even heard of and definitely haven't bought. It looks like I’ve still got shopping to do!

Santa Train Surprise!

...Not mad, just shocked still!=)





First off, I'm postponing my Disney post, because I tend to be a discouraged perfectionist when it comes to blogging, and I fear I won't do the post justice. Plus, I've got over 200 pictures and don't know where to start with choosing just the right ones to put on here.

So until I get adequate time to devote to that post, I'll skip ahead to the fun we had tonight on the Museum of Life and Science's Santa Train. A friend of ours (Thanks Melissa!!) gave us tickets, and we were super excited! We didn't tell the boys til we got there, which made things even more fun!

I will admit and agree with most other people I've talked to, that to us, the Santa Train probably isn't worth the expensive price they charge. It was fun, though, and something I'm happy we were able to share together as a family! The boys really enjoyed it with that sweet sparkle in their eyes!

PS-Can you find Jonathan in these pictures????????