Hannah's Special Day

Hannah has learned about playing "hair-dresser" from her Sissy! She is just waiting on her hair to grow in so she can really play beauty shop.
This photo makes me giggle! The deal is Hannah has to be the hair-dresser or else!!!
Here we go!!! Now she's happy!!!
Hannah playing "Mommy"!!!
This was Hannah's special Baby Dedication Day at our church. Our pastor, Steve Hammack, performed the special ceremony. Mark and I acknowledge that Hannah is a gift from God, she is not ours to keep, and we made a promise to raise Hannah in a way that is biblical. We pray one day she will accept Jesus Christ as her own Lord Savior.

First Day of School

Sarah started her first day of preschool today at Bethlehem Christian Academy (BCA). Sarah has been looking forward to this day for years. She has been asking me for almost 2 years now when she could start school. Today was the day and my heartstrings were definitely pulled!
Several weeks ago, I took her to Belk's to pick out a "first day of school" new dress.
Mark went in late to work this morning, so he could experience the excitement with us. I am so thankful he was able to be there with us. I needed his strength as we walked away with one less little set of feet.
Sarah starting her coloring page this morning at her table.
I will love you forever Sarah! I am thrilled you are able to be in a Christian learning environment with biblical standards being taught and the opportunity for you to be around other little people your age.
Sarah telling Hannah bye-bye before we left. I cannot even start processing the fact that Hannah will be here in 3 years - AAHHH!!!
Sarah's teacher's name is Mrs. Teresa, and the assistant's name is Mrs. Kristie.

Hannah and I left "Sissy" at school and met my friend at Chick-fil-A for breakfast and then had a field trip to Monroe for some antiquing time.

It is definitely strange being on this end of things as opposed to being on the teacher end. My mind wonders back to the years when I taught first grade - granted a little different than pre-k - nonetheless still leaving one's child with another adult. I hope I came across as being reassuring, patient, and understanding with the parents and children. As I drove away, I started thinking: "Oh dear, what have we done, will she be okay without us, will she remember to go potty, will she remember that I love her, will she be okay if I am the last one in the carpool line to pick her up??" I prayed as I drove away, and knew that God had her in His hands protecting her every step. God gave me the peace to move on and know that He is in control.

Before I knew it, 3 hours were gone, and I had to zip back to Bethlehem. I really enjoyed spending the morning with Hannah. I look forward to having a lot more Hannah & Mommy time.
AH - deep breath!!! Safe and sound back in my "arms"!!! She had a splendid morning! Wow - 3 hours zip by very quickly! She hopped in the van, and said, "I learned how to spell the number one." Then, proceeded to spell it for me. Later she told me her teacher read the book, "The Kissing Hand" to the class, which is what I read to her a few weeks ago in preparation for school starting.

As a mother, I want to hear ALL about the entire the day, but I am learning to be patient and get the little tid-bits as they come to mind. Hannah and I took Sarah out for lunch - her choice - so we ended up at Taco Bell. Sarah asked me what Hannah and I did while she was at school. I told her we went antiquing with my friend, and her response was , "School was a lot more fun than antiquing!" I am so glad she feels that way. So, she will go again on Friday! Right now, she has to do some homework: locate 4 circle objects in the house and bring them in to show the class and learn her bible verse: "All things were made by Him."

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!!!

Mark, Grandpa, and Sarah went out to the Gwinnett Braves Baseball Game last week. I think Grandpa was the most giddy of all of them - He loves baseball! I snapped two photos at Grandpa and Grammy's house before they left and had to make Mark promise me he would get someone to take their photos at the game for me.

Mark, Grandpa, and Sarah about to embark on a fun adventure of baseball!!!

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."
Not sure who #96 is - oh well!!!
Grandpa looks happy - This is his element!!!
I think they snapped this one right before they left. Mark said Sarah finally got bored after about 2 hours (I completely understand Sweet-Pea!)!!! So, they decided to leave; however, he said Grandpa would have stayed until the very end - sorry Grandpa!
I am thrilled they were able to experience this together! I know if I had tried to take Hannah along, we would have been home a lot sooner than 2 hours. Maybe next year Hannah will be up for it -we'll see!

Misc. Activities

We had a hodge podge of activities this month. I took Sarah and Hannah to see the movie, "The Night At The Museum II". A local movie theater offered free movies every week during the summer months. So, I decided to give it a try with the girls. It was Hannah's first movie! She stayed busy the entire time munching on goldfish and cheerios. Thankfully, there were a few other babies enjoying the movie at the same time, so she wasn't the only not-so-quiet baby.
Mark and I celebrated our 7th anniversary (14 years including dating years - I always have to add that!) of being happily married by attending "The Phantom Opera" at The Fox Theater. We enjoyed a delicious dinner out at Benihana's before the show. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire evening out. I am so thankful for my husband who planned the whole evening out on his own. I told him I just wanted to dress-up and go out, so that's what we did! Thank you Babe'!
Hannah and I playing on the bed one morning!
Sarah and her friend Chloe playing dress-up while they were having a play-date.
The girls playing like brides and setting the table with a beautiful "tablecloth"!
Mark took part in a ribbon cutting for Dr. Jackson's dental office in downtown Atlanta on MLK Road - the heart of Atlanta. Mark's company, Seibert and Son, just finished the project so Dr. Jackson hosted a huge ceremony to celebrate.
Mark and I both were able to take part in the festivities to celebrate such an amazing accomplishment for the Dr. Jackson family. It was evidenced throughout their life that the Lord was definitely orchestrating all of the events which led up to this day! Yes, Mark is standing next to a Fox 5 News Anchor - Woo-Woo!!
I told you this was a conglomeration of miscellaneous events!
Mark and Sarah started a new project - very big project - a deck!
This is the beginning of the project - digging out the grass from around the patio.
Mark and Sarah wearing their matching "deck building t-shirts" as Sarah calls them. Mark is starting to dig the first footing for the deck. Sarah has been thoroughly excited about the whole process. She has been involved in every step from drawing a plan out on paper, to going to Home Depot with Daddy to buy supplies, and now to digging footings. I will post more pics along the way. Hopefully, we'll (Mark) will have it built in time for the cooler weather, so we can really enjoy it as a family.

If you know Hannah very well at all, you know she does not sit still for very long. So, I caught this snapshot during one of her idol moments. I think it was her first time sitting down in the girl's chair holding a book.

So, as you see this was a posting of playing catch up.

College Grad 2031

Our sweet little Hannah Joy turned one on July 7th. Of course, we had to have one year photos taken, but our wonderfully talented professional photographer (Kyle) and dear friends moved to Milledgeville last month. Which just so happens to be where Mark and I met and fell in love - OH - I know - sappy - right!!!! YES!!! I was more than eager to load up the mini-van and take a road trip to the old college town to visit our sweet friends and get some photos taken.

This photo was taken of Hannah sitting in front of the columns of Bell Hall, which is where I lived my first two years of college. Kyle wanted to set her on the front steps on Terrell Hall (next door to Bell), but I said it had to be in front of Bell. Any GC&SU alumni would totally agree with me! Oh my goodness memories were flooding my mind as I was on campus and driving through the town - so much fun!!! By the way, when I was living in Bell Hall it was totally non air conditioned! How in the world did I ever survive that???!!!!

This photo was taken of Hannah sitting on the beautiful lawn of front campus. Oh - so many hours were spent out there - studying of course!
Hannah's walking the path on front campus in front of "Chick-Chick" (Chick-fil-A). Many hours were spent walking back and forth on this path to and from classes. Do you see the benches in the background??? Ohhhh - the many hours Mark and I spent sitting on those benches just chatting it up! What in the world did we talk about - who knows - must have been good though!!!

As you can tell, I had the best time reliving old wonderful memories and taking the girls back with me to experience it! I am soooo looking forward to returning in the fall for Kyle to take photos of both girls on front campus. I just love the thought of having photos of our girls in the same places we spent hours chatting and YES - falling in love!!!!

Who knows - perhaps Hannah will be walking these same paths and sitting on the same benches during her college career and be a college grad in 2031????!!!! Sounds bizarre - 2031 -

In God's Hands

Family and Friends,

Mark and I have been blessed beyond measure with our two precious daughters. We are thoroughly enjoying being parents to Sarah and Hannah. We realize that our children are not ours, but they are God's children here for us to merely raise as for a short time to honor and glorify our heavenly Father.

We noticed when Sarah started walking she would not put her heels down, but instead she would tip-toe. As parents, we of course began to watch more closely and would remind her to put her heels down or walk flat. The constant reminders did not seem to work but would only frustrate her. When she was 3 years old, we took her to a pediatric orthopedic specialist who told us she was a habitual toe walker. He said she would most likely grow out of it, but to come back in one year, if she did not. So, another year went by, and she continued to literally tip-toe through life. We returned to another pediatric orthopedic specialist who recommended surgery to correct the problem. Of course, as parents we were stunned thinking - SURGERY - really??? We left the appointment in shock, and it took months of coming to grips with the idea of putting our little girl through such a traumatic ordeal, so we made an appointment with another pediatric orthopedic specialist who also recommended surgery. Over the course of both doctor visits, we were told she was unable to walk flat on her feet, because her tendon in the back of both legs are too tight, which cause her legs to hurt when she stands flat. So, even if she tries to stand flat, it is painful for her to do. Still we were uneasy and perplexed as what to do. We decided to let it sit for a while to ponder and pray. After much agonizing, pondering, praying, and discussing we have decided to go through with the surgery on December 27. We have been as open as we possibly can with Sarah (a 4 year-old) about the whole process. She is trusting her Mommy and Daddy to do what we think is best for her. However, she is adamant about not wanting to go through with it - to the point of begging us to forget about it and just not go to the hospital. We know the Lord is going to comfort her when we cannot and where we are not able HE will be covering her. So, on December 27, we will hand over our little girl to a doctor to perform what he calls on a "surgery scale" of one to ten - a .5. Although, the recovery process will be a little more intense: 2 weeks of non-walking casts, + 4 weeks of walking casts, and 6 more weeks of nighttime leg braces. We are asking you as our family and close friends to please be praying for Sarah to have peace, to be comforted, and healing to come through this procedure.
Here is the website about toe-walking in case you are interested: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1235248-overview

Now for Hannah! A little over a month ago, Hannah went through a sickness involving fever, vomiting, and diarrhea for about 10 days. The doctors were unsure as to what was causing all of this. The doctors were under the impression she had a really bad virus; however, she was not getting well. Finally, after 10 days of having a fever, loads and loads of laundering from the vomit and diarrhea, the doctor decided to test her urine. The afternoon of the urine test, the doctor called back with a positive urinary tract infection (UTI). The next day the culture was completely full of bacteria, so the doctor prescribed an antibiotic, which wiped it out. However, the doctor was concerned about Hannah being so young and getting a UTI. So, she had us go down to Scottish Rite Hospital for some tests: a sonogram and an x-ray. I took both girls with me for this venture, and they both were amazing! The only time I was not able to be with Hannah was during the time of the x-ray. I cried as I had to leave Hannah laying on the table with these strange people surrounding her wearing masks and using probing tubes. Sarah and I were on the other side of the door listening to Hannah sob, and poor Sarah had to watch me sob as well. Anyways, after the surgery the doctor informed me that Hannah's left kidney does not empty the urine out properly, instead the urine travels back up to the kidney, which is called Kidney Reflux. We went back to Hannah's pediatrician, Dr. George Stickeny (amazing doctor), who gave us the run down. There are 5 levels to Kidney Reflux: one being likely to outgrow and 5 needing surgery to correct. Hannah was diagnosed with level 2, which means will likely outgrow the condition in 2 to 3 years. We are treating it now with a daily antibiotic to prevent further UTI's. Each UTI causes kidney scarring and over time too much kidney scarring causes kidney damage. We are going to see a pediatric urologist next week as well just so we can closely monitor Hannah's situation. She will have the sonogram and x-ray procedure every 6 months to monitor her kidney reflux. Here is the website for Kidney Reflux in case you are interested: http://www.drgreene.com/azguide/vesicoureteral-reflux

Whew!!! I am tired after all of that - how about you??? We know the Lord is in control and our girls are in HIS hands of protection. We also know that we are immeasurably blessed by our Heavenly Father. Mark and I know that both of these conditions are very mild in comparison to so many other problems people are facing. So we don't want to sound like we are complaining, simply asking for your prayers for our girls. If you are reading this, we know you have a special place in your heart for our family and just want to share ourselves with you.

We look forward to what God is going to do with both of our girls!

Baby Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

After much pondering, Sarah and I decided for Hannah's first birthday party to be a "Baby Minnie Mouse" theme. We had so much fun planning it for her. I bought Hannah and Sarah coordinating Minnie Mouse (MM) outfits to wear for the party and MM ears - so cute! Sarah helped me plan everything from the cake to the games. She is such a little mommy!

So, in order to get everything prepared we had to get the grocery shopping done several days in advance.
Much to my friends and family's astonishment, I baked and decorated the MM cake. My friend, Rebecca has been my "cake lady" for several years, as well as Publix. However, I made Sarah's first birthday cake, so I wanted to make Hannah's as well. I found a picture of a MM cake on-line, so I copied it to the best of my ability. MM ended up being a little tan; however, she does live in Florida. The fondant bow was a little floppy, but it looked pretty descent.
The girls pre-party in their pj's after breakfast - before the chaos begins!
I made these MM ears for the mailbox for a little pizazz. I made them out of Styrofoam and just painted the foam after I cut the shape out. It took several layers of paint. Then, I just added a bow with wire and another wire around the bottom to keep it in place. I think it turned out pretty cute for our "925 Disney Drive" party.
Sarah set up a lemonade stand for the guests. Our church is raising money for orphans in Russia and Ukraine through the children having "lemon-aid" stands. The money will go to buy school supplies, birthday presents, and Christmas presents for the children. Sarah had a great time setting up the stand and passing out lemonade. Her cousin Trey helped her with it as well.
Here is the final presentation of the cake and cupcakes before they were indulged. My mother, Baba, offered to help, so I assigned her to the MM cupcakes. I was going to put little Twizzler bows on them as well; however, the bows did not stay put too well.
Here are the MM cupcakes on their display before the kiddos ate them up. She bought Oreo Cakesters, cut them half, and placed them on the top of each cupcake. They were delicious - thank you Baba!
I borrowed a MM plastic container from my mother, so I pondered what to do with it for the party. I came across a recipe for a Jello Fruit Mold, so I decided to give it a try. I think it turned out as a refreshing healthy snack.
This picture makes me giggle! Sarah, my niece Morgan, and Ellie are eating their lunch while Hannah snatches food from their plates. Hannah is thinking: "It's my birthday party, why is everyone else eating and not me?"
Our family photo before the girls got messy and wet.
The kids played water balloon toss. Hannah was the youngest child at her party, so I was gearing the games more toward the the other kids. So, Mark held Hannah for the water balloon toss. We didn't want her to be left out.
Sarah is chasing me around the yard with a water balloon!
Lucas enjoying the bucket of water after the game - much to Rebecca's disliking!
The kids are participating in a sponge race now.
Sarah and Ellie racing back to their teams!
I think this was my reaction to Noah falling into the baby pool full of water, which started a domino reaction - of course!
This is Hannah post-birthday cake. Silly Mommy forgot to put the precious MM ears on her for the candle lighting and birthday singing - oh well! She's precious anyway!
Sarah and Ellie playing dress-up post-party. They have always enjoyed playing princess dress-up. For some reason, Ellie seems to always end up in the Snow White dress????
Sarah and Ellie playing "spa" post-party. They wanted a manicure and pedicure! Like mother - like daughter!
Some more post-party fun! We busted out the slip-n-slide for a whirl! Daddy demonstrating how it works!
Sarah finally getting brave to really give it a try.
Little Hannah appreciating the coolness of the water in the 90+ degree day.

We truly had a fabulous day celebrating Hannah's first birthday! I still have hard time realizing that my little baby isn't such a baby-baby anymore. We are blessed beyond measure for our precious girls. I pray Hannah will always know she is loved by her Mommy and Daddy!
Happy Birthday my sweet Hannah Joy!!!