Dear Isaiah

Isaiah,
I started this blog when I was pregnant with you. I had so many hopes, dreams and expectations for you. I never knew how much I could love someone until the day we met you. I love your Daddy's view on parenting. He says that God gives us children so that we can have a tiny glimpse of the unconditional and undying love that God has for us.


I know that we will have conflict as the years pass and sometimes we are going to have to be hard on you, but I hope you know it is all out of love. We want the best for you and sometimes tough love is a part of that. These past 14 months have been some of the best of our lives. You have brought a whole new meaning and perspective to life. I love watching you live life and learn new things daily. You have so much energy! I know I will never be the perfect Mommy but I trust that I am the perfect Mommy for you! That's why God blessed us with you. Here are my prayers for you:
1. You trust God and always have a relationship with Him. You can do ANYTHING if you give your life to Him.
2. You use Jesus' life on this Earth as a model for how to live your life. Be the hands and feet to others around you. Serve others before you serve yourself.
3. Know that you will never be perfect, know that you will make mistakes and know that that is OK! Jesus died on the cross for YOU!
4. I pray that you find a wife who loves God more than she loves you. I know that may sound strange but she can love you so much better if God is the first lover of her heart.
5. Know how much your Daddy and I love you. We are always here for you and will always be your biggest supporters. NOTHING you do will ever stop us from loving you.
I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for our family. God's grace, amazing parents, your Daddy's love and your life are the four greatest gifts I have received in my life.
I love you buddy,
Mommy

Before Guitar Hero......

Dear Isaiah,
"Back in the old days".....your Daddy used to play with this guitar. You got your hands on it at Pawpaw's house and went to town. This guitar has been through A LOT (if you can't tell). I think your Daddy may have smashed it once and Pawpaw put it back together for him. He spent many hours rockin' out to La Bamba on the fireplace with this guitar. Now you get to share a little piece of his past.

A quick stop in Birmingham

After our 11 day visit in Memphis we stopped in Birmingham to see my Memaw. She turned 90 on the 23rd of December and is still as sweet as she ever was. My two cousins stopped by to visit with their kids so we had a house full. It was so fun to see all of the little ones together. Isaiah followed the older two around while I loved on little Miss Caroline for a bit. Memaw loved having her house full of family and told me how much she wished Pawpaw could be there to see all the little kids running around and laughing. I know she misses him so much. I introduced her to the ipad2 and showed her all of our pictures from vacation, Isaiah's birthday, zoo trips, sea world and lots of other occassions. She really enjoyed catching up and looking at all of our pictures. She kept thanking us over and over. She was reading a book about getting older and how you wake up old one day. I asked her if there was anything she would do differently in her life and she said no. She said she is blessed and happy! What a great way to live. I hope I can look back on my life and feel the same way one day.
This is Isaiah and me with his great grandmother last year at Christmas.

This is us this year!

Christmas Take 3

As our trip to Memphis came to a close we were all exhausted. The day we were supposed to leave I packed for 6 hours. Hahahahha, yes we had that much stuff! It all worked out for the best though. We got to spend some down time with Cappy and GranDebbie that was much needed. Our ten day trip had been so busy we never really had any time to just sit and relax with the two of them. Good thing we did too or I wouldn't have had these great pictures to share! Before our arrival Cappy decided to deck the yard with Christmas lights just for his little buddy! He is one lucky skipper!

Christmas Take 2

On Christmas Eve we went to service at High Point Church with Mike's mom, Pete, Ash and Nick. If you are in Memphis and looking for a church home I would reccommend checking it out. I have heard so many great things about what is happening at this church! Then we went and spent some time with our sweet friends the Cobb's. It was so fun to watch all the kids run and play in the house. Christmas morning was spent with Pawpaw, Nana, Aunt Ashy, Uncle Nick, Uncle Dave, Aunty Krissy, Janet and the pups. After a mid day nap we head to Grandma Jean's for more food, presents and family time with Gigi, Pete, Aunt Ashy, Uncle Nick, Uncle Dave, Aunt Krissy, Grandma Jean, Christina, Scotty, Carmen, Blake, Rachel, Landon, Melissa, Lisa, Stephanie, Austin and Amber. Wow! That's a big family! Amber was in love with Isaiah and he loved her too! She was such a great little helper I wish she could come live with me and help out. hehehe FYI, this is going to be a long picture post!
Christmas Morning and Pawpaw and Nana's House










Christmas Afternoon at Grandma Jean's house

Christmas Take 1

This Christmas was a little bitter sweet. Bitter: Mike's Pawpaw Aubrey passed away just before the holiday and Sweet: we spent Christmas with family. Before we left for Memphis we went ahead and opened up the presents we had at home. You will see that the teacher in me went a little book crazy! Cappy and GranDebbie had already shipped their gifts as well.





Now apparently when we were on vacation this summer Isaiah asked his GranDebbie for an ipad2. I'm not really sure why a one year old needs an ipad2, but I am having lots of fun teaching him about it! ;)


Santa found Isaiah in Memphis and delivered his special present to him. We had lots of fun playing with the bounce house in GranDebbie and Cappy's den, but it works much better in our backyard. LOL