Memories with my Grandfather

To say that my grandfather was an amazing man would hardly do him justice. Ya know how there are some people in your life that inspire you to be better? To live life to the fullest? To treat everyone around you like they could indeed be an angel? That was my grandad. This world lost a true servant of Jesus.
I am fortunate in that my grandparent's (both sets actually) lived within 15 minutes of me. I have vivid memories of going to my grandparents house on Sunday's after church... this is where the tradition of roast, rice and gravy for Sunday lunch began. I remember my brother and I going in their back yard (they had an AWESOME back yard... I don't know why but there was always something fascinating for us to do out there) and throwing objects onto the roof just to try and catch them when they came back down. Occasionally, we would throw these objects over the house and into the street. My brother, sister and I spent a lot of time at their house. As some of you fellow C of C'ers may know, we had "assigned" seats at church on Sundays. Okay, they weren't literaly assigned but for as long as I can remember my family sat on the 5th row and my grandparent's sat right behind us on the 6th row. Because my grandfather was an elder, we were NOT to misbehave. So, my grandmother brought us Starbursts every Sunday. I have to say I really miss the weekly candy before Sunday service. My grandparents attended every sporting event, school function, grandparents day,etc that my brother and I (and I'm sure my sister as well) had.  They were an active part of my life. I didn't realize how lucky I was to have them in the same city as me until I found out the news that they were moving to Madison, AL. I actually remember the exact location I was when I found this out 8 years ago (in the church fellowship hall). I was young, but I was devastated. See, I had no clue THEN how "important" my grandfather was. I only knew him as my grandad... the person that would sit in the crowd during choir concerts, or attend softball games, or play in the back yard with Bob and I. Now, I realize how well respected he was in the community, how he changed peoples lives, and how he taught so many people what it meant to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
I was concerned when my grandparents moved because I feared we wouldn't have the same relationship that we had always had. That wasn't the case at all. In fact, our relationship may have grown stronger. My grandad and I have a lot in common. First, we both have a love for the human body and science. There aren't many people who can sit around all day talking about autopsies and the science behind drug overdoses, but we certainly could. My grandad helped start the Forensic Science department in Alabama (and now has a buidling named after him in Huntsville) and he had some very interesting cases. I wish I could have been with him during a couple of those cases, but we relived it together many times. Secondly, we both have a love for Vanderbilt. My grandad went to school there, so we spent a lot of time talking about the campus...what it looked like when he was there and what has changed since then. He told me more than I ever needed to know about the history of that school... I feel like I could write an essay about it. My grandad an I had a special relationship... it's one of those that you can't really put into words. We just "got" each other. We had many of the same passions, and we could talk for hours about stuff that others may find mundane. It was exciting to us.
While I have all these memories that will certainly stay with me forever, what I remember most about my grandad was his wisdom. There are few people in my life that are wise enough that when they speak, I know to listen. He was certainly one of them. He KNEW scripture. He spent his life studying the Bible...this is seen by the hundreds of books/commentaries/studies that he has in his library. Grandaddy challenged me to learn more. If I had a belief (especially if it was different than his) I better study it thoroughly. Apart from his Biblical wisdom was his life wisdom. I remember back a couple years ago when Kyle and I were dating and going through one of those rough patches that couples often go through, I was talking to my grandad about it. I was telling him about what was going on with us and how mad I was at my now husband, and my grandad looked at me and said what I will never forget and what he said many times after that, "Grandaugter, this too shall pass. Kyle is a good guy, and people make mistakes. Forgive him."  See, my grandad had a way of making problems easier to get through. Like Jim said at his funeral, it's not that he blew them off as unimportant, but he knew that life is bigger than the minor details. It's the big picture that matters. My grandfather understood the big picture of life. What I learned at his funeral was that he made an impact on everyone that he came in contact with. He left a legacy for our family to live up to. What I want in life, and what I pray for all my family, is that we can somehow fill his shoes. There are BIG shoes to fill. Before I say an unkind word about a stranger, I will think of him. Before I drag on Sunday mornings and complain about the inconvienence it presents for babies, I will think of him. Before I read scripture and jump to a conclusion, I will study it hard and think of him.
I wish everyone had the opportunity of knowing my grandad. I am truly blessed to have had him in my life for 25 years.

Happy 2012!

New Year's isn't normally a holiday that I care much about. To be honest, I rarely even stay up to see 1201. But I had New Years off from work, so we decided to celebrate. We took Mason to Auburn to hang out with his grandparents while Kyle and I spent some time with friends in Fort Worth, TX. Kyle and Brad have been good friends since high school and throughout college. Brad and Anna started dating when we were all still in Auburn, so we got to know her really well too. Kyle was actually in their wedding back a couple years ago, which is the when he first discovered his love for Fort Worth.Ever since then, Kyle has been saying that he wanted to go back and see the town more. So thats what we did. Anna took us on a tour of Fort Worth- we saw the TCU campus, went downtown, had an amazing lunch at a local Mexican restaraunt, and finally spent some time at the Stock Yards. This is what I expected Texas to be! Cowboy hats, boots, longhorns, and lots of fun shops.

You can't go to Texas and not at least try on cowboy boots. Kyle liked these ntil he found out that they were $700. Wrong store for us!

 For $5 I could sit on a long horn... when else will I EVER get this opportunity? Never. Of course I did it.

This is a picture of the largest Honky Tonk in Texas!

We spent most of the trip relaxing at their beautiful new house-playing Wii and watching football. We went to a local chicken restaraunt for dinner called Babes. It was SO good! Then we went back to their house and watched a TERRIBLE movie with Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake.For New Years Eve, Brad and Anna had some friends over to watch the Auburn football game and, of course, watch the ball drop. I want to put in a blurb about how disappointed I was in the New Years Eve coverage in New York City this year. No wonder I don't stay up watching the ball drop... it is very anti-climatic. Regardless, we had a GREAT time hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones. And it always helps when Auburn wins!

Thank you Brad and Anna for letting us come to Texas and enjoy some vacation time! We had a great time and look forward to doing it again soon!

10 Months

In the business of the holidays, I almost forgot to get Mason's 10 month pictures! He is actually more like 10 months and a week in the pictures, but nevertheless here they are.

He has a new fascination with his tongue. I totally contribute this to Kyle teaching him how to blow bubbles with his mouth. If my kid grows up to be a spitter, we all have Kyle to thank for it!

So like I have said before, pictures are starting to get pretty difficult. He does NOT sit still...not for two seconds. The pictures end up looking more like this:

This past month has been so much fun! Everyday I wake up and think "What will Mason do that will make me laugh today?" If I am in a bad mood or ever feeling defeated, I look at him and it makes everything better (cliche'... I know). Kyle and I are so blessed to have such an amazing baby!

I feel like he has grown up so quickly in the past two months. This month he has hit two big milestones (at least in my opinion it is a milestone): he can now say "mama" and he pulls himself up to a standing position. As much as moms dont want to admit it, we take it somewhat personally when our babies spend all day (literally ALL day) saying "dada" despite our every effort to teach them "mama". About a week after he learned mama, he started saying "dog". Glad to know he thinks so much more of me then he does a dog that doesnt even care for him that much! Really though, I feel very proud (even if he doesnt know what the word means) and it brings a huge smile to my face every single time I hear it!

Mason has loved playing with all his new toys he got for Christmas! Some of his favorites are his Mickey Mouse car, his forest animal sing along, and his basketball hoop. I go around singing the songs to these toys all day long... some of them are actually quite catchy! He also loves playing in the kitchen while I cook, still chases Cali around the house, and still loves the dishwasher. His MOST favorite thing to play with is the toilet paper. We have to keep all the bathroom doors shut because as soon as we turn around he is in there with the entire roll of toilet paper either in his mouth or all over the bathroom. I have started laughing at it... Kyle, on the other hand, doesn't find it very amusing!

Mason continues to be an excellent eater. He is eating about 1/2 baby food and 1/2 table food. His favorites include: pasta pick-ups, peas, mashed potatoes, avacado, yogurt, and squash. He still takes 3 bottles a day before he sleeps. This is going to be a very difficult process to wean and I am dreading it!! We made the unfortunate mistake of giving him a bottle before he naps, so he has learned to associate the two together. I pray that this is an easy transition in a few months, but I dont have a good feeling about it. Any suggestions moms?

Our little boy got promoted to Nursery 3 this past Sunday at church. For the first time ever, he cried when I dropped him off. I thought maybe he was just having a rough morning and it was a fluke, but when I dropped him off at the YMCA's childcare a couple days later he did the same thing! Separation anxiety? Just cranky? I dont know but it breaks my heart.

On a random note: Kyle is loving his big green egg!

Mason's first Christmas- Part 3

After enjoying our time at the Creamer's, we headed to my parent's house- a much different experience as there are 7 adults, 3 babies, 4 dogs and a cat living under the same roof. Even in all the chaos, it was a nice, relaxing holiday. I think I will just let pictures tell the story....

Emily loves the tree!

 The baby girls can walk now!! I saw them before Thanksgiving and they could take a couple steps, but they weren't fully walking. Oh boy, they are all over the place now! It is so fun to watch...

My mom found these old chairs (I think they were my sisters...not really sure?) in the attic and the babies LOVED them! Even Mason joined in with his cousins and rocked in them.

We always have high hopes of getting pictures of all the babies, but it usually doesnt work out quite like we hope. Once again, we thought it would be a great idea to get pictures of them in front of the tree...

Yes, those are spice bottles that you see in the babies hands. They all found the spice cabinet and pitched temper tantrums if we took the bottles away. So, we gave in and said "what will it hurt". After Emily got a drop of extract on the tongue, we decided to empty all the spices and let them just have the bottles... they were just as happy... and it kept them occupied for hours.

Aunt Ashley with Maggie

After we put the babies to bed, we decided to go ahead and open "Santa" presents. Normally we open family presents on Christmas Eve and then wake up on Christmas morning and open Santa presents. Since I had to work Christmas day, we moved everything up a night.

these are NOT all kyle's presents

My parents had these books made for Kyle and I as well as Hea and Jay. If you can't see the words, it is a book of Mason's first trip to the beach. We took a family beach trip back in August and I am SO excited that my parent's thought of this idea. It is a story we will be able to pass on when Mason grows up. Thanks mom and dad!!

Hea and Jay's reaction when they found out they received tickets to the National Championship game (Jay is an Alabama fan!

So it was my turn to open next and what do I get?? A new CAMERA!! Woo hoo!! I love taking pictures (mostly of Mason) but hated the pictures I got with my old camera. I spent the rest of the time testing out my new camera (meaning I took LOTS of random pictures of Mason).... 

Uncle Bobby with Emily

Mason still loves door stoppers

He decided to show Maggie how cool they are

Bob helped me test out my portrait view on my camera



After we ate dinner...

After the guys woke up from there "it's the turkey making me tired, but really i just ate entirely too much food" nap, we let the babies open presents. Since Mason did so well at his heyhey and nana's house, I was expecting this night to be no different. Well, I was slightly wrong. Mason decided halfway into opening presents that he was ready to eat. So, I attempted to feed him our leftover Christmas meal...only he threw the entire thing up. So, we stripped him down, bathed him and put him in the highchair to eat again. The girls, on the other hand, had a great time playing with Mason's presents that we opened for him!

Mason gave the girls matching pink Ugg's.

Emily with her fashionable new hat

We had an amazing Christmas and Kyle and I are so thankful to our families for all you did! Here are some random shots from the weekend that I couldn't leave out.

We have this joke with Poppie about dogs... we HATES dogs so every year we give him something related to a dog. This year my brother found this singing dog... the girls thought it was the best thing ever.