bouncie house

Christoph and I took Austin to an indoor play center near my dad's house and Austin had the best time (we had a lot of fun too). He loved the bounce house with the slides in it the best

He would run around the bounce house and throw himself down.

Sliding down the bounce house slide.

Coming to a stop at the bottom of the slide.

Bouncing with mommy in the bounce house.

Riding the carousel with Uncle Toph

Riding the horse on the carousel with mommy

Going down the big slide

Running towards mommy after the big slide

airport fiasco

Austin and I flew last Thursday to Orlando, Florida to visit my dad and his fiance. My oldest brother Christoph along with my grandmother were there visiting as well. We had the most amazing trip (I will post the pictures over a few days) but I had to share our adventure flight home. We got to the airport on Monday at 4:10 make sure we had plenty of time to make our 5:20 flight. Right when we got there I realized that our flight had been delayed for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Not a good start. We then proceeded to wait in security for 45 minutes. When I took him out of the stroller I noticed a wet spot but thought that his milk had leaked. We went through security and I just carried him on my hip while we rode the tram and got to the other side. When I went to put him down, I realized that his pants along with my shirt were also wet. I quickly went to the bathroom to change him when I realized that his diaper had exploded poop all over. So that meant his pants, my shirt, and his stroller all had a nice wet, poopy stain to them. I had no change of clothes for either of us and I also realized that I had 1 diaper left for the next 5 hours until we got home. I tried rinsing his pants but realized that there were no hand dryers anywhere in the Orlando airport so he was just going to go pantless. I cleaned both of us up, started asking random strangers with toddlers if they had an extra diaper and all I found was a size 5 (he wears a size 3). We took the diapers anyways knowing I would need them (which he did because he drank 4 cups of milk and/or juice). We then sat around the airport waiting on our flight for 2 1/2 hours (it continued to be delayed). He was pantless the whole time. By the time we took off, he was already 45 minutes past his bedtime so that meant the next 2 hours were going to be pretty bad. He won't fall asleep on a plane so I came up with every possible thing to keep him entertained. We finally landed in Memphis at 9:45 Orlando time (which is the time zone he was accustom to) and we raced hom to bathe him and put him to bed. I was beat and so glad to be home.

blankets for Le Bonheur

"No Sew Blankets" is a new project the Forrest Spence Fund is a part of. We donated the funds to the Le Bonheur Club who started this project. The Le Bonheur Club Teens made the blankets and took them to the children on the Neuro floor at Le Bonheur. Each blanket had a tag on it with our logo on the front and the story and mission of the Fund on the back. We are proud to be a part of this project and smile thinking about the children on the Neuro floor snuggling up with a new handmade blanket.

A group of blankets

The front of the tag with the Fund logo

The back of the logo with the Fund story and mission

The Le Bonheur Club teens working on the blankets

birthday wish

The Forrest Spence Fund had the privilege of being the organization that was blessed by a little boy’s 5th birthday. Jackson turned 5 in January and instead of getting gifts for himself, he asked his friends to donate items and/or money to the Forrest Spence Fund. His birthday party collected over $200 and numerous items for the children. Jackson and his mother Jennifer met me at Le Bonheur on Wednesday to give the items collected to the Child Life Specialist of the Critical Care Units. This little boys zest and love for life was contagious and he was a true joy to be around. I pray that my sons will also have the giving heart and spirit of Jackson.

Jackson's Birthday invitation that went out to friends and family. (This is the front)

The middle of the invitation

The back of the invitation

Jackson and I presenting the items to Le Bonheur

Valentine's Dinner

My sweet Valentine made me a delicious dinner on Sunday night. He worked so hard on it and it was wonderful.

Hard at work in the kitchen (with Daytona on in the background).

Next to his masterpiece.

It was delicious. Steak with mushroom toppings, garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, and cheese biscuits.

The beautiful flowers he gave me.

We waited to eat dinner until Austin was asleep so we could have some great adult conversation. It was one of our best Valentine's.

Boston trip

David and I had the opportunity to fly to Boston this past weekend and spend 4 days just the 2 of us. It was wonderful. His aunt lives up there so she showed us around the city on Saturday and Sunday. We spent the night with her on Saturday night in her town (Hingham, about 45 minutes outside the city) and then spent Sunday and Monday night in the city at the Boston Park Plaza. We really enjoyed ourselves. Boston is a fun city with so much to do. We unfortunately didn't take too many pictures. We were freezing so we never took the camera out of my purse.

In front of our hotel

Standing on a frozen pond in the middle of the city

It's a...

BOY!!! We are having our third boy. We are thrilled with the news and praising the Lord that he is perfect, beautiful, and healthy as can be. Our OB said he couldn't make him any more perfect than he is. The ultrasound was a beautiful reminder of the work of Jesus on our lives and how He knit us in our mother's womb. We feel so blessed!!!

Meet baby boy #3...

Psalm 139:13-16
¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

more snow

David and I headed to Boston on Saturday for him to interview for a fellowship program in Pediatric Orthopaedics and Austin stayed in Memphis with his grandparents. They sent us a picture on Monday of Austin in the snow. Memphis was surprised with close to 4 inches of snow when they woke up Monday morning. They bundled Austin up and took him out to play in the snow. David and I loved seeing the pictures of him while we were in Boston.

eating a cookie

Here is the progression of Austin eating a cookie. I love how his face changes from not sure...to loving it! (By the way, this was before he got sick with the stomach bug. He is still on the Brat diet right now - Bananas, rice, apple sauce, toast)

stomach bug

The stomach bug hit our house like a ton of bricks. Austin started getting sick on Saturday and it came and went for 4 days. I started getting sick on Tuesday night at 2:00 am and had to go the hospital for 2 bags of fluids and 2 doses of Zofran for dehydration. The positive aspect of this is we got to see the baby. We were hoping to see the gender but the little stinker is breeched and sitting right over his/her private parts. The baby is doing great though. Growing just perfectly.

One of many times Austin fell asleep on daddy.

We spent a lot of time carrying Austin because he constantly wanted to be held. I pulled out the Bjorn because my arms started to get sore from carrying him. Quite a site the 2 of us were.

Thankfully I think our house is on the mend. I am feeling a lot better today. We are praying that David doesn't get it. The ER doctor said they are seeing close to 40 patients a day with dehydration from the stomach flu. It has hit Memphis hard.