Where have we been?!?!

WOW! It has been a very long time. I feel like every time I get ready to write a blog, I fall asleep! We have been a busy bunch here and we are having a great fall. Since my last post, we have: sent Matthew off to his last year of preschool, visited the Peabody Hotel to see our duck friends, met Uncle Bob for dinner while he was on a layover, traveled to Sevierville for some water fun, driven to Dallas for Bump (my grandfather) and Matthew's birthdays and the Aggie football game, etc., etc., etc. It has been CRAZY!

I wanted to share some pictures and update you all on everyone in the family. First, some pics of our fun times... All of us in front of the fountain at The Peabody Hotel.

"The Clones" on the way to the water park in Sevierville.

The whole bunch at www.wildernessatthesmokies.com. This is such a neat place, complete with an indoor water park. Soooo much fun going down the water slides with Em and Matt, although much scarier than when we were little. I was so scared that I would lose one of them while going down the slide!

Emily and Matthew with the water park's mascot.

James and Uncle Rob (my brother)

Bump and his male offspring. Included in the pic are (L-R): Rob, my Uncle Win, my nephew Robby, Bump, my father, James, and Matt. Bump turned 94--he looks GREAT! We celebrated at my Uncle Win and Aunt Jan's house. My parents drove up from Houston to visit with us, too. Tommy went to the Aggie game with Rich and Jacque (our good friends) and sadly, watched the Aggies lose yet another game.

Bump celebrating with Emily and her cousin Dannie. These girls have so much fun together!!!!

Daddy and Matthew at Matt's Chuck E. Cheese birthday party. Yes, I am one of those moms. I loathe Chuck E. Cheese, too, but this is what Matthew really wanted. I had a birthday party there when I was little and I still remember it (either that, or the fact that my sweet Aunt Ginny told me that Chuck E. hates kids). Either way, Matthew had a blast!

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous and so we went to the town center and took some pictures of the kids. This is the best we could get of all three of them!

Now for some updates on the kiddos...

Our gorgeous girl, Emily. Emily has been doing excellent work in first grade. Her teacher is a perfect fit and Emily adores her. We have been so blessed with wonderful teachers and pray that this trend continues. I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned it in the blog, but Emily was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA) when she was four years old. It took two years to get a diagnosis, so we were happy when we finally got one. Of course back then, we thought that JRA would be the worst thing that we would ever have to deal with. I only wish that were the case! Anyway, her doctor had released her from care back in April because she was doing so well...over two years without a flare. We were so excited that we were done with the swollen knee, stiffness, and limping. A few weeks back, I had noticed that Emily's knee was getting swollen again and that it seemed warm. Well, long story short, she is in the middle of another flare. UGH! But we are praying that meds will help it out and that she won't have the issue for much longer. Her birthday is at the end of the month and she will be SEVEN years old! She is having an all-girl party at the local pottery place. Emily is enjoying her dance class and is excited to take part in her dance studio's production of The Nutcracker in December. We can't wait to see her perform!!!!

Emily and Dannie

I love this kid!

She suggested this pose...America's Next Top Model?!?! Ha! Ha!

And then there is THIS ONE. Oh my goodness how he makes us smile. Matthew turned FIVE years old on October 3rd. I can't believe that he is 5. Matthew is in his last year of preschool and he absolutely loves it. He is like a completely different kid this year. His teachers tell me that he is an "angel" and that they never have to reprimand him. Tommy and I are so proud of our big boy. He is playing soccer and started karate. He has really taken to karate and is really good at remembering all of the moves. He still cracks us up with his "Matthewisms". He had a dream the other night about God. I really think that Matthew has had conversations with God in his dreams. Anyway, there is a little girl in his class who won't pray with the rest of the kids. This has really upset Matthew (although he doesn't seem too bothered when he doesn't say grace or prayers at home. hmmmm) and in his dream, he asked God if He gets upset when this little girl doesn't pray. God told him that yes, He gets upset and that He cries. From the mouths (or rather dreams) of babes!

Patiently waiting to blow out the candles on his little cake (the one we had in Dallas).


This is the AMAZING Bumblebee transformer cake that my friend Kelly made for Matthew's birthday party. It was not only adorable, but DELICIOUS!

Chuck E. with Matthew

And finally, the BABY! We love this picture of James. Tommy and I figured out that these puffs get pretty sticky. So just for fun, we stuck some on James' face for the picture. He does it all the time by himself, but this time we had the camera near. He is such a happy baby! Since I last posted, James has had another set of tests looking for tumor growth. Thankfully, the tests were negative and we won't have to test again until December. James has had some pretty big milestones: he is sitting up, eating some table foods, and he is crawling. He is definitely ahead of the other two as they didn't crawl until about 10 months or so. Tommy and I are amazed at how easy going James is. He will go to anyone! Of course, we are still dealing with waking up at night, but as I always say, we are just glad that he is here and that he is a part of our family.


That is all for now...I have A LOT of things that I want to share about Luke and CHDs. I feel as though Luke has been trying to help his mommy figure some things out lately and I appreciate it so much. I will save that for another post in the next few days. There are still a lot of babies who are fighting CHDs...please pray for them. Have a wonderful rest of your week and GOD BLESS you all!