Micah

Throwing balls, blowing kisses, and pinching strangers.

Eating dog food, digging holes, and playing in the mud.

Boot loving, truck driving, and stick wielding.

You fit into our family perfectly, blue eyes and all.

We wouldn't have you any other way.

Happy Birthday to our new two year old!  We love you!

Happy Birthday...

...to my SEVEN year old!

I can't believe that it was seven years ago that your Daddy and I brought you home from the hospital.  You have grown into such an interesting boy, a great big brother, and the best seven year old that we could ever ask for.

This year a new world was opened up to you as you discovered Lego's.  You spend hours creating machines, buildings, robots, and space ships.  You have your Daddy's mechanical mind and you amaze me how quickly you pick up on things.

You favorite part of school is art class and math is your best subject.  Just the other day you tried to stump me with a math problem.  You said, "If I walked two quarters of two miles then how many miles would I have walked?"  I really do not know where that comes from.

You asked Jesus into your heart this year and it was a proud moment when Daddy and I watched you be baptized.  You always remember to say your prayers and often remind us when we forget.  It is so neat watching you grow in the Lord and desire to do His will.

You are my "rule follower".  You want to understand the rules and don't like it when people (especially your brothers) break them.  You like to make up your own rules as well!

You bring joy to our lives every day and we can't imagine a world without our Noah.  Happy Birthday to my seven year old!

Slacker

Yep, I am referring to myself.  It is a full two weeks later and I am finally getting around to posting the pictures of Jonah's birthday bash.  Well it wasn't a bash exactly, just family over for some homemade chili and cornbread...one of our favorite suppers around here.

Jonah with his "cake".

 Don't you just love that dimple?

Papa and Pa were there.

 Mama showed up too.

Linny brought Pappy out just three days post surgery.  A big thank you to everyone for their prayers.  Dad is recovering from the surgery well.  Although the tumor was malignant, the surgeon feels confident that it was all contained within the kidney that was removed and Dad does not need any further treatments.  Now Linny has the task of making sure Pappy keeps his other kidney healthy!

Granny Faye sure did enjoy her chili and cornbread...but she said she paid for it the next day.  I know TMI, but if I have to hear about it I guess you should too. Granny is doing a little better after her pacemaker and recent hospital stays.  My children have no idea how blessed they are to be able to enjoy my grandmother.  I pray that we will all be able to enjoy her for many more years to come.

The kids had such fun opening gifts.  It was the first time that Jonah really got into it.  I think that Christmas is going to be a blast this year!  I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning.  Especially since I have now found the Puppy Dog Pillow Pets and they are safely stashed away!

 The cousins always have a great time playing together.  Mom did get them to all stand still for at least one picture.

 If you haven't noticed, my Mom is not in any of these pictures.  She is always behind the camera.  I'm not complaining...if she didn't take pictures they probably would not be taken.  Nine times out of ten any pictures you see on this blog were taken by her.  Thanks Mom for being my personal photographer.  Oh yeah, thanks for being a great Mom and Grammy as well!

Happy 3rd Birthday

Happy Birthday to my Jonah!

Your smile lights up my world.

 Your mischievousness keeps me on my toes.

 Your excitement is contagious.

 Your determination is inspiring.

You were an amazing two year old and we have a big surprise in store to start out year number three!  More on that to come later...

The Dark Cloud

This past week has been filled with just about the worst luck ever! It seems as if it could go wrong, it has.

Last weekend, Joe decided that he wanted me to ride to Maryland with him to drop off a load of light poles. He said that we would leave out Sunday after church, go up to MD, drop off our load Monday morning, stop and have lunch on the Chesapeake Bay for my birthday, and be back home in time to tuck the kids into bed Monday night. I rushed around getting everything ready and arrangements made for the kids. They were to spend Sunday with my Dad and Linnie, Sunday night with my Mom and Pa, and Monday with a combination of my Mom, Grandmother, and a sitter.

We left out on Sunday and had a blast up until it got dark. The truck started running hot because something in the something else had sprung a leak and was doing something that was not supposed to happen. Anyway, to make a long story short, the (very expensive) part to fix the truck was only available in Atlanta and at this point we were in DE. We got the load off Monday morning as scheduled, but only made it back to the south side of DC before the truck got so bad that it was impossible to continue. Joe called one of our other truck drivers (Ronnie) and arranged for him to drive up and get us. Unfortunately our truck that he needed to drive was with another of our drivers (Dianne) in Savannah, GA waiting for a load to be unloaded. It took until 8:00 Monday night before Dianne was able to get the truck to Ronnie so he could head out on the nearly five hundred mile trek to get us. He drove through the night and finally got to us Tuesday morning. We loaded the broken truck onto the empty trailer that we had been pulling and hooked it behind the other truck. Then the fun part came. I got to spend the rest of my birthday trip riding home in a two seater truck, perched on a lunch box cooler, sandwiched between two truck drivers. NOT. FUN. AT. ALL!!!

We finally got home sometime Tuesday evening and I was never before so happy to be there! Thanks to great parents and grandparents who took care of my kids while I was away for a full 24 hours longer than planned!

We ordered the part that we needed and it was to come in on Thursday morning. Wednesday, the truck the Dianne was driving broke down and had to be towed home. Luckily it was not too far from home and was a relatively easy fix. Maybe Joe fixed it too well, because her first day back in it she got a speeding ticket.

We had the opportunity to get a great load going back up north with a back haul, (lots of money) but we HAD to load Thursday evening or we would miss our deadline. Since our part was supposed to be in Thursday morning, we figured it would be no problem. Who would have guessed that in an entire truckload of parts being delivered Thursday morning, our part would have been the only one mistakenly left on the loading dock and not put on the truck? Ugh. We had to forfeit the great load and have a truck drive from Atlanta to bring us the part Friday morning.

I went to town Friday morning to do my usual banking and errands. I have to pick up our paychecks from the different suppliers that we haul from. When I went to the Pole Yard to get our check, it was not in the box where it usually is. The office was locked up, but I peeked in the window and saw our check sitting on the desk. Of course, the one check that the secretary had forgotten to put in the box was ours.

The boys and I finished all of the errands that we could complete and went to see how Joe was coming along getting the part on the truck. He got the truck running and things were starting to look up when Noah told me he was not feeling well. He had a temperature over 102 and said his throat was hurting. When I looked in I saw white puss oozing from both side of his throat. YUCK!!! It freaked me out, so I paged the Dr. who called in a prescription. Micah is going for his 15 month checkup on Monday, so I will take Noah in then as well. I started him on the antibiotic last night, and I am hoping he will feel better soon.

The trucks are all running and are getting loaded this morning. Hopefully the dark cloud is departing. We sure are ready for some bright cheerful days around here.

Birthday Cake

Last post of the day!  If you have not already done so, scroll down to view the other "birthday posts" that I have put up today.

First birthday cake is always so much fun, and Micah certainly enjoyed his!  BTW, I am so proud...I took all of these photos by myself!

Yummy birthday cupcakes made by Linny.

He is not really sure what to do at this point.

Notice that he started with the bottom!!!

Oops!  Now how should I get that off?

I'll never use a napkin again!

If I smile may I have another?

What a happy end to a happy birthday!

Micah Joseph Givens

To Micah...my unexpected blessing from God,
I can't believe that it has been one year already. I will never be able to put into words what a joy that it has been to have you in our lives this past year. I knew as soon as I saw your first smile that you were going to be a charmer.
This year you have learned how to roll, learned how to crawl, and learned how to pull up to a standing position. You still have no desire to walk, but that is fine with me. I love seeing your cute little self crawling cross the floor faster than most people can run.

I love the fact that you were a cuddly baby and still are the cuddliest of all of my boys. Your chubby little arms wrapped around my neck has to be one of the best feelings on earth. I look forward to watching you grow this next year.
Happy Birthday to my beautiful blue eyed baby boy!
Mommy loves you!!

Important Dates

This is too funny not to share.
Joe got a speeding ticket a few weeks ago. (Not the funny part.) He HAS to go to court to see the judge. (Again, not the funny part.) Anyway, the court date is July 21st.
I was telling him that he needed to make sure that he told the crew that he would be taking off July 21st because he has to go to Springfield, GA for court. He got this strange look on his face and said, "I think there is something else going on that day. For some reason that date sounds familiar. I'm not sure what it is but I am sure that I'm not supposed to forget it."
This is the funny part!! See, I know why July 21st sounds familiar. Some of you reading this also know why July 21st is familiar. Joe's ex-fiance's birthday is July 21st. (Gasp! Yes, Joe was engaged to someone else before me!) I'm sure at one point in his life this was a very important date and he drilled it into his memory banks so as to never forget it.
I was trying my best not to laugh (and figure out a way to use this to my advantage) as he struggled to remember what was so important about that date. I could tell from his expression the minute he realized what that date was. He then tried to play it off by saying, "Oh, it probably had something to do with the water festival...I'm sure it wasn't that important." I couldn't stop the laughter. I had to confess to him that I had known all along. He then joined in and we both had a good laugh.
We have come to realize that it is the past that makes us who we are. It forever scars shapes us and we don't really have to forget it and move on, but rather appreciate it for what we learned. If we can do that and still have humor, all the better. I mean you really have to find humor in our situation. My husband's ex-fiance's sister married my brother, who was once engaged to my husband's cousin, who also happens to be the cousin of my brother's wife and the cousin of my husband's ex-fiance. In the end, I think we all can agree that we wound up married to the mate that God had picked for each of us. However grateful I am of that fact, I still find our convoluted process of getting there quite funny!

No More Bottles

Last Friday (October 3rd), Jonah decided that he no longer wanted to drink out of his bottle. I had planned on taking the bottle away on his first birthday, like I did with Noah, but since he seemed ready for the change, I decided we were going to do it earlier. It really turned out to be not that big of a deal. Like the passy, he really didn't care that he no longer had it.
Jonah turns one on October 22nd, and we are going to have his birthday party October 25th. In order for this party to be "Jonah Friendly" I am banning eggs for the day. I found a chocolate cake recipe that does not contain eggs and I think I will try it. If any of you know of another good cake recipe that does not contain eggs, please let me know.