With a Heart Full of Joy

I just want to pass along that my dear friends, Christina and Josh, had a beautiful son this morning shortly after 6:30 a.m. Preston Randy Morden was 6lb 10oz and was 19in long.

Their daughter, Annabelle, spent the night with us last night. I will be taking her to the hospital shortly to see her new baby brother. I will try to post pics later this afternoon when I get back.

Thanks to all of you who prayed for her.

UPDATE: Here are some pics of the BEAUTIFUL baby and family.

Happy Birthday Kaden!

Allison and I went to a party today to celebrate the 2nd birthday of Kaden, the son of my friend Kera.

As you can see, Allison had a wonderful time. She was fearless. She jumped, ran, tumbled - you name it - she did it. She tried to keep up with the big kids.


I had a great time, too. In addition to Kera, Lyndsey and Christina were there. They are just some of my favorite people - and some of the most fun people I know. We all lost our children around the same time and met through a support group. Since then, we all have these wonderful kids that we have all watched since they were precious little miracles. It is an honor for me to be there to celebrate these wonderful birthdays.


Again, Happy Birthday Kaden!

A true love affair

For the 4th of July, we invited Nana, Mimi, and Lance over for dinner. We grilled steaks, and we had coleslaw, potato salad, and baked beans to go with them.

None of that mattered when Nana uncovered the homemade vanilla ice cream. Lance fell in love with Nana over her ice cream, and Mimi ended up inviting Lance to come to Conway sometime to visit.

He ate a big bowl. Then, he licked the blades:


Then he cleaned out the canister:

Two Divas and A Cute Dude

I'm just now getting my pics downloaded from my trip to see my friend Marty last week. Allison and Hannah wore each other out. Marty and I had a great time together....and then there was sweet little Evan. Evan is almost three months old and didn't stand a chance in the house those two days with all of the divas in full force. I'm embarrassed to say that it was my first chance to meet the little guy, but I fell in love with him immediately. He looks so much like Marty. And he was just soooo cute and cuddly.

It's a BOY!!!!!!

My dear friend, Christina, found out she is expecting a boy this week. She went for her 20-week ultrasound, and everything is going great! She and Josh are soooo excited!

Please continue to pray for them in the months ahead. Christina is due in the middle of November, and as most of you know, pregnancy is not an easy thing for her. Christina has endured three miscarriages and one stillbirth. Fear is sometimes a daily companion for her.

I'll keep you posted as she progresses....I can't wait to meet this little guy!

Father's Day

This is one of my favorite pictures of the two loves of my life. It is one of those pictures that just took my breath away for a moment when I saw it for the first time and could see just how much Allison looks like her daddy.....and they were having so much fun here sitting at the dinner table.

Chuck is such a wonderful husband and father. My favorite thing about him is that he is so even-tempered. He is slow with anger, and overflowing with love and compassion. Besides being a wonderful provider, he is also a great help to me. He does more than his share around the house, and he is always there to help with Allison. I would say he has probably changed more poopy diapers than I have. Someone asked my one time if I rented him out. The answer is "NO"!

I always feel like celebrating him on just one day is such an injustice. I should celebrate Father's Day every month to honor this man that I love. But Allison and I did fix up a special present for him, and we cooked him one of his favorite meals. We invited some of our dearest friends over to help celebrate (and to wear Allison out as you can see).

Chuck, thank you for everything that you do. I love you!

Chuck E. Cheese

Note to self: Chuck E. Cheese is the devil.

I took Allison tonight to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate Jonathan's 4th birthday. She has never been there before, and I thought this was going to be a great, fun, first experience to share together. I was WRONG! That place made horns grow out of the top of my head and made fangs come down out of my mouth.

First, it was impossible to keep up with her in there. It was crowded and she had to see everything in there as fast as she could.

Second, who wants to eat when there are all of these cool things to do? Of course, it took the horns and the fangs to get her to join the rest of the party for pizza and cake.

And do you even want to imagine how difficult it was to get Allison to go home? I really think that she would have been so happy if I would have let her spend the night there. She screamed all the way home, and of course, I felt terrible. Oh well, as you can see below, I know she had a good time and enjoyed her cake and ice cream.