more fun pics

We are having so much fun with Gracie! Everyday seems to be a new adventure with this kid! Gracie is learning so much and blabbing all the time. We can't understand everything she says, but her non-verbals are pretty good, so she usually gets the point across. Her newest thing this weekend was putting on our shoes and walking around in them. She's been playing with our shoes for while now, but she's really into putting them on and making the rounds. Gracie loves looking for the phone when it rings and always responds with the sweetest "hi". Yesterday Jason and I discovered the best way to get all of Gracie's energy out before bed...dance with her. She has always loved to "dance" (bouncing up and down and twisting at the waist) and is really into it now. The past two nights we've turned the music on in the study and just started dancing with her. She thinks it's so much fun and loves to try to jump with us. It's really cute when we tell her to raise the roof or lift her hands up and she starts waving them in the air. Gracie was 'gettin her praise on' to a little David Crowder Band last night. If only I could post a video =)

Jason is healing great and is back in the full swing of things at work. He has his first closing on Wednesday and we couldn't be happier! God is faithful to provide for us and we are continuing to pray for more work opportunities for Jason. We are heading down to the beach at the end of the week with Jason's family. Julie and Noah are flying in tonight and Ryan will get her on Saturday morning just in time to hop in the car and head to the coast. I know I'll have tons of pics of Gracie and Noah after the beach, so check back in a couple of weeks!

Thanks for keeping up with us.

This is Gracie's newest response when I say "1, 2, 3, cheese!!"

funny girl

Look at that face!! Gracie was upset because Jason had gone upstairs and we were still downstairs. The tears didn't last long, but they sure were cute while they lasted. Gracie was trying on her new bathing suit over her clothes =)
Gracie showing off her front teeth.
Gracie showing off her upper teeth (all four). She's up to eight now =)

My new favorite hobby!!

Holly and Sarah at Sips n Strokes

Ashley, Holly and Sarah at S&S with our "Abstract Poppies"






This is by far one of the neatest and most creative things I've done. Sips n Strokes is a place where you go and paint and leave that night with your own canvas painting. The instructor is great and makes it low key and not too stressful. She walks you through the whole process of painting your very own masterpiece. Everthing you need is provided. It is byob(beverage) hence the "sips" part. The next month's calendar of classes/paintings comes out the last week of the month. We plan to go back very soon if anyone in town is interested in going with us. You can visit the site at http://www.sipsnstrokes.com/.

Gracie had Manicotti tonight for the first time and loved it (Thanks for the dinner Jenny)! After dinner she walked around with a juice box and piece of toast. Funny girl. We also played peek-a-boo on the couch for a bit and she did a lot of laughing and rolling around.

Jason is the same. Please continue to pray for a smooth recovery.

fun pics

Gracie loves playing with her bows, but she can't put them in by herself. I decided to just put them all in there as she handed them to me. We really know how to pass the time while Daddy is laid up on the couch =)

Gracie and I are feeling great. Jason is still uncomfortable and in some pain, but he's resting well and taking meds for the pain. Thank you again for all of your prayers.

Our Crazy 4th

Well, yesterday wasn't the wonderful day we planned it to be, but we are all alive and very thankful for that. We drove down to Northport yesterday with Bill and Suzanne to have lunch with Jason’s Grandparents. We dropped Bill off at their house and then headed to Dreamland to pick up lunch. Gracie had fallen asleep in the car, so we kept her in there to get a few more minutes of sleep. At the light before turning into Dreamland some moron ran a red light and t-boned our car. We had been sitting at the red light and it had just turned green so we were not going very fast at all, but he was going very fast we think. The impact was mainly on the front passenger’s side door where Jason was sitting. Jason was pinned between the door and the center console. He has three fractured ribs and had a small pneumothorax yesterday, but that has resolved and he just has a bruised right lung and the fractured ribs. Jason was admitted to the hospital in Tuscaloosa for observation and was discharged earlier this afternoon. Gracie was sitting directly behind Jason. It’s a miracle that she doesn’t have one scratch on her little body. She had been sleeping soundly but woke up on impact. She screamed a lot and was reaching for me. I didn’t see any blood on her and the door didn’t seem to be pushed in, so I took a risk and got her out of her car seat. She calmed down fairly well after I got her out. Suzanne was driving and I was sitting behind her. We are fine, just bruised and very achy. We are all back in Birmingham tonight recovering in our own home. We are so thankful to be alive and that Jason’s injuries aren’t any worse than they are. After our wreck in 2004 I didn’t think we would ever have to go through something like that again. Our injuries aren’t as bad as they were then, but the mental trauma you go through is just as bad. One thing we learned from that wreck and have learned again is that you can be in control of your own car, but you can’t control how others are driving around you. During Jason’s recovery over the next two weeks he won’t be able to lift anything over 10 lbs, which means he won’t be able to pick up Gracie. We’re all very sad about that. I’m just praying that she will have some sort of understanding of “Daddy having boo boos” and that she won’t try to jump on him. We were grateful to have my parents drive down so quickly to be with us and for my family in Northport and Tuscaloosa who came to visit with us. A big thank you to those of you who have already been praying for us. We just ask that you continue to pray for a quick and smooth recovery for Jason.

Gracie's hair is getting so long! It's hard to tell how long it really is when it's dry because it curls so much at the ends. Jason enjoys doing Gracie's hair at bath time!