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!

more zoo pics

Father's Day and the Zoo

Daddy, Gracie and Granddaddy







Gracie and Daddy on Father's Day








Daddy pointing out the animals at the zoo.






Gracie and the "cat"
























Gracie being not so sure about the moving monkey.








Gracie playing in the fountain at the zoo.









What a fun few weeks we've had! We've been in the new house two weeks today and love it. Jason started work last week at Re/Max Over the Mountain and is really enjoying it. He is enjoying catching up with his old buddies and getting reacquainted with people we haven’t been in touch with in a while. He is being trained very well in the world of real estate and is getting first hand experience with it already. Jason has his first contract and will close August 1. We’re looking forward to what else will happen in these first few months of his new job.

Gracie and I are back to our normal routine…sort of. She has adjusted well to being in the new house. She seems to be cutting a new tooth almost every week and that has caused some night waking and fussy days, but overall she’s been such a trooper. She now has 7 teeth through and I think she’s working on her last molar now. Gracie is still growing daily it seems. She’s getting taller, but still has her cute potbelly. She’s learning new words and is very verbal, even if we can’t understand much of anything she says. She loves cats and dogs and has her own sounds for both. She even says “cat” and “kitty cat” fairly well. She also calls anything with a beak a “duck”. She loves to name things and gets excited when we praise her for it. She even said “stop” this morning after I told her to stop digging in the trash =)

We took Gracie to the zoo on Father’s Day with Jason’s parents. Gracie had a good time, but her favorite part by far was the tiger. When we got to the tiger he was pacing back and forth along the window. There was at least one other child there with his parents at that time, but Gracie quickly made herself at home in right in front of the tiger. She got so excited and started jumping up and down and banging her hands on the glass and screaming “cat!! cat!! kitty cat!!” over and over again. I was laughing hysterically and thankful at that point that the other family had walked away. Suzanne got some great pictures where it looks like Gracie and the “cat” are making eye contact. I was disappointed in myself that I didn’t have my camera so we could take a video of it, but the pictures are still very cute.

I had mentioned in a post a few months ago that we planned to travel to NC to visit, but since we closed on our house in Mobile the day we planned to leave that trip was postponed. We do plan to be in NC for a wedding in September and hope to visit with all of our friends then.

Gracie is such a blessing and we are really enjoying this time with her. We are so thankful to be back in Birmingham with our families and for Jason’s new job. Thanks to those of you who have been praying for us during this transitional time. We're excited to be settling in.

New pics

Here are a few pictures from last week at Bill and Suzanne's (the head shots) and a couple from this weekend of Gracie petting the neighbors cat. Gracie LOVES cats and dogs and LOVES that we have neighbors with both.

June Update

Gracie has more than enough hair for pigtails!!!

Gran, Gracie and Noah

Jason, Sarah, Gracie, Pa Pa, and Grandmom Memorial Day Weekend

Jonathan, Jackson, and Gracie Memorial Day Weekend

What a busy month we've had! We're officially residents of Hoover, AL. We closed on our house almost two weeks ago and have done a ton of painting since then. Big thanks go out to George and Bill for helping paint most of our house. Most of the boxes are unpacked and hopefully this weekend we'll move in. We've been staying with Bill and Suzanne the past couple of weeks and have had a blast being so close to family. Julie, Ryan and Noah came to AL last Friday and Noah and Julie have stayed the whole week and we've had a great time hanging out with them while we've been here. We'll post pictures of the house once we get in.

Jason has had a very busy week with Real Estate stuff. He had three tests this week and passed all three. Jason passed the Alabama Real Estate License Exam this morning and we celebrated tonight by eating at P.F. Changs!! Yummy! Jason will start training at Remax Over the Mountain June 11. If you are looking at buying or selling give Jason a call!

Gracie is still cute as ever. She now has FIVE teeth. Her two bottom teeth have come through and we think she might be working on another one. She has done tremendously well adjusting to our crazy schedule in Birmingham. I know she will be very glad to sleep in her own bed, but she is loving staying with Gran and Granddaddy (especially since Granddaddy doesn't mind getting up early with her)! She is watching everything we do and picking up on things very quickly. She has such a sweet spirit and fun personality already.

We're very excited to be in Birmingham with friends and family so close. This is an exciting time for us and we can't wait to see what all God has planned for us here. Thanks as always for keeping up with us.

Gracie and Daddy
Gracie loved playing in the sand with her shovel.




I buried Gracie's legs in the sand and she thought it was funny. She started wiggling her toes out and would grin and giggle at me. This picture was taken after she had gotten her legs out of the sand.
Gracie thinks she's big stuff when she puts on Mommy's glasses.


Gracie and Daddy on a walk.








We drove over to Orange Beach for a couple of days this week for a little R & R. Gracie didn't spend much time at the beach, but she did enjoy it while she was there. Jason was Super Dad on Wednesday and stayed in the room with Gracie while she napped and fed her lunch so I could enjoy some quiet Mommy time on the beach. We got back to Mobile today and are heading up to Birmingham tomorrow to see family and look at houses. As many of you already know, we are leaving Spring Hill and moving back to Birmingham. We have enjoyed our time here in Mobile, but are eager to get "home" and closer to family. Jason has accepted a job with a Remax branch in Birmingham and will begin work with them at the beginning of June. Over the next few weeks we are planning a couple of trips to visit friends and family. We'll be in Birmingham a bit, but we are also traveling up to NC to visit with our dear friends up there. Gracie is very excited about that drive.

Gracie is still cute as ever! She now has three teeth! She has two top molars and a top front tooth. You can see the top front one when she smiles big and it is so cute. The first was the top left molar and it came in right at 15 months. She's still growing a lot and got a great report at her 15 month check up. Her personality is really shining through and she even throws a fit every now and again =) She's blabbing all the time, but we can't understand too much. She still loves playing outside and still loves swinging and sliding.

That's about all. Thanks for keeping up with us.

Easter Pictures

Our little princess!

Gran, Granddaddy and Gracie
Gracie just being cute

Mommy, Daddy and Gracie

Gracie telling us she's tired and wants to go home and take a nap.

I totally forgot to post about this earlier, but Gracie finally has a tooth coming in!! You won't be able to see it in any of the pictures and she will barely let us look at it so we can't even take a picture. It's on the top left side and is longer than a canine, so we think it must be a molar! Her gums are white and swollen as can be, but so far she only has the one sticking through. She started running a low fever last Sunday and Monday I ended up taking her back to the doctor because she still had a cough and runny nose. The doctor said she was fine, but did give her a stroger medicine for the congestion. Monday afternoon her fever continued to rise and got up to 104. I called the nurses line back and they said to just watch her and watch for new symptoms since she was acting ok at the time. She was acting a little fussy, but nothing like what I thought a child with a temp of 104 should be acting like. It dropped a little before she went to bed, but no one slept that night. We continued to give her meds throughout the night when she would wake up and her temp lowered by the morning. She ended up running a low temp most of Tuesday, but it was gone by that evening. About midmorning on Tuesday I thought to check her gums good (I had only looked at the top and bottom front gums) and felt that top tooth coming in. I was so relieved to find a cause for all of her fussiness and sleepless night. Her week overall was pretty fussy compared to how she usually is and I guess her gums are just bothering her a lot more now. We've had a great day today (so far) so maybe she's finally feeling a little relief and hopefully the front teeth won't be nearly as bad. We're just excited she has teeth in there!!