Thursday Night Laughter

Eva is in an interesting phase right now. I dont know if its teething or growing or what but girl has been testing my patience. I gotta give her credit though. She may not want to go to sleep. She may fight me when I take something away, eat Gabby's (the dog) food, pull toys out all over and my rockstar sleeper all of a sudden wants to wake up and play at 2 am but... God love this face!! When she's on, she's on and bathtime is usually that time. I swear, I laugh the most at her during her baths. She loves them more now that she has figured out how to get her toys out of the holder, throw them out of the tub, pull up on the side (against my will) and splash like there's no tomorrow. The entire time we're in the tub, and thats usually until her toes are pruned or she's cold, she's smiling and laughing herself. Since Jon is traveling so much, I snapped a quick pic of that ear to ear grin that I thought was worth sharing with you all too.

With so much tragedy and loss my wonderful friends have all been experiencing lately I thought it was equally as important to be reminded of these little moments when for 20 minutes of my day the world stops spinning, nothing else matters and this beautiful angel gets to crack me up more than anything!

Baby KJ is so blessed!

I am blessed beyond measure. First I was spoiled awaiting Eva's arrival and now this. I specifically asked for something small for baby k- more along the lines of a sprinkle, not a shower, but I need to be careful what I ask for. I certainly felt more showered but I am not complaining. I am grateful and thankful to share 10 hours a day with the best teammates anyone could ask for and Tuesday was more evidence. K.J.W. is one lucky man to be brought into a world with such a welcoming committee! Thanks everyone for making my day brighter and clearly his car seat much cooler!

I have to give props to them for putting a theme together even I could love (since I dont usually like a theme). Everything was Razorback/Hog Wild. Lunch was at Whole Hog - super yummy BBQ, he got the most precious bib and well the paci clips and car seat cover werent hog themed I know the ladies will go hogwild over how awesome he looks!! Thats my boy!

Thanks again and I can not wait for him to meet you all!

Love,

Amanda, Jon and K

Sad News

So its with a heavy heart that I do have an update on Reese and the Rowe's. Sweet baby girl is with Jesus now in Heaven. If you have a stronger heart than me right now, you should check out her blog update. Just heart wrenching.

So, thank you all for your prayers and hope you'll continue to lift the family up over the next hours, days, weeks. I cant even begin to think about what Katie is going through as a mother, Jason is dealing with as a Daddy and husband and poor Zach. All I can hope is they find comfort in all those that love them dearly and that the Lord blesses them immensely for their continued reliance on Him. I cant say I'd be as brave as they are (blogging and updating everyone) but I am sure there is some peace in knowing how many people wanted to know. 

I pray also that all of you who have healthy babies hold them and kiss them a little more today than ever before.

Prayers for Baby Reese

Isn't it amazing how no matter how old we get, how much we learn, it seems to always takes tragedy to bring life into perspective. God is amazing that way, or at least thats how its worked in my life. 

So since I awoke yesterday morning, I find myself incredibly humbled and prayerful for a friend of mine's little girl the past 48 hours. Katie & Jason went my high school and always thought the world of them as people and as a couple. They have the most adorable little boy and welcomed an equally beautiful little girl, Reese Catherine, into their lives Tuesday, August 11. However, what should have been one of the happiest days of their suddenly turned sad when she appeared to have no brain activity. I urge you all who read this to take a minute and please pray for this angel and for their family that God will work a miracle and keep her in all of our lives. Pictures of the family and their story can be found by checking out their blog either by clicking on "The Rowes" to the left of my blog or clicking now

http://therowefam.blogspot.com 

On her site she has a verse I chose to add here as well. As I read it my eyes welped up with tears as it really hit home. I immediately thought about our sweet baby girl who is thankfully healthy and playing at preschool and the growing baby boy inside me. Its easy to assume that because you have this baby growing and moving and everything checks out each month that when the birthday comes they'll be what you expect. God is mysterious in that way because we don't understand why He does what He does but have to trust He knows what he's doing. I think about all the babies in my life, both the ones I have made with my own body and the ones that surround me and appreciate the reminder that life truly is a miracle. 

Hugs to you all,

Amanda, Jon, Eva and baby K

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be."

Psalm 139:13 - 16

Nothing like a kid at a park!

So its been a rough few days at the Whittaker house as our sweet, perfect angel who is close to never fussy is going through our second round of teething. Its been quite an ordeal with all sorts of side effects so Tuesday after school Jon and I wanted to do something fun that would A) distract her from the pain and B) wear her out in hopes she'd sleep through the night. The answer was WILSON PARK!! Swings, slides, people watching and mid 80's weather made it the perfect choice. So after the three of of us sat and had a little snack it was off to play!

We each got a turn with her on the slide which was a first so of course Mom wanted us to go down with her.

But of course leave it to Dad to let her go by herself. 

And that needless to say, was the best! She was laughing and smiling and loved it. Dad's are the best aren't they!? (I totally think that's what's she's thinking here!)

Then there was also the wonderful bucket swings- which are harder to find than you would think in Fayetteville but here they are. And Eva loves them! The higher and faster Jon pushed her the bigger the smile got. Surely she's getting tired now, right?! 

So thinking the night was a success and all Whittakers were close to being hungry, we got the best shot of the 3 of us that we could (since that seems to rarely happen) and loaded up to go home. Jon had heard that if you donated a perishable food item to Eureka Pizza you'd get a large for $1.99. Brilliant idea- times are tough so here's a chance to feed the grown ups for cheap, teach Eva about helping those around her and be home in time for someone to crash. 

Off we go with our great family plans!

So I have no pictures documenting the last few hours of the night for a reason. By the time we turned onto Leverett to get our dinner we learned that the good people at Eureka had put together such a great campaign that they were literally out of dough so we'd have to go to a different location. This was fine, we'd head to the Springdale one close to our house and be fine. About that time E started to get a little fussy warning us that full on hunger was approaching. The next 15 minutes from College Ave to our house (no we never made it to Eureka) seemed to last an hour as her screams of what I have to imagine was exhaustion, pain and hunger continued. I cant blame a girl- with those things, I'd be PO'd too. So we high tail it home, get her in her PJ's, Jon quickly fixes a bottle and she and I crash on the couch to feed. Within 5 minutes of completing the bottle, she's out! So Jon and I proceed to fix leftovers at 8:30 thinking the worst is behind us. 

Wrong. Not an hour later, my sweet, angel child is screaming at the top of her lungs hanging on to the side of the crib as if saying, get me out of here!! So I calm her down and she goes back to sleep. This is my chance to get in bed myself only to be awoken by a lighter whimper at about 1:30. After about 30 minutes of rocking, she's back down. Not as bad as the night before but when you're 28 weeks pregnant its like starting your slumber all over again. 

Then my sweet husband takes the 6:30 wake up call from our child and brings her back to bed for her to only fall back asleep for an hour. I'd be pretty tired too from that night but I have work to do! (as I sit here blogging during a brief moment of down time). 

So here's hoping for a great day at school and a good night tonight! 

Thank you Wilson Park for the great memories and thank you, Lord for the few hours of sleep I got and reminding me that even in these moments, even when my patience is tested, I still have been given the most beautiful little angel to care for & love and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world!

Visiting Mamaw & Papaw

Eva got to go with us up to my grandfather's nursing home for really only the 2nd time since she's born this past weekend so I wanted to capture the pictures we got. She had such a great time and of course received lots of hugs and attention from not only my family but a little too much at times for the others who live there. They are all so sweet and were so excited when I would come up and visit when I was pregnant that I figure its all out of love. So we visited and played and Eva had a blast.

I left reminded of how special these times really are. My grandparents were such a big part of my life growing up that I am so glad they're close to us and that Eva can theoretically see them whenever she wants. Papaw's health is stabile but not great due to his Parkinson's and my grandmother is usually pretty exhausted from the care she has to give him and her own ailments but they always light up when Eva is in the room. Its a great feeling to know that your child can bring a smile to these faces that don't normally see such youth and energy. Any time with them is time well spent. 

My Mamaw and Papaw with me and Eva

Eva and Papaw were pretty smitten with each other!

We couldn't really get the watch out of her mouth for the picture but they sure had fun together! That's all that matters!

One Happy Nine Month Old

We went today for Eva's 9 month checkup and happy to say we have a healthy, perfectly normal nine month old little girl! She wasnt real happy about the toe prick to test for anemia but I really think she was more upset the nurse was holding her foot still more than what was happening. She got a bright purple band-aid that she quickly pulled off and we went on to the fun stuff. She got weighed, measured and questioned for development all ended up being right on track for her progress.

Weight: 20.2 pounds (still in the 75%th percentile)

Height: 27" (still in the 25%th percentile)

So after we were told she's doing everything she's supposed to at this age, got a new book and then clearance to start feeding her more "big girl" food we went home to crawl around and play!