One of my heroes

Today, being Veteran's Day I wanted to dedicate my blog to all the Veterans in my life. My dad and Todd's dad both served in the Air Force. Them along with many other important men in our lives out their lives on the line everyday for our country but the one who had the most impact on me was my oldest brother Chad. Chad enlisted in the Army in the Summer of 2001 and little did we know that all of our lives were about to change. On September 11, 2001 ironically Chad was finishing up the last stages of his basic training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. I know that he will never forget where he was on that horrific day in our nations history. We all feared what would happen next and all of our fears came true. My family traveled to South Carolina a few days later for Chad's graduation. We enjoyed every minute with him and were all so proud of him. The day we left him was a day I will never forget. We all stood together and held each other as my dad said a prayer for him, for us and our country and then we all stood and watched him head back to his barracks....alone. I don't think any of us spoke for several hours on the car ride home or at least until it was time for a bathroom break or some food:) Chad was later stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado and not long after served a year in Iraq. We all anxiously awaited his next phone call or letter and prayed for him everyday. I think it was probably the longest year of ALL of our lives. Thankfully Chad made it home safely and we are all so so proud of him. Today I honor him along with all the other amazing men and women who have served our country! Thank you!!!!

Chad, Zack and I inside Chad's barracks....September 2001. Look how skinny we all were.

Answered Prayers

I know that being a mom I am always going to worry about my baby and have been told you never stop worrying about your children. Which is of course why I worried when the doctor told us at Hudson's two month check-up he had a heart murmur. I had been told by numerous people that they are very common and heal on their own and usually don't cause any problems in the long run. I truly wanted to believe that he would have that kind of murmur and prayed very hard for that. Our prayers were answered and Hudson does has a very common kind of murmur. It of course has a very long name and I won't bore you with the details but it should heal by about nine months of age. The doctor also said that even if it doesn't I shouldn't worry because it will not cause him any problems. We were very very thankful! Thank you so much for you thoughts and prayers. It means so much to have all of you to lean on for support. I guess now I don't have to worry and Hudson can still play football....at the University of Tennessee!!!

You know I couldn't end my post without adding a couple pictures. I caught Gracelyn sitting with Hudson on the couch and I couldn't resist taking a picture of them together. For those of you who know us well you know how much we love our other baby Gracelyn. She is so spoiled and thinks she is a baby too. She has been with us for three and a half years and she is definitely a mommas girl. If Todd has Hudson she takes advantage of it and sits as close to me as she can. She is a mess. She has handled the addition a lot better then we thought she would but you can tell she gets jealous at times. We hope one day her and Hudson will be the best of friends but for now we will just have to enjoy times like these:)

My babies:)

Don't worry Gracelyn will be getting a hair cut VERY soon!

Honeymoon Friends

Our friends from Birmingham Jefforey and Annah Grace came for a visit this past weekend. First, I have to tell you how we met our good friends from Alabama.....on our honeymoon in Jamaica. A lot, of people think I am crazy when I tell them that but it was almost like we were meant to meet them. I guess it was the first or second night we were there and were sitting at the beach side grill and looked up and saw this sweet looking couple and he had a braves hat on...at first glance Todd thought it was an Alabama hat so of course he yelled "Roll Tide" so we immediately started talking to them. They too have a house divided since she is an Auburn alum and he attended Alabama. Through out the week we would see them and meet up whenever we had the chance. They left on Friday and we weren't leaving until Sunday so we were very sad to see them go and promised to keep in touch. Thanks to email, Facebook and cell phones we have been able to do that. Last year we visited them the weekend of the Alabama/Tennessee game and then they visited us this past weekend. We hope to continue our friendship with them as well as our annual reunion.

Todd and I with Annah Grace and Jefforey at the beach side grill at our resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

While they were here we decided to take a Saturday trip to Memphis. We enjoyed some ribs at the Rendezvous and visited the Peabody. We topped it off but having dessert at Jillians in Peabody Place and watched some football on the big screens. We then headed back to Henderson so the boys could watch the rest of the Texas Tech/Texas game. The boys being Alabama fans were really happy with the outcome of that one!!

Annah Grace and Jefforey posing in front of Auto Zone park. Jefforey was being...well Jefforey in every picture so this was the best one I got:)



They of course were so happy to meet Hudson and he was a very good boy while they were here. We were so sad to see them leave on Sunday but we are already planning our next visit with them!