This is our first year to have a Magic Elf come for a visit. This is Ryan putting out the crackers and snowflake water to lure him to visit. If you don't know what I'm talking about just visit
elf-magic.com. It's a lot of fun.

This was the first night our Magic elf came to visit. His name is Rocco.

Rocco was playing like he was Noah and he got all of Ryan's animals and lined them up marching to a boat. He also brought Ryan some animal cookies for a treat.

Rocco was missing the snow from the North Pole so he decorated the bathroom into a winter wonderland.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ryan is imitating Aiden's smile.

Gobble Gobble!

Ryan's class at school dressed up like Indians and Pilgrims.

We stayed home for Thanksgiving this year. Here is how the boys spent the morning while I was cooking the Thanksgiving meal.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin carving and decorating.

Ryan is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and his best friend Hudson is Transformer Optimus Prime! This was taken at our church's Trunk-or-Treat.

Aiden made a perfect little skeleton!

We took Ryan to see Disney On Ice...can you say he was a bit excited!

First taste of cotton candy.

The feature to the show was the Incredibles. This is our little "Dash"

Ryan's 4th Birthday

Yes that was my attempt at a camo cake for his GI Joe birthday party.

Ryan and his best buds Seaver, and Hudson.

October birthdays in Georgia

We have several birthdays in October so we usually take a trip to Georgia and celebrate them all together. Scott's brothers Matt and Mike were both born on October 5 (5 years apart.) And Scott's Dad and Ryan share October 19 as a birthday. I won't say how many years apart. :) We had some fun at Victoria Bryant State Park in Georgia. It was a nice day except for those stinking yellowjackets and of course the way the day ended. Jessica's (Mike's wife) car went off a steep embankment and flipped 3 and 1/2 times. It was an amazing miracle that she walked away with no major wounds. We pray her hands and feet heal soon.

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Pumpkin Patch Pickin' @ Old Baker's Farm

This year we went to a new Pumpkin patch just south of Birmingham and had a wonderful time; althought my battery went dead on our camera so I had to take some shots with our video camera. I haven't uploaded those yet so come back to see the "perfect" pumpkins we all picked. We liked this farm better than last year because they had so many more pumpkins and they were still on the vines. There were also so many cute things for the kids to enjoy at this farm.
John Deer look out!

Ryan loved the Cotton bail bounce. Who needs giant inflatables?


I think the hay maze got the best of him. He looks so confused.

Nope...that was a dead end too.

Camping Trip

We missed the family campout on Labor Day weekend because we just had Aiden. But now that he was a whopping 7 weeks old we thought he was big enough to brave the wild outdoors. He did great. But the weekend didn't start out so great. We were going to camp at Oak Mountain State Park just on the south side of Birmingham. I was going to go out to the campground and get our site and then Scott was going to meet us there after work. Well when I got there the campground was full-no campsites available. So plan b- Scott called several other parks in Alabama and they were full too. We couldn't believe it, but we finally found a site available at Wind Creek State Park near Auburn....I know we weren't sure if wanted to go there just becuase it was Auburn country. But we drove the hour and 1/2 down there and set up our camp in the dark. That night we were exhausted but the rest of the weekend proved to be restful and tons of fun!


Daddy's big helper!


Yes that really is Scott changing a diaper in the tent.

Again...the saga continues!

Well the latest update was I had a huge scare after the whole readmittance to the hospital. My swelling, headaches, and blood pressure got worse, so the doctor wanted to do an echocardiogram to test me for cardio myopathy. I freaked out! This could lead to a pacemaker or even a heart transplant or even heart failure and death. I had to wait over the weekend to find out my results so you can imagine every crazy thought going through my head. Well, Monday was a good day at the doctor's office. He said I passed the echo. But I do have pulmonary hypertension. He has put me on a blood pressure medicine and told me to take it easy. It is most likely onset from the pregnancy and will hopefully go away in about 6 weeks. I do feel better now that the pneumonia is gone and the headaches have eased up with the blood pressure medicine. What a crazy trip. Thanks for all your prayers! We hope we are are on the mend. We certainly have two wonderful boys to show for all our hard work!

Happy Birthday to Lisa!

I went back to the doctor for my week follow up and to get my staples out on my birthday and I ended up getting re-admitted to the hosptal! I was having high blood pressure which is not the norm for me. I was also having bad headaches, swelling, and tightness in my chest. So the doctor was concerned I might have preeclampsia toxemia. A condition normally associated with pregnancy but sometimes after delivery. So I had to be monitored for a couple of hours and they did blood tests. All came back normal, but it made for a birthday I would not soon forget. It turns out that I probably have walking pneumonia. The doc gave me some prescriptions and hopefully I will be on the mend soon. Please pray that Aiden and Ryan do not get sick! The pictures below were taken on my birthday.

Re-admitted to the hospital on my bday. So pitiful...

Home with my boys about to have cake.

Ryan had to help blow out the candles.

Scroll down for a daily log of hospital events.

Ryan is so proud to wear his big brother shirt.

On our drive home, first time in his car seat.

Free of tubes! and Go Dawgs!

Daddy's first chance to give Aiden a bottle.

Aiden had to eat out of tube through his nose at first while in the NICU.



Our first family photo in the NICU.


Aiden on his way to the NICU.

Aiden gave Ryan a knight and shining armor costume so he could protect his baby brother.
Ryan gave Aiden a rattle for his birthday.

Proud Papa just after birth.

He weighed 8lbs and 1 oz. at birth but only 7lbs and 5 oz. when we went home.

First bath....ooh it felt so good.

Moments after giving birth were not mom's most glamorous shots.