How Blessed am I?

A Few of My Favorite Things

Recently I have been attempting to BLOG MORE!  As in the past I would often go for months without posting something new.  Well, as I was trying to think of things to write about I decided to talk about a few of my favorite things.  Here it goes:



Favorite all-time candy:  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  Yum!  Second would be strawberry Twizzlers.

What keeps me going?  I am not a coffee drinker, but unfortunately I am a big time soda drinker.  Diet Mountain Dew keeps me going.  And I drink way too much of it. 

I have been wanting to get a necklace with all of the kids names on it, and I finally found one I like at http://www.thevintagepearl.com/  She has some beautiful jewlery on this website.  It was hard to decide. 
When it came in the mail I was so excited.  This is what it looks like.

Another relatively new piece of jewlery that I love is my Pandora charm braclet.  The picture below is not my actual bracelet, but just a picture of one.  It is definately one of my favorite things, and I can't wait to get enough charms to fill up the whole bracelet. 

If you know me well, then it is no secret that I love the Dave Matthews Band!

I love Dave Matthews. 
His music is soothing to my soul.
Any album, it does not matter. 
If I could only listen to one type of music for the rest of my life...that is who it would be. 
I love listening to it in the kitchen when I am cooking, doing the dishes or ironing. 
In fact, I love listening to Dave anytime.  
And I like listening to him live even more.
Marshall and I have been to their concert every year since before we were married (and we have been married for 10 years, so it has been even more concerts than that!)
Going to their concert every summer is something I look forward to every year.  We have seen him at Lakewood, Turner Field, Phillips Arena, and even Piedmont Park.  Heck, we have even seen him in Alabama!  And we have already bought our tickets for this summer's concert.  :) 
During college I bought a gigantic poster (shown below) and had it in my room for several years.  I even hung it in our first three homes after we got married.  Finally-it was time to retire it. 

The last thing that I will mention is that I have a recent love of carrots.  I know, weird right?  I have not even really liked carrots my entire life, but recently I really like them.  To the point that I take baby carrots in my lunch everyday and look forward to eating them.  They are so crunchy and sweet - yum!  Weird.

#22

During all 3 of my pregnancies, someone in our extended family died.  So Marshall and I decided, in all 3  circumstances, to use the name of the deceased person as our child's middle name.  For example, Payton's middle name is Bernice, because my grandmother Bernice died just a few weeks before Payton was born.  Eli is Elijah Anthony, the Anthony coming from someone is Marshall's family.  A few weeks before Odell was born, my cousin Andrew died in a tragic car accident.  He was 18 and had just started college months before.  He was an only child to my cousin Tammie, who is a teacher in Henry County.  Andy played baseball in high school and college.  This is his senior picture.  I love that kind, gentle smile. 

This is Andrew with his mother on the left, and his two aunts (or other mothers) on the right.

If you have heard anything about the Braves opening day at Turner Field then you have probably heard the name Jason Heyward.  He is a 20 year old rookie from Henry County who hit a homerun his first time at bat in a major league game.  I know who our family will be watching and cheering for this baseball season.  Want to know why I am cheering for #22?  Check out the following clips.  Deuce's  ya'll!


http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/23063054/index.html

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/23062768/index.html

He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!

Happy Easter everyone!  Today has been an amazing day of celebrating our risen Lord! 

After an awesome church service, we went to the 57th Fighter for brunch with the family.  It was delicious food and a really neat place. 

A visit to the cemetary was a must to make the day complete. 

Thank you Lord for the hope we find in you!

A Simple Question

Everyday people ask each other questions. How are you today? Can I help you? Where is the restroom? Do you have an appointment? Are you hungry? etc. And there is one question that I really struggle with when people ask me.

 It is a common question, often asked by a stranger, or someone who does not know me very well. And I often ask it of other people without much thought.

This particular question is asked easily, as if the response should be quick to think of and absolute. But for me, the answer is not that easy.  In fact, it is confusing and a bit painful.

Curious to know the question...well here is goes...

How many kids do you have?

Easy right, most of you have probably already answered it for yourself in your head. But for our family, it is not quite so absolute.

Which leads me to another question. What is the definition of have?

Have: to be in possession of

So how many children do I have?   I guess the answer would be 2. I am currently in possession of 2 children. But does that truly answer the question for our family? Does that answer accurately portray what our family is about to the person asking? I would say no, not at all. In fact, the answer 2 is missing a very huge part of who we are as a family.

The fact is that Marshall and I have 3 children.  Two are here on earth with us now, and one has gone before us and is waiting for us in heaven.  But his memory, and his love...it is still with us.  And it will be with us until we join him in heaven one day.  He is still my child.  He always will be my child.  So how many children do I have...I would have to say the best and most accurate answer would be 3.  At least in my heart, I have 3 children.

Now you are probably wondering...so why is the question so hard?   You just reasoned out the answer, why would you not just say 3? 

Well, because the truth is, even though they asked, people don't really want to hear about my deceased child.  They might try to act like they want to, and they might try to act like they care, but the stranger that has asked the question in the first place usually doesn't really get it.  Whether they want to or not.  Whether they think they do or not.  They tell me how sorry they are, but I don't want their pity.  I really just want my son back.

Occasionally you might get a more favorable response.  A truly caring person that seems to somehow understand  how a loss like this truly affects a family.  But most people just give a generic response to something they really can't even begin to comprehend.

Or, the ultimate slap in the face is when the person asking you the question doesn't even flinch or act like you said anything.  They just keep right on talking.  They are the people who think that something like the death of a child would never happen to them, so they don't relate to you at all when you mention it.  They don't put themselves there even for a second, to try and understand some of your pain. 

Anyways, back to the original question...How many children do I have?  What do I normally say?  To be honest, it goes back and forth.  Sometimes I say 3, but most of the time I say 2.  And then afterwards I feel guilty.  As if I have forgotten Odell, or left him out of our family.  More recently I have been saying 3.  All the time, no matter what.  If for no other reason than to keep Odell's memory around.  Not in my mind, but in everyone else's.  Because he is just as much a part of our family now as he was when we held him in our arms. 

Happy Birthday GI Eli!

Wow!  Last week was the longest week!  Poor Eli was sick the entire week of his birthday.  In fact, he did not go to school a single day last week.  It was a long week for both me and Eli.  Asthma is a scary thing and I tend to freak out every time it rears it's ugly head.  By the end of the week we had been to the doctors office twice and he was on heavy nebulizer treatments.  When we asked the doctor if we should cancel the party on Saturday he said "No.  He will be bouncing off the walls anyways, you might as well go ahead with it!"
We were blessed with wonderful weather for Eli's birthday party and a fun time was had by all.  GI Joe was the theme, and everyone turned out in their camo.   Here is a picture of the cake.

Elijah and his buddies Mathew and Olivia

Blowing out the candles

Eli and his motley crew

The Zbeeb family was there to celebrate!

Baby Ryland and parents were also there for the party

Payton is an amazing babysitter if anyone needs one.  She loved helping with Ryland.

Payton and Eli's two great grandmothers from Marshall's side

Eli is feeling much better now, and so excited to be 5.  He was asking Marshall just yesterday, "hey dad, do you remember a long time ago when I was 4?"

A long time ago...that was last week :)

5 Years Old

Today is Elijah's birthday.  He is 5 years old.  I can't believe my little one is 5!  How time does fly.

Marshall has class tonight, so we decided to celebrate last night.  Marshall's mother and grandmother came over for dinner and cake.  And of course Eli got to open a few presents.

Eli started running a fever yesterday, to go along with a nasty cough that he already had, so he is home with his dad on his birthday.  He was feeling pretty crummy yesterday, but excited about the little family "party" that we had.  He is very excited about the party on Saturday.  Let's just hope he feels good by then.

Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Elijah