Joy bound by Fear

I am happy to report that so far this pregnancy has been filled with joy and delight.  All the doctors visits have been good and normal, with no bad news to report.  I am feeling some sweet, sporadic kicks and bumps inside my belly, which causes my excitement to increase exponentially.  Signs of life!  Precious, sweet, new life.
The love I have for Payton and Eli is at an all time high.  That might be a weird thing to say, but each night as I tuck them into bed I look at Marshall and smile...I don't think I could love them anymore than I do now.  They delight my soul to the very core, and take my heart with them everywhere they go.   They are getting so big!  Payton is now taller than I am and Eli looks like a giant lying in his bed each night, long arms and legs often hanging over the sides.  Then I think about the new life growing inside me, and how my heart swells with love for this child even now.  With every sweet bump or kick I feel, I think to myself-I cannot wait to meet this precious life.  God is so good to give us another child.
As my belly is growing and more people recognize that I am pregnant, I am beginning to get the question - Do you know what you are having?  With much anticipation, in just a few days, we will have our 19 week ultrasound that will hopefully answer the question...the gender of this new life.  Of course when I tell people that we don't know yet, they then ask, well what do you feel like it is?   What does your gut say?  Frankly...I have no idea!  But as the date grows closer to actually find out, I am getting more and more anxious and ready to know.  That has been the focus for me the past few weeks.  The wonder and excitement of what gender we will add to the family.  Payton is voting for a girl, and, of course, Eli is voting for a boy!  Me?  I am voting for health!  A good, healthy baby! 
Last night as I was in bed thinking about our upcoming ultrasound, Satan attacked boldly and whispered lies of fear and doubt into my head.  For, not only is this ultrasound the one that tells the gender, but it is also the big heart ultrasound with the perinatalogists, that will hopefully tell us the heart looks healthy and wonderful.  This is a big day for us as a family, as they look closely at this baby's heart and how it functions.  I have had divine peace so far this pregnancy, but in one quick moment Satan took that away. 
Like a loud voice in my ear, I suddenly was told that Thursday would be the day we would finally find out what is wrong with this baby.  My joy was quickly stolen and complete fear gripped my body.  Doubt rushed in like a mighty tidal wave.  The great deceiver had spoken to me.  For a few moments I lay there, unable to move, wondering if something really was wrong with this sweet child.  Then I had to step back and realize whose voice it was - Satan's.  I prayed for a while, and worked through the fear, listening to the Father instead of the enemy, but I would be lying if I said that the fear and doubt is completely gone from my thoughts.  My inner peace is not what is was, and now I am even more anxious for the appointment to get here.  How quickly my focus was changed.  I am doing my best to trust God every moment.  Whatever the outcome of the ultrasound is, He already knows and is in control.  This baby is His anyways, not mine, I am just blessed to be called mother while the child is here on this earth.  Please pray for us this Thursday, as we get to see this sweet life on the ultrasound, listen to the beat of it's heart, and find out how things look. 

Helloooo Summer!

Summertime...it's finally here! The Presley family is officially on summer break. We kicked off the summer with a Memorial Day long weekend in Amelia Island, Florida.  It was fabulous! Gorgeous weather, warm waters, extended family with us...absolutely awesome.  We would liked to have stayed longer, but we are grateful that the time we were there was all sunny and beautiful. 
The kids played exceptionally well together, and stayed in the water most of the time - jumping the waves, riding the waves, and punching the waves (if your name is Eli).  Payton also worked on one of her infamous "drip castles", as seen below.  She loves to makes them!  Unfortunately, Eli loves to somehow destroy them...stinker!

My parents were on the trip, as well as Brooke and Russ, and my Aunt Diann and great Aunt Christine, who drove all the way down from Tennessee!  Aunt Chris, who we also call Aunt Tini, enjoyed sitting under the tent on the beach watching all the action.  But then she got chilly in the shade, and preferred to sit in the sun and work on her tan.

Eli and Papaw enjoyed playing croquet one evening.  Aren't they cute together?

Thanks to Brooke, the family photographer, we got some great family pictures one night before going to dinner.  I am always thankful for Brooke and her willingness and ablility to get everyone to pose for amazing pictures! 

The beach was beautiful and we were sad to leave.  Now summer break consists of catching up around the house and working on a few home projects before the next fun trip.  The kids are swimming on swim team, and we have been spending a lot of time at the pool trying to stay cool.  I love summer break!

Payton's Preteen Pool Party in Pictures

That's our 22

Wonder why my kids are proudly wearing 22 on their baseball jerseys?  Please take the time to watch this video and find out.   I wrote a short blog entry about this back in April 2010, but this video clip is from a show on ESPN called E:60 that has aired since then.  It tells the amazing story of #22 in even greater detail.

Tammie Ruston is my cousin, and her son Andy is my second cousin.  It was a huge loss to Tammie and our whole family when Andrew died in a car accident 4 years ago this fall.  What an awesome honor it is to Andy, Tammie, and the rest of our family that Jason Heyward wears #22 in honor of Andy and the friendship they had.  Heyward is turning out to be quite a promising young player, not to mention the honorable character and integrity he displays on and off the field.  My kids proudly sport the #22 because Jason's right, that's our 22.  We miss you and remember you Andy.  We are cheering for you Heyward, and what your number represents. 

I remember watching the Braves on TV with my dad when I was in high school.  The Braves were a winning team, playing in the playoffs multiple years and then finally winning the championship in 1995.  I have the fondest memories sitting with my dad on the sofa at home, doing the tomahawk chop, cheering on the Braves through playoffs and the World Series - together, just me and dad.  

Now I can make new memories watching the Braves with my own children, cheering on the whole team, but especially #22.     

Growing Again...

As there is so much growing going on around here, I guess I should let you know that we are also growing as a family!  That's right...my belly is too.  We are thrilled to be expecting our 4th child this October.  Marshall and I have very much wanted another child ever since Odell passed away, and we finally felt like it was time.  The kids are both ecstatic, which brings even more joy into the situation.  I cannot wait to see them both with a new little one around the house.
Because of what we went through with Odell, we find that this is both a very exciting and joyous time, but also a time with moments of fear and sweet memories.  My pregnancy is considered to be somewhat "high risk" as they will be looking at this baby's heart very closely to see if there are any concerns.  What this means is that I get to go to a perinatal doctor and have several extra ultrasounds done, the first of which was yesterday.  The perinatologist is in the Women's Center of Northside Hospital, which is where I delivered Odell.  It surprised me that as I pulled into Northside (for the first time since I was there with Odell) I became very anxious and a bit nervous.  I was delighted when I got to see our sweet babe move and kick on the ultrasound for about 30 minutes.  The technician was very nice as we talked about Odell and what we have been through.  All was good until she turned on the audio of the heartbeat...a marvelous, gooshing sound.  Wow!  I was overwhelmed with emotion at what sounds like a healthy heart!  Something that our sweet Odell didn't have. 
There were some good signs that the heart looks healthy at this point, but the real big ultrasound for the heart will come in 7 weeks when it is further developed and they can look at the details more closely.  The doctor did say that the blood all sounded forward flowing (meaning that there is no regurgitation against a faulty valve) and he could see 4 chambers.  I will be so glad when we go back in 7 weeks and learn for sure the condition of the heart. 
In the mean time, my heart is having to trust in my faithful God, who has walked me through this path so far, and certainly will not leave me now.  We are so thankful that he has given us this child...another chance to assist Him with the miracle of life. 

Growing Like Weeds...part 2

Eli is our crazy, friendly, outgoing 6 year old son who is also growing like a weed.  He started Kindergarten this year, and is now attending the same school that Payton goes to and I work at.  What a blessing it is to all travel to the same place each day, and not need any after school care for the kids. 

Eli never meets a stranger, and boldly speaks to anyone he wants to about whatever he wants to.  He has dimples like his mother, that make her melt each time he shines them in her direction.  At a recent well check appointment, the doctor said that he has grown 4 inches in the last year, and is now 60 inches tall.  She also informed us that she expects him to be at least as tall as daddy (who is 6'4), if not taller.  He is in the 95% for height, and 95% for weight. 

He loves music, Legos, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Sponge Bob (much to my dismay) and video games.  He has learned how to read this year and tie his shoes.  

Eli ready for his first day of Kindergarten

Did I mention crazy?  Look at him in the picture below, that's the crazy I am talking about. 

His zeal  and excitement for life is contagious!

Eli also loves the lake, and has no fear!  This is him jumping off a 2 story dock into the lake, with his hands straight up in the air.

Payton has been doing swim team for several years, but Eli got his first taste of swim team last summer. 

This is him getting ready to swim in his first free relay event.  He looks so little!

After the season was over, he was super excited to get his first trophy ever! 

At least once every week Eli asks if we can go to the beach.  This child LOVES the beach.  I would not be surprised at all if he moves to the beach one day and lives there.  He is a beach bum for sure. 

If you know anything about Eli then you know that he is a fisherman at heart.  From an early age (and I mean 2 and 3 years old) he has loved to fish and always wants to go fishing.   He's always either talking about fishing or the beach...or both!

These are the dimples I was talking about that steal my heart...

Eli is also on his second season of baseball.  His first season team, the Cardinals, ended up winning the whole thing!  It was a very exciting season.   Do you like the look he gives me as I am taking his picture?

This season is shaping up to be just as exciting.  So far his team, the Braves, is undefeated.   Eli seems to be a natural athlete, much like his father.  He is signed up to play football in the fall, so time will tell.

Despite his pesky demeanor towards his big sister, it is really very apparent how much he looks up to her and adores her.  But boy can he be a pest sometimes to Payton and her friends!

I love the way that he is looking at her in this picture.  It is so fun to watch them interact together.

Another neat thing about Eli is that he "collects" Bibles. He loves to have different versions and types of God's Word. He is insistent that we read from God's Word each night before bed, as we are reading other bedtime stories as well.  For Christmas he got an "Action Bible" from Aunt Brooke and Uncle Russ.  He loves it and that is the one we currently read from every night.

We are so proud of the young man Eli is becoming.  He works hard in school and is a kind friend to others in his class.  He has a very caring heart, and we can't wait to see what God does in his life. 

 

Growing Like Weeds...

Even though the days often feel long, and the weeks seems to pass slowly, time is definately ticking right on by. One way we can tell this is by looking at our ever growing children! It amazes me how they are growing and changing all the time as we are entering new phases and stages of life with these two.

Payton is in the 5th grade and is as tall as I am now at 10 years old! We are perfectly even standing back to back.  It is just a matter of time until I will be looking up to her as she passes me by.  She is an amazing student that does well in school, but also a kind friend that looks out for others.  We have moved into the stage of shaving and makeup (no I don't let her wear any, even though she wants to, she just plays in it when we are at home), and cell phones of course, even though she doesn't have one of those either.  She asks for one almost daily.  Music is always blaring from her i-pod touch, and her own fashion and style is certainly coming into play.  We are no longer in kids sizes, but have moved on now to junior's and women's, which makes shopping modestly even more difficult.  She is an amazing, one-of-a-kind young woman and we wouldn't trade her for the world. 

Chilln' at the beach!

Many of our friends have younger children, so when we get together you can always count on Payton to help tend to the little ones.  She is a little momma for sure, and she wouldn't have it any other way.  Oh, and the kids love her.  The will do just about whatever she proposes. 

Glamourous!

She loves the lake!

She loves Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.  Thanks to Aunt Brookie and Uncle Russ, Payton will be attending her first concert this summer when she get to go see Taylor Swift!  She is jacked!

Payton and her friend at Halloween.



She is also an amazing big sister, who shows tremendous patience with an often pesky little brother!

She is ALWAYS cheerleading, whether at school or at home.  Even in the stores as we shop, she is doing the moves to some sort of cheer!

She is a recent softball player.  Currently on her second season, learning more and more about the game all the time.  Her legs look LONG in her uniform, and her batting stance is quite intimidating!

Payton and I have had a very special year this school year because I am the teaching assistant for her grade level.  This has created a very unique relationship between us as I have a front row seat to her day to day life in the classroom and the lunchroom.  She loves it and thinks it is great that I am there everyday, and for that I am truly thankful. 

It has been an interesting year this year, as friendships begin to change and everyday is not the best day ever.  But coming from hard days and good days alike, we have had some extremely rich conversations about relationships, friendships, material things, and where God fits into it all. 

Some days are great...all her friends want to sit by her at lunch and she is the center of her little group.  Other days are not so fortunate.  There is nothing more painful for a mom, than to be on lunch duty and watch your child sit down the table by herself, away from her friends, because she is upset about something that has happened that day or something that is going on between her and her friends.  I have to bite my tongue and do my job, but at the end of the day I know it has happened and can ask her about it.  We can discuss the true character of people, and how important it is to surround yourself with friends who are like you in character and beliefs.  We can also talk about what could have been done differently in situations, or how she could have communicated better with her friends.  I can whisper truth in her ear in between classes when a friend has hurt her feeling and she is sad.  What an awesome priviledge I have had this year as we have been together daily.  Oh, how I will treasure this year forever. 

Payton struggles sometimes with what others are allowed to have and do and why we draw stricter guidelines and boundaries than many of those around her.   But I am blessed to say that we have a very open relationship where she will come to me with her frustrations, we talk it out, and then she listen to my reasoning of why we are choosing to wait on certain things, and usually she gets it afterwards, and accepts the boundaries that we place in her life.  Can you tell I have a heart for my girl?

Look at these legs...

Like Payton's legs, this post has ended up being a LONG one, and we still haven't even discussed Eli!  I told you we have some catching up to do!

I think I am going to bed now, and will have to update about Eli in another post on another day...SOON!