Emily Cracks Me Up!

First Snow in the 'Boro

Late posting, I know, I know! But, we enjoyed some snow here last week! Emily had a BLAST!!!!! I was trying to convince her after being out for over an hour that she was in fact freezing and we should go inside. She reluctantly agreed and was allowed to return to the snow when poor Daddy got home after about a 2.5 hour trip home from work...YIKES! They played for a bit and then it was back inside and off to bed with the hopes of returning to a bit of the white stuff the next morning. I was very thankful that there was still some left in the morning. Emily loved every minute of the snow. I am so hoping that we get lots this year, just after everyone gets home safely from work:):)

We even built a snowman (in our pjs:) with Hannah the next morning!

Our Frosty...complete with Christmas tree arms, carrot nose, and mulch eyes, buttons, and mouth. Hey, you gotta work with what you've got!

Sweet little Hannah helping out!

We Are So Grateful!...

It's ridiculous I know...this post was what I started last Friday...needless to say that I am just getting around to finishing it. I have had trouble articulating what I wanted to say. So here is the update on our little man...from last week;)

...for so very much! Yesterday was an emotionally difficult, but needed day. As most of you know we had Timothy's appt. at Vanderbilt yestersday morning. Let me first just say that the doctors were incredible and it could not have been a better experience. The resident that saw us first thoroughly checked out Timothy and kept saying how cute he was and how strong he was. Derek and I have said that from the beginning.:) He was holding himself up on his arms laying on his tummy at just 5 weeks old. The doc said that he had excellent muscle tone and was genuinely surprised at how he was trying to stand completely on his own. He also said, after much examining, that Timothy was completely on track developmentally and that his spine looked great and (we loved this one) that his head was perfectly round!:) Dr. Fenichel, the neurologist, came in next and reiterated everything that the previous doc had. He told us that what Timothy was having is called "Shuddering Attacks" if we wanted a name for it. And while they can seem very alarming and worrisome, they are totally normal for some babies and he will completely grow out of it. From what we understand, they are caused by the developing brain and nervous system...neurons forming and a bunch of other stuff that I don't really understand!:) Timothy did great for the doctors! He was so smiley, as usual, full of personality!!! All in all, he checked out wonderfully healthy! I almost couldn't believe it!

God was very gracious to us yesterday and, honestly, it was very difficult to comprehend the fullness of that! As we sat in that waiting room full of parents with their sweet children, I was overwhelmed with all kinds of different emotions. Over the past couple of weeks, in my conversations with God, He has really been challenging my concept of His grace. I kept asking God why Timothy, why Caleb, why Gracie, why Hayden?...and I was beginning to feel angry and frustrated at what seemed like a lack of concern on His part. It sounds terrible I know, but it is real...that is what I was feeling. Then over these last few days, something began changing in my heart. I began to ask, "why not Timothy?" It was a very sobering realization. I don't deserve His grace and truly Timothy is HIS anyway! He has known from the foundation of His earth everything about His son Timothy Kramer. As much as I hurt for my children, what must God feel for His children? His level of concern is so much greater, the greatest because Timothy is His! That doesn't mean that I don't worry for my son, but it does bring fresh perspective on how I care for him and see Timothy as God's and not mine.

In a moment, everything can change for any of us at any time! Sickness, disease, tragedies, and death are a part of sin and while I don't like it or fully understand...it is truth. It doesn't matter our education or status or how much money we make, every single one of us can and will for sure experience unexpected things in this life. While we may have gotten wonderful news yesterday, I am beginning to understand on a much deeper level how in just a moment, I can be right back where I was yesterday...full of uncertainty with my pride fully stripped away. I think this is a good place for me to be right now because it requires me to fully rest in the fullness of the Father's love and grace.

We thank each and every one of you dear friends, some we've never met, that prayed for our son. What an amazingly beautiful thing that our God gives us one another to love, pray, encourage, and care for one another when walking through difficult and uncertain circumstances. We are grateful!...for so very much!

I Got Tagged...

Alright Anna, this one's for you...I know you thought I forgot!:)

I am supposed to list 7 things about myself that are interesting/weird/unusual/fun and then tag others. It might be hard to keep the "weird" list to a limit of 7...hehe!:)

1. I am a major germ-a-phobe...Monica on Friends=Karen Kramer! (I totally got what she meant about needing a smaller vacuum to vacuum the Dirt Devil.)

2. If I had to choose salty or sweet foods, I would go with salty! I could ditch chocolate in a heartbeat but would be devasted if I ever had to cut out salt.

3. I can't wait for LOST to come back on!!! It is beyond completely ridiculous how long we have had to wait for a new season! (but I am no betrayer...I'll stick with the show until it's end!)

4. I have a terrible fear of losing my teeth. I would never play a sport which involves the possibility of getting a tooth knocked out (such as softball). When I was in college, I got braces and had to have a PERFECTLY healthy tooth pulled and I just thought I would die. Derek was with me and all was good until we got in the car and I started crying hysterically when I saw the gaping hole in my gum.

5. I love to clean! It relieves my stress. I don't get much of it done these days, but I thankfully married a wonderful man that appreciates cleanliness as much as me and has kept our home wonderfully clean since kiddo #2 came to town!

6. If God gave me the chance to spend the day with one person no longer living, I would choose to spend it with my Great-Grandma Grindley! She was an incredible woman with incredible faith and obedience. I fully believe that she prayed me to the Lord! I can't even imagine how many people have a relationship with Christ because of her 102 years on this earth! If God ever gives us another daughter, I will somehow talk Derek into letting me use her first name...Stella.

7. I truly believe that I have the BEST husband in the entire world! After having Derek at home for 4 full days, I was reminded about how awesome he really is! He is so funny, good at tons of things, makes me relax, enjoys little things in life, is easily accommodated, an amazing Daddy, fun to watch movies with, a great Mr. Fix-It (I cannot even fathom how much money he has saved us in car repairs alone), knows all kinds of stuff about EVERYTHING, can always answer my weird questions, reminds me that quiet is a good thing at times, has a very deep faith, and he is incredibly, ridiculously good-looking!

Well, that's all I've got! Now I would like to tag Judy, Ginny, Laurie, Rebekah, Casey H., and Kolby. (If you don't get to it...no harm done:):)

~~oh and I realize that you probably came for just pics, so those are below...more Thanksgiving, ELMO Live, and tree decorating pics to come.~~

Emily painting her first Christmas ornament. She LOVES to paint and could do it for hours.

I am in love with this sweet girl's eyes!!

Timothy grabbed onto this bear in his little chair the other night and we thought it was so funny. He kind of shook it back and forth and just kept staring at it. It looks like there is such a serious conversation going on between him and the bear. Timothy is growing so fast and getting sweeter and sweeter every day. He is a very smiley little guy for sure!

~~...more to come!~~

Friends Like This.....

...are hard to come by! This post is a shout-out, tribute, thank-you, whatever you want to call it, to one of the dearest, most wonderful friends a girl could ever ask for! Judy Mitchell is an amazing friend! And me, being the terrific friend that I am (enter large doses of sarcasm here), missed her birthday last week! The day after her big day, I freaked and called with a ridiculously long and stupid apology. The point is, I missed it! So, in honor of J's b'day and her being the best friend I could ever ask God for, I have thought of 34 things that I absolutely love about her. (and of course, I had to add pics from over the last couple of years...Judy, you better be glad that I don't have any saved on my computer from Johnson days!:):) hehe)

Here goes (in no certain order):

1. She makes me laugh hysterically!
2. Her phone messages are long and random.
3. She always calls me on long car trips.
4. Even if I go weeks without talking to her, we always pick up as if we had had lunch together the day before.
5. She towers (long-legged thing) over me but I never feel smaller than her...ever!
6. She loves the unloveable.
7. Her husband is also one of my favorite people. (awww...I love you Big B!)
8. I have never, ever, ever felt judged by her and let me tell you...this girl KNOWS my junk!
9. She is honest!
10. I can tell her ANYTHING and trust completely that it will never leave her mouth.
11. Other people can tell her ANYTHING and she would never, ever share it with me.
12. She honors and respects her husband.
13. She teaches me about soccer...b/c I am a soccer dummy.
14. Her passion for loving on the people of Honduras fills my heart with joy and brings tears to my eyes b/c I know she is fulfilling Christ's commands with a truly glad heart!
15. Her "Mum Karen" is awesome.
16. She is Canadian...HELLO! (I could probably stop there:)
17. She still spells things as if she is STILL living in Canada...get over it J...we ain't French!:)
18. She will drive hours to show up for anything involving one of her friends and I do mean hours!
19. She is a straight-up hot mess in a bathing suit! (you are loving this huh, J?:)
20. She loves on my babies as if they were her own.
21. Her dedication to school and her dreams is so honorable.
22. If she tells you she'll do it, she does it!
23. She rarely wears pink! (she's no girly-girl)...love it!
24. Bless her...she listened to my colicky baby cry his eyes out and loved him anyway.
25. Occassionally, she brings me goodies from Canada. (did you get me Wonderbars this time around?)
26. Everyday that she goes to work, she has to physically, mentally, and emotionally love on people that are hard to love, but she does it anyway b/c it is her passion.
27. She is always on time.
28. She always remembers important dates and makes you feel super special.
29. She is THAT friend that will always tell you the truth when you need to hear it...even when she doesn't want to and even if it hurts a bit...
30. I respect her immensely!!!!
31. She is my sister in Christ and I will be able to worship at His feet with her for eternity!!!
32. She thinks I am funny (and Derek too for that matter:).
33. She can kick some serious butt in Spades without even trying! (including her hubby's;)
34. She is in love with her Lord and it resonates in every aspect of her life!

Judy...you are a blessing to me and so many others!!! I love you, love you, love you dear friend! Because of all of these things and much much more, you are a blessing to everyone who knows you and I consider your friendship a true gift!! Happy Late Birthday!!

(oh and by the way...don't expect a list like this when we are 90!)

Mesmerized by the Camera!

This video was taken right after Timothy smiled for the first time. I had others but they were too long to upload. Unfortunately he was completely uninterested in laughing for me anymore or even smiling much for that matter. He was completely in awe of the camera. He wouldn't even turn for my voice...little stinker!

THIS KID...

does not look like he needs to go to a neurologist...ya think??!! And hopefully he won't have to!

Just wanted to update quickly and let everyone know that our appt. at Vanderbilt that was set for tomorrow was rescheduled to Dec. 4th. At first I was a little bummed, but then quickly thought about how grateful I was to have access to such amazing healthcare for my child....Really, is 2 weeks that big of a deal?! Also, the more I thought about it, I began to think that maybe the Lord was giving us an extra 2 weeks for the tremors to fully stop!

That's right they have decreased!!!!! ALOT! And while some may say Timothy just grew out of it, I fully believe that the prayers of so many of you all were heard by God. It could just be a newborn quirk, but whatever the case, I believe that God is answering prayer and they are beginning to lessen dramatically! I can't really express our gratitude for all of your prayers, but THANK YOU!!!

(Oh, and Timothy laughed for the first time a couple of days ago...:):)

HAPPY HAPPY BOY!!!!

Hilarious!

So who knew that Flava Flay lived down the street from us???

Oh my goodness we got such a good laugh out of this. The funniest part was how totally in character he was! Of course, we asked where his main squeeze, Brigette, was. The thing about our neighor....he is normally so quiet and reserved. We never would have picked him to dress up and play the part as he did! In the words of Rebekah, "Good times, good times!"

Oh How They've Grown...

Thanks to my hubby for a great idea! These pics have been taken over the last 3 years. I so hope that we can continue to do this until their teen years and completely embarass them before they go out with their friends...haha!

2006-From L to R: Caleb, Caeden, Emma, Noah, Emily

2007-From L to R: Noah, Austin, Caeden, Emma, Caleb, Emily, Hannah

2008-From L to R: Sarah Beth, Austin, Noah, Emma, Emily, Timothy, Caleb, Caeden

It sure is fun to see the number of kiddos on the couch grow. Maybe next year, there will be some new additions:)...and good heavens, I am not pregant again!

Elmo and the Orange-shirt Costume

Emily as Elmo and Timothy....ummm...an orange shirt!:) Both were equally adorable. When Emily talked about being Elmo, I thought it was a bit played out, but she was (in my humble opinion:) the cutest Elmo I have ever seen. Trick-or-treating was lots of fun. It was even more fun b/c we were with lots of our friends and of course "Untel Sean." Emily has driven us nutso asking for candy and I can't wait til it's gone...it might be making a premature exit:0...I know I'm cruel! But we all enjoyed ourselves and the special treats and most of all loved having D's brother here with us. The time always goes by so quickly, but we made great memories! I got a couple of cute pics on our camera too and may post some of those later, but at this current moment have been unable to locate our camera. Hope you all had a fun night!

Starting early!...Emily and sweet Caleb! What a cute little match!

Uncle Sean giving Ems a ride

I love this picture...the fact that the Elmo nose is so huge, you can't see Em's face and D and his bro are handsome guys...Timothy is bound to be a cutie-pie...just a little biased!

What more can be said?...He is soooo sweet! His smile keeps getting wider and wider each day!

Emily is annoyed because we are MAKING her eat PIZZA before we go trick-or-treating. She wanted to get straight to the candy!

Year #3...all of the kiddos together again!
Doesn't Timothy look totally thrilled to be part of the festivities?

Sharing with Daddy...so sweet!

Is it possible?...

...could he be any sweeter?

Sweet Kiddos and Ultrasound News!