170 Beats Per Minute

That's right...that was Tater's heart beat at the doctor's office today! Everything is looking healthy! Thank you to everyone who has been lifting us up in your prayers. :)

Far Away

Living, He loved me.
Dying, He saved me.
Buried, He carried my sins far away.
Rising, He justified, freely forever
One day He's coming, Oh glorious day!

This is one of my favorite choruses...it's been on my heart. How richly blessed I am to have a risen Savior. No matter what the circumstances, God does indeed work together for good. Every day, I see His hand. Thank you Lord for your many blessings and unspeakable gift!

School has begun...and Sausage and Cheese Muffins

I can not believe that the 2010-2011 school year kicked off today and is already over. I am really excited about this school year. I have 11 students in my self-contained special education classroom, with 2 para-professionals and several other members of our SPED team. :) I am totally stoked about really focusing on functional skills like learning the public transportation system, money sense, and every day shopping and living. I love preparing my "babies" for the read world. They are too funny and never a dull moment. I also announced to them today about "Tater". Their faces were priceless! My para-pros and I joked that would be the most quiet moment in our classroom all year! One student, knowing "How you make a baby!" almost asked, "Who's the daddy?" before remembering that I'm married. I assurred them, "It's ok, remember, I'm married." Another student told me her Mama would fuss her out if she came home pregnant. I told her that her Mama was right to do so. :) So, with all that said, 2010-2011, here we come!

Sausage and Cheese Muffins
(These are one of my most favorite things in the world to make ahead of time, put them in freezer bags, and use as needed. They are Ms. Denise's (Martha's Mom) recipe.)
Ingredients:
-1 lb. lean spicey sausage, cooked and drained
-2 1/2 cups bite sized pieces of 2% velveeta cheese (I just chop up about 1/2 of 1 large block)
-6 Whole Wheat English Muffins, cut in 1/2

Directions:
1. Melt cheese on low heat in skillet and add sausage.
2. Spoon onto english muffin halves
3. Broil for about 4-5 minutes on cookie sheet
4. Allow to cool, serve or freeze for later.

1 Samuel 1:27

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted me what I asked of Him."

God has chosen to bless us with a beautiful baby! We could not be more excited, scared, nervous, or overjoyed! Such a rush of emotions and gratitude. At our first visit, everything looked perfect and "Tater's" heart beat was 126 beats per minute. (Justin decided tater would be short for Tater Tot, since that's about how big he/she is. Please be praying for me and our precious little one!

10 Reasons Why I Love my Hubs...

1. He is the hardest working person I know...pulling 15 hour days to him is no biggie.

2. He is so willing to learn. When we got married, he didn't do laundry, dishes, any kind of clearning around the house. When I got home Tuesday night from volleyball, the laundry was folded, the dishes were put away, and the kitchen was clean. :)

3. He takes constructive criticism. He is not proud of puffed up when I ask him to work on something. He listens, takes it it, and tries to do better. (*I still am working on this trait.)

4. He doesn't care what other people think. He is who he is and if you don't like him, your loss. (*I myself am a people pleasure through and through. I need to grow some tough skin.)

5. He is driven. He knows what he wants and has surrendered that to the Lord.

6. He's funny. Justin is always cracking jokes and picking.

7. He's a terrible driver. We won't mention the speeding tickets, the bump ups, the deer...but he's ok with that. His attitude is, "Oh well."

8. He's a family man. He knows all of his parents, grandparents, and great grandparents birthdays and he actually reminds me to mail them cards. He loves his family and time with them and their opinions and advice are very important to him.

9. He's HOT...let's be honest, my hubby does look pretty good. :)

10. He loves Jesus more than he loves me. I have no doubt in my mind that Justin absolutely adores me, but I know that his walk with the Lord is first in his life...I can be so much more confident as he leads our family knowing this.

Love you Justin!

What a Weekend....

The birthday boy, in typical form...

Our little fighter...

So, this weekend was quite an adventure. Saturday was Justin's birthday, but instead of doing a tone of celebrating, we spent a lot of time worrying about Mason. For those who have not kept up on Facebook, Mason got into some kind of commericial agricultural strength insecticide Saturday morning and became extremely sick. Justin rushed him to the vet where he peed uncontrollably, vomitted every where, and had convulsions. They quickly put him on the IV's and began treating him. At one point on Saturday night, the vet told us there was nothing he could do, it was up to Mason and the Lord and as of last night, he is officially out of the woods! Praise the Lord! They kept him today to keep him hydrated but he should be back home with us tomorrow morning!

As for the rest of Justin's birthday, he did get to open cards from family and I surprised him with a pair of Choco's...he has really been wanting a pair and after this summer, he's certainly earned them! Our sweet friends, Jason and Rozi, invited us over for dinner with Matt and Katherine, and it ended up being perfect because having a birthday dinner at home without Mason would have been awful. We had a blast and Justin loves playing with the Dover boys....he's hysterical with them!

Yesterday was a good relaxing day, but it still wasn't the same without having Mason around. As Justin and I talked and prayed about it, it really put things in perspective for us. Fortunately, the only people I've lost in life have been 3 of my grandparents and though it's still sad, it's normal. As we talked about how it would feel to lose Mason, we began to really feel heart broken for those who lost humans in their lives. I can not imagine that pain. I hope that this experience leaves us filled with more compassion and sympathy with those who are grieving.

And lastly, today is our 2 year anniversary! I can't believe it! Justin took me to a picnic at Town Creek Park where we ate and played gin under the gazebo. It was so nice. We are about to enjoy a yummy dinner at Long Horn and spend the night cuddling. Justin got my rings put together for our anniversary earlier this summer and they look beautiful and don't turn on my finger as much, so that was a wonderful gift! I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband who is so eager to try, willing to learn, and loves me with all he has. Happy Anniversary Justin!

Summer Lovin', Havin' a Blast

Pure deliciousness!
4 of the 5 + Mason in Auburn!

Whew...so sorry for the drought of posts. I thought I would have MORE time to blog but boy was I wrong. Since I last wrote, I have been to Gulf Shores with the Varsity volleyball team, and let me say, though we're young this year, we will be very good! So exciting!

I also had 3 of the Fab 5 visit Auburn. Beth, Candice and Natalie got to spend 4 days with me and it was wonderful. We enjoyed long jogs in the rain, sprints through Town Creek Park's sprinklers and other Auburn favorites like shopping down town and eating at local hot spots like Big Blue Bagel, Bizilia's, Niffer's, and Tutti Frutti (twice!). Most importantly, we just got to spend some great quality time together, watching chick flicks and "sharing life" again for a few days. It was great! *We did miss Martha though...too bad it was her 1 year anniversary and so what if she had a math conference in Atlanta!

Lastly, I wanted to share about mine and Justin's swing dance lesson we experienced last night. We went with Matt and Katherine and Ryan and Amy to the Jan Dempsey Art Center. I have been totally pumped about trying this all summer and we finally were able to go last night. Let's just say, awkward it not quite enough to describe this at first. We got in a circle and instead of staying with our husbands, the men rotated partners, so I got to dance with perfect strangers, including one creeper in particular. However, when the night was over, we had learned some moves such as the "pot picker", the "Elvis", the "inside turn", and the "dip". When it was all said and done, we had a really good time, enjoyed some great laughs, and now we have a little something to show off at the weddings we have coming up in September!