St. Thomas, Here We Come!!!

We're are heading to St. Thomas today, and are so super excited. I will be posting some, but if you don't see much of me for the next few days, I will see you on the flip side. Pray for safe travels for us!

Happy Birthday, Kellyn!!!

 

I want to wish my favorite sister in the whole world a very Happy 29th Birthday today! Kellyn is such an amazing person and would do anything for her friends and family, and she's a fantastic wife and mom. I love her more than words can express, and I'm so blessed that she's my sister!

 

Happy Birthday, Kellyn!!!!

 

*picture taken by Lori Mercer photography

Jackson's Baptism

This past Sunday morning Jeremy and I had the joy of all joys to be able to join our oldest son, Jackson in the baptistry during his baptism into the Christian faith. He made his profession of faith on Wednesday, April 10th, and was baptized on Sunday, April 21st at the church that I've belonged to since I was 10 years old, Glynwood Baptist Church. Our pastor, Bro. Bruce Hose, likes for family to join in the baptistry, and Jeremy and I were able to help submerge Jackson under the water. It was such a special moment in our lives, and one that I will never forget.

 

Jeremy's parents, Papa and Gigi, were able to be in town for the special weekend, and Jackson's Nana, Tata, KK, and Uncle Jase were also able to watch this super amazing child of ours, loaned to us by our Heavenly Father, become a new person in Christ.

 

Jeremy and I are so proud of Jackson, and ask that you pray for him as he begins this new journey in life.

 

 

The Weekend In 50 Words!

Amazing weekend.

Gorgeous weather.

Sad it’s Monday!

Wonderful visit from Papa and Gigi.

Jackson was baptized. So special!!!

Pictures and post to come soon.

One week until St. Thomas.

One more month of school.

Nine more baseball games.

Searching for an impulse ipad.

Much better blog post tomorrow, I promise!

Friday Random Dozen

It's time for some Friday random dozen!

1. Have you ever been so lost that you were really afraid?
When I was 16 my parents let me drive to the thriving metropolis that is about 20 minutes from our house. I was going to my boyfriend's house. On the way home, and desperately pushing curfew, I realized that I needed gas. So, I did what any normal person would do; I exited the interstate and began looking for a gas station. It took me all of 20 seconds to realize that I had definitely picked the wrong exit. There were absolutely no businesses in sight, and suffice it to say, I was in the wrong part of town. I called my parents from my Zach Morris cell phone and my Mom was like, "Why did you get off at that exit?" My Dad was able to get me back to the interstate but I definitely learned my lesson about interstate exits that are unfamiliar.

2. Have you ever been to an island?
I have been to both Cozumel and Puerto Rico twice, the Bahamas once, and in just one week I'll be visiting St. Thomas and St. John with Jeremy. I'm so excited!!!

3. Are you more of a thinker or feeler?
I think I'm a thinker, because I definitely have a problem over-analyzing stuff.

4. Do you tend to see issues or situations in life as black and white or shades of gray?It all depends on the issue. Some things are definitely black and white, and other things are completely gray. So vague, I know.

5. If you were stuck on an island, what book would you hope to have with you (Let's pretend the Bible is already there, so you can't say that.)
I would have to say the Harry Potter or Twilight series. I love them both. If it could only be one book then I would say Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

6. What are you most afraid of?
Losing my family.

7. Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?How about neither...

8. Pretend I'm looking at a scrapbook page about you. There are three spaces for you to drop in individual pictures. What are those pictures of, and why did you select them?
My wedding portrait with Jeremy because it was such an important day, a picture of my family, and a picture of Jackson and Anderson.

9. If you were re-doing your wedding, what would you do differently? (If you're single, tell me one thing you would do if you were planning a wedding OR huge party.)
I think the only thing I would have changed would have been to make sure that I had a picture done that included both Jeremy and my immediate families together. We have shots with his family and shots with mine, but not all of us together. Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing.

10. Tell me one thing you know/believe about forgiveness.Forgiveness is not easy, but forgetting is harder. And although people hurt us in life, we need to be aware that if God can forgive us for all the things we do, then we need to be gracious about forgiving others.

11. You're waiting in a doctor's office. What is your favorite way to pass that time?
Reading a magazine or book, or trying my best to entertain Jackson and/or Anderson.

12. If there were a clone of you in a parallel universe what is one way you hope she/he would be the same as you and one way you hope she/he would be better?I would hope that she still loves her family and her God with all her heart, and I would hope that she has an extra set of arms to multitask better. Cause seriously, with two kids, two hands are just not enough!

Y'all have a great weekend!

Midnight on Toomer’s Corner

This coming Saturday, Auburn University’s beloved landmark, the oaks at Toomer’s Corner, will be rolled for the last time before the 130+ year old trees are cut down after being poisoned by a lethal amount of herbicide back in 2010. I wrote about it back when it came to light in early 2011, and the wound is still as fresh as ever. As an Auburn graduate, I’m so sad that someone would intentionally destroy a landmark and tradition for another school. I’m all for rivalries, but this went beyond a rivalry. This was malicious, and thankfully the man responsible for this has been sentenced to 3 years in prison. It’s not nearly enough time in my opinion because he’ll be out of jail in 6 months, but at least the perpetrator has been brought to justice.

So this weekend Auburn fans will have one final chance to roll the trees before they are cut down on April 23rd. I can’t make it because Jackson has a baseball game, but I know that I won’t be alone with my thought that one man might have single handedly destroyed an Auburn tradition, but it was never possible for him to destroy the Auburn FAMILY. We might have to cut down our trees at Toomer’s Corner, but our roots go much deeper than that!

WARRRRRR EAGLE ALWAYS!!!!!!!

A Child-like Faith

For months now Jackson has been asking us tons of questions about faith, Jesus, and having a personal relationship with Christ. We decided to let him watch The Bible series that was on the history channel during the Easter season, and we made a point to DVR the series. Jackson has watched them over and over, even requesting to watch the episodes instead of Duck Dynasty, which is saying a lot! Yes, the series had graphic scenes, but Jeremy and I felt that Jackson was mature enough to watch the majority of the series which perfectly depicted the sacrifice Christ made in dying on the cross for our sins.

This past Wednesday night on the way to church Jackson said that he wanted to speak with our pastor, Brother Bruce, about asking Jesus to come into his heart. We're Southern Baptist, and our pastor likes to speak with children before they make a public profession of faith, just to make sure they understand faith and salvation. Bro. Bruce met with us after RA's and GA's and talked with Jackson about his faith. Jackson answered Bruce's questions about Jesus' and knowing that Jesus died for his sins. Then Jeremy, Jackson, Bruce and I knelt in the floor of Bruce's office and Jackson prayed the sinner's prayer to ask Jesus to come into his heart.

It was such an emotional moment for me as a mother. I've prayed for this child of mine since before I was pregnant, and I'm so proud of the little boy he has become. I cried listening to him pray because of how this will impact him as a person for the rest of his life. Yesterday at church Jackson walked the aisle and made his public profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and I cried again! We plan on him being baptized this Sunday morning. We are so proud of his decision and ask that you pray for him as he begins this new journey in his life.

Random Dozen

It’s time for some random dozen. Enjoy!

1. If you had a theme song that played whenever you walked into a room full of people, what would it be? The song, “Amy” by Pure Prairie League. Our friend, Mr. Robert, used to sing it to me all the time and I love it, or "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison. I love both.

2. Which of your shoes are your absolute favorite, and which are of the object of your most painful shoe-buyer's remorse? I have a pair of pink flowered yellow box flip flops that are so comfortable, but I also love my knee high black leather boots. I have a pair of beautiful black sling-backs that rub terrible blisters on my toes, but I can’t give them up because they are too pretty, and look great on.

3. Tell about your favorite birthday celebration that you've personally experienced. I love planning and pulling off my kids birthday parties. So much fun, and the excitement level of kids is so contagious! Anderson's 2nd birthday is around the corner and I'm already planning. Trying to keep it simple but cute this year. We'll see how that goes!

4. If you were a flavor of ice cream, which would you be? Rainbow sherbet.

5. Have you ever had a crush on a movie star? Who was it, and are you still crushing? I’ve never had a crush on a movie star that I can remember. Is that weird?

6. Glasses or braces--if you had to wear one, which would it be? I may be the one person in the world that actually didn’t mind wearing braces. I loved them! And oddly enough, I have 20/20 vision and I’m always disappointed that I don’t need glasses. Now, if I really needed glasses that might be a different story.

7. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? I love living in the south, and I wouldn’t change it even if I could.

8. If money were no obstacle, what would be the perfect birthday gift to receive? A new car, a trip to Africa, or a new wardrobe!

9. What is your favorite birthday meal? Either Japanese hibachi or a steak dinner.

10. Do you still send hand-written thank you notes? Absolutely.

11. Name something you've done that you never thought you'd do? Ummm…give birth in 4 hours.

12. Mount Rushmore honors four US Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. If you could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why? If I’m answering politically, it would have to be Ronald Reagan because he was a political genius. If it was a religious person, it would have to be Jesus for obvious reasons, except that none of us actually knows what he looked like.

Have a great day!

Jackson Takes The Field With The Montgomery Biscuits!!!

 

It's been a super busy weekend here at Wade's World, but it was amazing! It started off with a bang with Jackson's second ball game bright and early Saturday morning. After a well played game, Jackson's team won 8-4! We headed home after the game to only turn right back around and head out the door to spend the next several hours at the Montgomery Zoo's, "Zoo Weekend" with my family. The kids had a great time, but it was so crowded. By the time we got home I was wiped out!

 

Sunday morning church went extra long, and then Jackson and I had to book it to Montgomery for what was probably my favorite part of the weekend; Jackson's baseball team go the chance to take the field with the Montgomery Biscuits for the National Anthem, got an autographed ball, and then our team got to sit together as a group in some awesome shaded seats right behind home. The weather was perfect, and the team had such a good time getting the chance to interact with the ball players.

 

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend, even if it meant that I had to give up my Saturday and Sunday naps. So worth it!!! Enjoy the pics!

 

 

Outside the train shed of the stadium

 

Getting instructions NOT to slide into third base no matter what the Biscuits players say! Apparently, a few of them are quite the pranksters!

 

Someone looks excited!

 

Jackson was the first in the lineup to run out on the field

 

So serious! 

 

Jackson heading out to 2nd base!

 

Jackson looks good on the ball field! 

 

 

Jackson getting a ball signed from #11, Shawn O'Malley 

 

Standing at attention for the National Anthem. (Note my left handed child crossing his heart with his left hand.)

 

 

I think he has the baseball bug!

 

 

Jackson with "Big Mo"

 

Seriously? My favorite picture of Jackson. Love it!!!

Jackson Wade, #5!!!

Jackson had his very first official baseball game last night, and it was so much fun! Jackson's team is the Millbrook A's, and he is playing shortstop. It drizzled the entire night, but it didn't seem like Jackson even noticed, although there was lots of slipping and sliding going on out there on the field! He struck out once, and made a base hit after that. The game ended up tied 4-4 after an hour and a half and we went home tired and wet, but it was so worth. I have to agree with Jackson's Gigi, I'm going to love this new stage of life! And y'all, a little boy in baseball pants is just about the cutest thing ever. I guess it's official: I'm a baseball mom now!!!

P.S. I got the red dirt stains out of his pants on the first try. Whoo-hooo!

Easter Fun!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend around Wade's World. The weather was great on Saturday and we made the most of it by dying Easter eggs, enjoying an Easter Egg hunt at our church and then playing in the backyard. Anderson didn't quite get the idea behind the egg hunt, but he had fun anyways! Jackson had a super time hunting eggs and found tons of them! Saturday afternoon I went to see The Host with my friend Crystal. She had talked me into reading the book, and the movie was pretty good! I made it home well before the boys went to bed and we had more family time before putting the boys to bed and getting ready for the Easter bunny to visit.

 

Jeremy had to be at a sunrise service at work early Easter morning, but the boys had fun checking out their Easter baskets while I attempted to get all 3 of us ready for church. Fun times! I had nursery on Sunday morning so I didn't get to hear the sermon, but I did get to enjoy helping take care of a total of 38 kids in the nursery! After church we went to lunch with Mom and Dad and then headed home for a fantastic nap. It was a wonderful weekend, and I loved spending time with all 3 of my boys!

 

Happy Birthday, Ben!

 

Jeremy and I want to wish his brother Ben a very happy 27th birthday today. Ben is a super guy, and it's hard for me to think that he was 13 years old when I first met him! Ben is now a great husband to Lacey and father to Cannon, and we hope he has a wonderful birthday today!

 

Happy Birthday, Ben!!!