Brown Bear, Brown Bear...

We are so thankful that our kids love books! We typically try to read a book or two before bedtime, but some nights, Paxson likes to be the "reader". He has memorized "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?". Gracie Myers had a fun time snuggling up to him while he read to her.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Today after church, I began to take Gracie Myers out of her church clothes. As I undressed her, I noticed that her diaper was on backwards. It must have been a busy day in the nursery in the toddler room...good thing it still works when it's on backwards!

GM thought it was hilarious and just laughed and laughed!

Showing off the backwards diaper!

Her eyes are still really red, but here you can begin to see how straight her eyes are!

Paxson wanted a picture of his eyes too!

Who needs an ottoman when you have a dump truck!

On the Mend

Gracie Myers has made wonderful progress and her eyes already look amazing! The morning after her surgery, Gracie Myers was laying down without her glasses on and she looked right at me. It was the first time that our eyes truly locked with one another and I felt like she really was focused on me. It was an amazing moment for me as her mama!

There are few sacred places left in our house these days. Gracie Myers has learned among other things, where my jewelry drawer is. She helps herself to necklaces, bracelets, and such and has a blast accessorizing.

She also likes to walk around listening to my "ear-pod" as she calls it. I think it's a hoot that she won't say I-Pod, because, naturally since you put it into your ears, it must be an ear-pod! Seriously, Apple....maybe you should have named it an "Ear-Pod" to begin with!

Her eyes are so much stronger now than before, but Dr. McGriff said it could take several weeks for the full results to be noticed. She will still continue to wear her glasses until more progress is made.

Rock-a-Baby in Pop's cradle!

Son Rock Kids Camp VBS!

This summer was Paxson's first time attending VBS at church! We had a blast at Son Rock Kid's Camp this week! I had the privilege of co-teaching the 4 year-old Brave Bears. It was a week filled with laughter, lots of songs and plenty of silliness from the 4 year olds!

Here are some pictures from the closing program. This was Paxson's first time signing in front of the church and he actually sang...shocker!

Paxson with two of his buddies Alex and Jack!

The Brave Bears get ready to sing!

Alex

This is a classic Paxson and Jack moment...Paxson always hugs all over Jack and Alex. Paxson doesn't seem to have completely grasped the idea of personal space and doesn't seem to be the least bit bothered that Jack is usually looking at Paxson like he's crazy when Paxson hugs him!

Madeline

The Brave Bears LOVED yelling "Son Rock Kids Camp" all week long!

What a fun time of bonding with my son!

This is the sign that the line leader got to hold each night when we'd go from one activity to the next. I never let Paxson hold it because I didn't want to let my own son be the line leader. He did however, get to hold it after VBS was over!

Gracie Myers' Surgery

Shortly after Gracie Myers was born, we noticed that her eyes would drift from side to side and up and down. At about 3 months old, Dr. Baker, suggested we go and see a pediatric opthamologist. We met with a friend of Pop Pop's, Dr. McGriff and she decided to monitor GM's eyes for a couple of more months. At 6 months old, Dr. McGriff fitted Gracie Myers for her first pair of glasses. After lots of vision tests and eyeglass prescriptions, Dr. McGriff finally suggested that we schedule surgery for Gracie Myers. Her little eyes were not correcting themselves, and without her glasses, Gracie Myers' eyes would rarely be aligned.

The original surgery date was only a couple of days after Libby Claire's accident, so we were able to postpone it a bit. We spent the night with Bop and Pop Pop so we could make it to the surgical center bright and early! A lot of the nurses and staff at the surgical center used to work with Pop Pop, so Gracie Myers was in great hands! One nurse noticed that she had a binky, so she offered to keep it with her during the operation, so Gracie Myers could have it once the surgery was over.

The surgery went really well, Dr. McGriff had to tighten the muscles around her eyes quite a bit. Gracie Myers came out of surgery well, and spent most of the afternoon sleeping. By the evening, she was her usual spunky self...with slightly red eyes!

Aunt Neen came to see her god-daughter after the surgery.

We were so thankful everything went well!

After a nice long nap, the patient was ready to snack on some puffs!

So happy to be home!

Couldn't resist a shot of Gracie Myers in her hospital gown!

Nothing like a big brother and a milkshake to make you feel better!

Meme and Pops came by to see how GM was doing!

Praying for Libby Claire

This past Friday, as I was leaving a bible study, my cell phone began buzzing like crazy. Before I listened to my messages, I read an email from my sister-in-law with the subject of "Libby Claire". My first assumption was that the email was probably full of cute pictures of LC at the beach with the rest of the kids in Fl. As I opened and read the email, I was both shocked and confused about what I was reading. As I read the details about a horrible fall that Libby Claire had taken about an hour earlier, I felt like time was standing still.

Libby Claire fell over 8 feet from a loft inside of her grandparent's house at Long Boat Key, Fl. She landed headfirst on a tile floor and was airlifted to a children's hospital. The prognosis of the situation looked grim, and somewhat hopeless.

Once I made it back home, I began calling friends and family to start spreading the word to pray for a miracle. I distinctly remember talking to one friend and saying, "This feels like something I'd read about in People magazine, this kind of thing just doesn't happen to our family. I kept saying over and over, that I felt like this was not going to end badly, and that in my core, I felt like Libby Claire was going to be OK. I was unbelievably emotional, but at the same time, I felt a sense of peace deep down, that was so comforting.

I went on to tell her about how I felt like God had given me Psalm 121 to pray for Libby Claire's healing". Little did I know that this verse would be so meaningful to our family over the next 72 hours and beyond. In church two days after the fall, this same friend, tapped my shoulder and told me to look into the bulletin. When I did I noticed that the title of the sermon was Psalm 121. I felt such confirmation that God really was holding Libby Claire in the palm of his hand and that He had not for one second taken his eye off of her. As I sat in church, I began to text my brother Matt to tell him about the verse and its significance, his response to me was that the first thing he had prayed over Libby Claire that morning was Psalm 121. How amazing!

I'm posting this several months since Libby Claire's fall, so at this point, we all know about the true miracle of Libby Claire's healing. We will be forever grateful to the amazing medical teams, nurses, and other medical staff who worked on and with Libby Claire. Thank you all for praying for our niece, for supporting our entire family and for rallying around us this summer. We have all been blessed beyond measure!

Psalm 121
A song of ascents.

"1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

Sweet Libby Claire!

We encouraged others to put hot pink bows outside to show support for Libby Claire!

The bunnies wore pink too!

Paxson and I got carried away with the pink theme!

Happy 23 months Gracie Myers!

Gracie Myers sports the pink bracelet for LC!

Paxson loved going from house to house hanging up bows!

Bed Head!

Whoa....our kids have some crazy hair after bedtime and naps! It takes a lot of combing to get this to lay flat!

Paxson is anti-haircut, so it just continues to grow!

Nice hair-do!

SPWS Summer Fun Camp

It's that time of the year again...SPWS Summer Fun Camp! This year, we have signed Paxson up for two weeks of summertime fun with his friends at Sharon Presbyterian. He is looking forward to catching up with friends he hasn't seen since May!

Paxson is showing up that he is 3...not 6!

Paxson was so excited to wear his new "ties". "Ties" are his name for tennis shoes with laces. So grown-up!

Gracie Myers LOVES her tiggy tails!

Red, White, and Blue 2009

We headed down to Lake Wylie for the annual 4th of July lunch, boat ride and fireworks! This was the first year that Paxson really seemed interested in swimming with his cousins in the lake. Gracie Myers and Libby Claire stuck to the baby pool!

Paxson will dig and dig and dig in the sand!

Mac, Meredith, Beau and Maggie

Gracie Myers had fun dumping water over her head over and over.

Soaked Baby Girl!

Paxson made his way into the water by himself!

Working on his free-style!

Mac is airborne thanks to Uncle Bill

Loving Libby Claire's pigtails!

Paxson is always so kind and gentle to younger kids, cousins included. He had fun playing with Libby Claire in the sand.

She wasn't as crazy about having the sand on her hands, so he carefully wiped it off for her.

Mommy snuggling with a very sleepy GM.

Red, White, and Blue all the way down the the shorts!

Mr. America!

Happy 4th of July!

Some of the gang on the boat ride to see the fireworks!

The rest of the crew on the boat.

Pops helps navigate the "captain" of the pirate ship!