Give Away Time!

Ok, a couple of weeks ago my friend Melanie had a "pay it forward" giveaway on her blog. I decided to participate and I actually won!! It was so much fun and such a good idea that I decided to do it too. Well, that was actually part of the deal. If I won, I promised to have a giveaway on my blog.

Melanie, you are already a winner just for giving me this great idea.

So, if you want to participate, leave me a comment and I will draw names next Friday and one lucky person will be the winner!!

There is a twist...The prize is a surprise. I think whoever wins will love it, but you want know what it is until you win. Good luck and happy blogging!!!

Staying with the Grands!

Ashley Ryan went and spent the night with David's parents this past weekend. This was a first for all of us. I think she had a great time. I really hope David's parents had fun too. She even went to church with them on Saturday and Sunday night. I was concerned about this as their church does not have a nursery, but they said she did great. I was so proud of her.

They took her to McDonald's after church on Sunday and then met us in Prentiss so we could pick her up. I was very excited to see my girl, but I realize how important it is that she spend time with her grands. It's also important that me and David have a little time together. We enjoyed our time even though we just talked about her most of the day and night. She is definitley the center of our lives and we could not be happier about that.

Lay Up For Yourselves Treasures in Heaven!

I drop Ashley Ryan off at daycare every morning and then I have about 20 minutes in the car by myself. This is really the only time of the day that I would honestly say belongs to me. There is no one wanting to be fed, no boss wanting those last minute changes to a document that we have already revised 48,000 times (or atleast it seems that way)!! This is actually my time to drive to work and zone out and get ready for the day.

David laughed at me the other day because I told him that on the way to work I put in my favorite CD and praise the lord! David said "well in the mornings I am usually jamming out to Glenn Beck and then I top that off with a little Rush Limbaugh." How depressing would that be? As if we don't have enough bad economic stuff coming at us all day, my husband chooses to listen to it!! Bless his heart. He loves loves the news!

This morning I was driving to work and listening to my CD when I swear God spoke to me. The first line of my favorite song is "Now is the time to worship" and I thought about all the stuff I hear everyday. It is hard to worship all the time. We get so caught up in the bad news. We get caught up in our jobs and the what if's. What about all of these people loosing their retirement? I am sure they are having a hard time at worship. But, this song repeats itself over and over and says "Now is the time to worship." I started to think about that.

Let's see:

I have a healthy beautiful full of life child!
I have a job!
I have a great husband!
I have great parents!
I have a family that worships!
I have my health!
My husband has his health!
I have the best friends in the world - friends that would be there in the drop of a hat!

What do I have to be worried about? Why shouldn't I worship? God says to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." This life is a vapor. Thank God! Can you imagine having to be here forever?

God really worked on my life and my soul when he blessed me Ashley Ryan. I started to see that the little things are what matter. It's not about how much money I have. It's about the small stuff. When I see her smile at me every morning and run up and give me a hug. That is what matters the most. I have a husband who loves me unconditionally and thank the Lord for that. Needless to say I am not as skinny as I was when we first got married, but he does not care. He certainly did not marry for money either! We struggled for a child for many years and God saw that and he blessed us. Thank goodness we did not have to wait as long as Abraham, because God knows that patience is not my virtue.

So, this morning I did the usual. I dropped Ashley Ryan off at daycare and I drove to work and decided, you know what - NOW IS THE TIME TO WORSHIP!! Thank you God for all you have done and all you still do. You blessed me more than I deserve! I realize that it could all be gone in a second, but You are still here!

Here we are at the hospital!!

Here we are at the hospital. She was about to go back to surgery to have her tubes put in. She was a little groggy. Read below for the how it all went!!

Tubes!

Well we did it! Ashley Ryan had her tubes put in this morning. We left the house at 640 this morning. We made it to the clinic where we waited and waited and waited some more. Finally they called us back at 845. We went to the pre-op room where we waited some more. They gave Ashley Ryan some medicine that made her really woozey. It was kinda funny. She dropped something on the floor and her usual "uh oh" sounded really southern. She went back for her surgery around 915 and they were done in about 15 minutes. She was really fussy when they woke her up. She cried for about 45 minutes. We left the hospital at around 10:15. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and did not wake up until 3:30 this afternoon. She was back to her old self again. That was great to see.

Thank you for your prayers. We could feel them. I am glad the whole thing is over and done with. Lets just hope we are done with the ear infections!!!

love my new blog???

A big thanks to my friend Melanie Smith who redesigned by blog!! I love it.
Melanie and I work together and she redesigned my blog last week and I think she did a fantastic job. Thanks Melanie!!!

How it all began...

I started this blog for everyone to keep up with Ashley Ryan and all of the funny things that she does everyday. But, I thought I would give you a little back ground on the long road that led me and David together and made us parents to this precious little girl.

I will never forget the first time I met David. It was basically in passing. Just someone saying "this is Julie" and he said "hey, I'm David, nice to meet you." We chatted for a few seconds at most and he left. I remember that very day thinking, "wow, he is just sooooo nice." We ran into each other a few times after that and I even ended up at a get together at his apartment. We ended up talking most of the night. Then a few weeks later I ran that fateful stop sign. David pulled me over and we just started laughing and talking. He did get my phone number that night but did not call me for an entire week. I understand that in boy time that's like 2 hours. But, in girl time, that's like 4 months!!! I did not call him. If there is one thing my mom taught me that I actually listened to, it was that girls do not call boys!

We went to lunch just as friends. He even talked to me about an upcoming date he had with another girl. He asked me for suggestions on what he could do on his date. I tried to help because we were just friends. Deep down I was devastated. Who was this girl? Why did he want to go out with her and not me?? The night of his date I had night class at Hinds. I remember leaving school and he called me. I asked him how the date was going and he said "I cancelled." I was shocked and said "why?" He said "I would rather talk to you on the phone than go out with some other girl." I was so excited. That's how I knew that he liked me.

We dated for 3 months and on July 3, 2001 David asked me to marry him. I have never been happier. We were married September 29, 2001. The strange thing is, earlier that year I did not even know David. I certainly did not think I would be married before the end of that year. I had basically given up that there were any good ones left. God knew better than me, thank goodness. He certainly saved the best for me! David and I were both raised with the same values, morals and character. We had the same beliefs on everything. I could not believe I had found someone that was as good as my daddy.

We were married for a year when we decided we wanted to have a baby. I thought this would be so easy. I mean, it can't be hard, right?? Think again. We struggled with infertility for years. I saw my fair share of doctors and cried many of nights thinking that we were not meant to be parents. Finally in August, 2007 I went to church and Brother Steve preached a sermon I will never forget. He made the statement "are you putting something in your life in someone elses hands, when it should be in God's hands?" I knew right then that God was talking to me. I was trusting a doctor to help me have a baby. I felt so bad for losing the faith. I called David at work as soon as I left church that day and we decided to quit seeing the doctors and leave it to God. God is faithful. 8 months later, I found out I was pregnant. Praise the lord!

I can still remember how I felt when I found out. We were so thankful, and we still are. God is good and he is faithful. We have to LET him be in control of our lives. It's not enough to just say that He is in control.

I firmly believe that God had a hand in bringing me and David together. I am not worthy of the life that I have been blessed to have, but I am grateful and humbled.

Ok, i just wanted to give you a little back ground of where we have been and where we have come from. We have both come from loving homes who praise God and we are so thankful! Our parents raised us to be the people that we are today and we only hope that we can do them justice while raising Ashley Ryan.

Lots of love and have a great week!!