A Sad (in a good way) / Memorable Day

Today is Gage's 2nd birthday! I cannot believe it. Where on earth has the time gone? I cannot say what a surprise this child was and how extremely grateful I am for this little miracle. I remember when we got the phone call...Lonnie and I knew that the birth mom was pregnant again (not like that was anything new) and we had already decided that if we were asked that there was no way we would be able to handle another one. Well, when we were getting ready one day CPS called and said that mom had a little boy and they needed to know that day whether we wanted him. Oh no. Lonnie gave me a look that I don't think I've ever seen before. I think he was a little bit disappointed in CPS for even calling. Anyhow we went on with our day/morning and Lonnie looks over and says if I can name him we will take him! What?!! So that was it. It was a done deal. Not really. We prayed really fast and felt very strongly that we needed to take this child. Seriously? How on earth was I going to do this. I already had three little ones, my sister was getting ready to leave on her mission and Lonnie would soon be starting the Police Academy. Heavenly Father knows everything. Gage has been the best baby ever and so content! He also sent my parents to help out soo much during those trying times.

I remember driving with my sister to go down to the hospital to pick him up when he was just 3 days old. (sorry, fighting back tears now). She stayed in the care with the other kiddos and I went in. I told them who I was and who I was there for. It was so weird. They said wash your hands mom and you can hold your baby. When I first saw him I thought no way! How precious and he is all mine. No visitations, no "bonding" with the birth mom. HE IS MINE! He was so hairy and tiny, but oh so perfect! When I got him to the car my sister thought that he looked like a little old man (small eyes, hairy, and wrinkly). Mason just looked at him and knew that that was his brother. It was a great confirmation that we had made the right choice.

Now, 2 extremely quick years later and I am still so in love with this little guy. How could you not be? From his gorgeous curly locks, to his deep old man voice, to his sweet personality and so much more. I am thankful to be the mother of this amazing little one and I cannot wait to see what the future has for this little guy! I love you so much Gage Anthony. Happy Birthday!!

How Babies Get Into a Mommy's Tummy

Heavenly Father puts them in our mouths and then they fall to our bellies.  (according to Michelle)  Another quick funny thing she always says when I put lotion on her is mom, don't I want to be brown.  I think we are in for some fun times down the road explaining things to our children!

wii did it

Lonnie's birthday was yesterday and was really fun.  We didn't do a lot but just got to hang out together.  For Christmas we also decided that we were going to buy a wii for the family.  We have been putting it off for a while now just because we weren't sure if we wanted to add another distraction to things that really matter most in life.  However, we thought that this would provide a great opportunity for more family time.  We will never have any violent games though or it is gone!  We have games like Guitar Hero, Deal or No Deal, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, and so on.  The kids and I got guitar hero for Lonnie's birthday and you guessed it we could not wait until Christmas to get out the wii.  So we had some fun last night and are enjoying it.  The kids like it too!  

The Lucky Number is 5

Teaching my children manners is a top priority to me.  There are so many people out there who do not use them and I swore my family would not fit into this category.  So after years of saying, "what to you say" and "because we need to be respectful" I think that at least one child is getting it now without having to be prompted!!  Miss Michelle has really matured a lot lately.  I am so proud of her and yet it makes me so sad to see just how fast she is growing up!  She honestly has been the perfect child for about a week now and I am loving all of the tender moments!  I think one of the cutest things she said was when I was tucking her in bed the other night.  I told her that she was such a good girl that day and how happy that made me and her daddy.  She said yeah, I want to be a good girl lots of days so I can go to kindergarten!  Hey whatever motivation works! I love you my sweet beautiful Michelle!

too good to be true?

Almost!  I was looking through adds yesterday and Albertsons is having a sale on flour.  Here's the deal it is Pillsburry Flour, the 5 pound bag for $1.  This is crazy good!  In fact when I went shopping yesterday the everyday low price at Wal Mart was $2.38.  So to say that this is a good deal is an understatement!  There also is an explanation on homework for shopping over here!

Okay...here are some more!

My Favorite So Far...

This photo describes exactly how our attempt at family photos went tonight!  Thanks Amy for putting up with us!

Do you have a garage door opener in your car...

and do you also have a GPS system?  If so be careful.  I guess that a new thing is happening where people will go to an event that you are at (say a football game) break into your car and check the GPS system for "home".  They then will drive to your home and they have the garage door opener right there and will invade your home and steal your goods.  And because they have an idea as to how long you will be at the football game they know how long they have, approximately, until you get home.  So change your "home" address on your GPS to a nearby gas station or grocery store. That way when you need your GPS to get you home you will know how to get home from that location.  Just be careful out there!

Fry's Specials

This is the last day for some amazing deals at Fry's.  I just went and bought 6 types of items and spent $45.01 and saved $71.56.  (Remember this is without any coupons.  I know you can save even more but frankly I don't have the time for that.)  I didn't need any off it.  But man when they are giving it away might as well stock up!

Also if you can try to set aside some money for food storage as a lot of the "basics" (i.e. flour, sugars, baking goods) go on sale during the holidays and it is a great time to stock up!

Halloween 2009

The children had so much fun this year!  It was so neat to see the older two actually understand what it is all about!  Michelle went as Princess Belle.  Mason went as a Brasilian Soccer Player. Saige went as Princess Cinderella.  Gage went as a lion.  They were all so cute!  We went to Grandma and Grandpa Durham's trunk or treat on Thursday night and Grandma and Grandpa Moffitt's on Friday night.  On actual Halloween night Lonnie had to work and the kids and I stayed home.  It was a good night until we got egged.  Oh joy!  Not!  Anyhow it was a fun holiday and I'm excited for the others that are coming soon!!