Happy Birthday, Daddy! We love you!

During the Thanksgiving break, David celebrated his 31st birthday. We spent the majority of his special day in the car headed south for the holiday. Along the way, we did manage to stop at BPS to buy the birthday boy a few toys, including a new case for his new gun! The same gun that the next day helped him down his largest kill to date. What a great way to celebrate his birthday. In honor of his 31 years, we want to share 31 things we love about our rock star of a daddy, aka my favorite.

1. We love the way you make us laugh.
2. We love that you are a WAY better cook than Mommy.
3. We love listening to you preach God's Word each week.
4. We love that you sing really loud and don't always know the words.
5. We love that you put our family first always.
6. We love that you love Mommy so much.
7. We love that you shaved your beard off because Mommy wanted you to.
8. We love that you read books to us.
9. We love that you take us to do fun things.
10. We love having you as our pastor.
11. We love how handsome you look.
12. We love how you smell really good, most of the time.
13. We love how you give the best hugs ever.
14. We love that you like the Georgia bulldawgs as much as Mommy.
15. We love that you work so hard to provide for our family.
16. We love seeing you when you come home from work each day.
17. We love that you buy us fun stuff.
18. We love that you pray for us.
19. We love when you listen to us.
20. We love that you are going back to school.
21. We love that you want what's best for us.
22. We love that you have big brown eyes like Summer.
23. We love that you laugh really loud like Carter.
24. We love that you smile a lot like Tilly.
25. We love that you put so much effort into all that you do.
26. We love that you do things for others than no one knows about.
27. We love that you make sure our cars are working.
28. We love when you want to spend time with just us.
29. We love that you are the best daddy EVER.
30. We love that you are the best husband EVER.
31. We love that you love us better than anyone else.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

This year for Thanksgiving, we took our party of five on the road, 75 South all the way to Portal, Georgia, home of Mama! We have not been to Mama's house since the summertime, so we were excited to spend some time with this special lady. Wednesday morning, after baths, packing, and some play time we loaded up and headed south. Because it was a special day, Daddy's birthday (more to come on that later), we stopped along the way at one of his favorite places, BPS. Wednesday night we enjoyed a yummy supper of Chicken and Dumplin's, Mama style! With a tall glass of sweet tea, we were set for the rest of the week. Who needs a Thanksgiving dinner now? Not me! Thursday morning, David and Carter went out to the deer woods to see what they could see. Ask Carter when you see him what his favorite thing about this day was; you're sure to get a good laugh! You can learn more here about their outing. The girls and I stayed behind to help Mama get ready for the big day. I am ashamed to say I did not get a single picture of the goodness she prepared. It was delicious! You name it; we had it! Thank you, Mama, for a delicious Thanksgiving meal. We are so thankful for you. This morning, we headed back home in hopes of readying our house for Christmas. I'll let you know how we fare after the weekend!

Getting ready to sing to the birthday boy, not pictured! Let it be noted, for memory sake, that two of the green cupcakes ended up on my grandmother's white carpet! Yikes!
Our children love Curious George, so being the selfless man that he is, David picked out this fun cupcake with our favorite little monkey. It was a BIG hit!

These are my sweet babies and my sister's girls. They had the most fun playing together at Mama's house this week! Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm so thankful. . .

David killed a deer this Thanksgiving and that Carter was with him! I'm not sure who was more proud, Carter or his daddy! What a special day it was for my two favorite boys.

Tilly's 15 month Stats

This past Tuesday, David took Tilly for her 15 month check up. Where has the time gone?!? Tilly weighed 23 1/2 pounds, placing her in the 70 percentile. She is 32 inches tall, placing her in the 85 percentile. She seems to be following the curve for her weight, but has jumped up a bracket it her height, which is no surprise to us considering how tall her siblings were at her age. Tilly is walking or running everywhere and LOVES to dance! We are not sure where she gets her moves from. She has 12 teeth now, including her molars. She will eat most anything. In fact, we have yet to find something she does not like. Some of her favorites are grits (my grandmother is so proud), black beans, bananas, and Cheerios. Thankfully, she continues to be a great sleeper. If given the opportunity she enjoys a morning and an afternoon nap. She sleeps 12+ hours each night. Tilly is such a happy and joyful baby. She smiles and laughs all the time unless she is tired or hungry. These pictures I snapped this past week are proof of her sweet smile! We love you, Tilly!

Weekend at the Holland's and Zoie's Birthday

This past weekend, our party of five hit the road, 85 North, that is for a little getaway! My niece, Zoie, was celebrating her fourth birthday, and we were just looking for an excuse to bust out of town for a few days, so we did! Friday, David and Tilly picked the rest of us up from school and we hit the ground running, but not too fast because traffic was terrible! A couple of hours later, we safely reached our destination, Shelter Cove! It was such a fun, relaxing weekend. That night, Scott and Noelle cooked a mean quail supper. I have never seen two grown men eat so many birds in my life. Good thing I didn't want any myself! Saturday was the big party day. Zoie's fourth birthday party was at Zanzo's Italian Restaurant in Clarkesville, Georgia. She and her closest buddies got to go into the kitchen and make their own pizzas; it was crazy chaos and so much fun! My little people had to much fun. Even little Miss Tilly got to put her hands in the dough. Saturday night Scott and Noelle hosted a Sunday School social. It was so nice to meet their friends and to fellowship around food and football. What can be better than that? Well, a dawg win would have made the evening a little more pleasant. I mean is the season over yet? Whew, it's been a long one! Sunday we headed back to the ATL. On the way home we stopped for lunch at Papadeaux's in honor of our love for NOLA. It was delicious! Sunday night was our Thanksgiving supper at church. What a great ending to a wonderful weekend. We have a busy two days before we head South for the holidays to be with Mama. David is hoping to have his first official kill of the season. I'm praying it will happen the first hunt otherwise, it's going to be a long week! Enjoy the slide show of our weekend at the Holland's. Thanks, Scott, Noelle, Haleigh and Zoie for hosting our family!

Visit from Gigi

Last weekend David's mom flew in, literally, for a quick visit! She was doing business in Augusta, so before and after her work we were able to spend a few days with her. It was such a treat! The children love their Gigi! We always forget to take pictures until the last minute and then it is nearly impossible to get everyone looking at the camera and smiles are just icing on the cake, so here's our best effort! Thanks, Gigi, for coming to see us. We are hoping you have much more business to do in Augusta!

Operation Christmas Child

Every year our church and our school participates in Operation Christmas Child. This is the first year our children have really been old enough to understand what it's all about. A Christian bookstore close to where we live even made this simple gesture of God's love easier by providing special boxes already put together! Our party of five went by the bookstore and picked up our shoe boxes. Then, while I was at a baby shower for a sweet friend at church, David and Gigi took the children to pick out gifts for their boxes. That afternoon, we all gathered around the dining room table to pack them. It was so much fun! Carter really had trouble understanding why the presents were not for him, but had a fun time putting them together anyway. Summer was excited to pack a box for a friend.

Sunday night we placed them on the altar of the church, excited about the possibilities that may come from our gift. Did you know that 20% of the children who receive shoe boxes ask Jesus into their hearts? Isn't that reason enough to pack a shoe box yourself? Check out this video if you need a little more convincing. Merry Christmas to our friends around the world! We are praying for the safe arrival of our shoe boxes, and we are praying you will know Jesus as your Savior this Christmas.

This is what happens when. . .Episode II

You might remember when I wrote here about our first "what happens when" episode. I figure there are many to come, so we will just keep a running post for the sake of remembrance. This is what happens when. . . Tilly is left out of bath time!


She has climbed in the bath tub fully clothed with her brother or sister twice in the last week! Our little Miss LOVES bath time and hates to think she is missing out on the fun. Carter and Summer don't quite know what to think of their baby sister's antics, but Mommy and Daddy think she is pretty hilarious! Thanks, Tilly, for giving us a laugh or two this week. Next time, wait your turn. We promise you will get your bath too!

4 in 48

Four babies in forty-eight months, that is! Labor Day Weekend, David and I learned that we were going to be blessed beyond measure once again with the opportunity to be parents of another precious one. Yes, Baby O'Dell #4 is due to arrive May 17, 2010. Yes, we know what causes this and yes, this was planned! (You won't believe the comments and questions we get.) We are over the moon for this little one actively growing in my tummy! Having gone to the doctor twice now, we know for sure there is only one :) and we know this one is quite active. At our 9 week check-up during the ultra-sound our little one put on a show. He/she was kicking everywhere, putting his/her hands up to his/her face - it was absolutely amazing and precious! At only 9 weeks, can you believe it? At our 12 week check-up, Dr. B. had a tough time finding the heartbeat (which can be nerve-racking) because this little one was moving all over the place. I was able to hear lots of kicks and movements and finally a strong heartbeat; it was precious! Here are some sweet pictures of our little one. We were amazed at how much detail is visible at only 9 weeks! The One who created our baby is something else, wouldn't you say?

Profile shot, you can see the little feet in the air.

Another profile shot, this was during the "show." You can see the hands reaching for the feet. It was just the sweetest thing to watch our little one moving around so full of life already!

We waited a while to share our news because we wanted to be certain all was okay with our little one. Though, sometime after we knew ourselves Carter asked me out of the blue, "Mommy, do you have a baby in your tummy?" I was stunned and it took me a minute to come up with a truthful answer. I stammered, "Well, what made you think of that?" Thankfully, he was already on to the next thing! We did tell our children after our 9 week appointment and they were so precious! Carter fully understands what is going on and several times a day asks about the baby. One morning on the way to school he says, "Mommy, can you take a shower with your baby?" Another time he says, "Mommy, the baby is in your tummy right, not in your heart? So, Jesus can't get to the baby, right?" I said, "Well, buddy, Jesus will take good care of the baby because He loves us." He was okay with that response.

Carter was SO excited to find out he is going to be a big brother, AGAIN! It was really precious! He continues in his quest to be the most precious son ever with his random thoughts and questions about the baby!

Carter looking at the sonogram pictures of Baby O'Dell. We have lots of sonogram pictures around our house :) so he knew what this was a picture of, but he was not sure who was in the picture!

We bought a present for the new baby and had Carter, Summer, and Tilly open it along with the sonogram pictures. This is how we shared the big news! It was so much fun!

Our three little people together on the couch opening their "surprise!" As you can tell, Carter took charge of the situation; he usually does :)

Carter and Summer - they are BEST buds. This week Carter said, "Summer, you're my best friend, right?" Melted my heart! I pray they are always so sweet together.

This would be our first "congratulations on baby" present from my sweet co-teacher, Erica and her roommate, Amy. She was one of the first to find out, as I was freaking out just a little bit and needed to share! She and Amy, sent this edible bouquet to our family. I had never received one before and it was DIVINE! Thank you for rejoicing with us in our gift! We are so thankful!

It's Been a Long Season

Remember when I posted here about how excited I was for football season to start. Well, it's been a long season for the dawgs and it's not even over yet. Last weekend, during the dreaded rivalry game, I tweeted, "At our house orange means yucky gators. Go Dawgs! Sic 'em! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!" Someone commented on my update saying, "It must be tough to be a Georgia dawg these days!" Are you kidding me? I LOVE the dawgs, even when they don't look so hot on the field in spite of their fun new uniforms. Let it be noted, I am a fan of the silver britches myself! Dually noted, it has been a long season, but it's never tough to be a dawg when you love the dawgs like I do. I was born bleeding red and black! The proof is in the picture! Even my children can call the dawgs with the best of 'em, especially little Tilly!

July 1979, I'm a little bulldawg!

I'm pretty sure we were meant to be together!

My Pumpkins

Kinda difficult to catch them all looking at the same time!
My littlest pumpkin knows what to do!
Tinkerbell found the candy!

Well, I think I may be the only mommy who did not take her babies to the pumpkin patch this year, and trust me, I feel terribly about it! In our defense, we did not have a single free weekend during the month of October and next weekend will be no better! Oh well - we did hit up the annual fall festival at our school, watched Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin, and we made it to our church's first ever Trunk or Treat! Not too shabby if I do say so myself! My pumpkins (AKA Woody, Cinderella, and Tinkerbell) had a great time. Thanks to Gigi for our rockin' costumes - they were a BIG hit with the children and the people in our church! Carter was so so excited to be a cowboy and he kept telling the girls over and over - you are SO pretty! He's the best big brother ever! Enjoy the pictures of our little pumpkins - if you ask me they are WAY cuter than any pumpkin you can find in a patch!