Hannah's Hope

David and I are very interested in international adoption and hope to be able to adopt a baby one day. This calling on our hearts has led us to be able to network with others who have the same heart's desire. Recently, I learned of an adoption agency named All God's Children. This agency is affiliated with an orphanage in Ethiopia named Hannah's Hope. A family in the Atlanta area is adopting a baby girl from this orphanage at the end of this month! Through them we learned of a formula shortage in Ethiopia. The lady who runs the orphanage has even been buying formula from the black market just to save the babies in here care!
Every year the school where I teach participates in several service projects. Each class is to adopt a project for the year. This year our class's service project was to collect formula for Hannah's Hope! My children and their families were so excited to be able to participate in such a cool project! I also enlisted the help of my Sunday School Class at church. Altogether we collected 40 cans of formula for Hannah's Hope with the promise of more to come! Below are some pictures of the formula we collected. Please join us in praying for Hannah's Hope and other orphanages in third world countries who do not have enough formula to feed their babies.

My Favorite Things

Our little family blesses me so much and I want to capture every moment for fear that I may forget something! This weekend Carter got his hair cut for the 4th time and he looks like such a little man. The curls are gone, but this time I know for sure they will come back! Summer was making us laugh with her songs and dance moves! She is talking so clearly and is beginning to say her ABCs. Tilly is only taking 5 bottles now and is eating rice ceral from a bowl! She laughs at everything and has the sweetest smile! Carter and Summer ADORE her and I am so very thankful that they will all grow up never knowing life without the other. Carter is now 2 1/2; Summer will be 18 months in a few days; Tilly will be 5 months old next week! Wow! Time is going by so very quickly! I have some favorite pictures of the children from the holidays that I wanted to share. We had such a wonderful holiday with our little party of five. These are just a few pictures of our time together. Carter on the tire swing at our cousin's house
Summer peeking out from behind Daddy at the baby calves

Carter singing with his new keyboard from Mama

Our Christmas Tree with Crocs for Carter and Summer. Crocs were the only thing Carter asked Santa for this year! He was excited to find them on the tree!

Our stockings - it was so much fun waiting on baby Tilly's to come!

Summer lovin' on her big brother!

Carter and Summer playing at Mama's! They really do have so much fun together!

Summer on Christmas morning talking on her phone!

Carter making baby Tilly laugh!

Sweet baby Tilly on Christmas morning!

Yucky Gators and Other Stuff

Well, it has been a sad week at the O'Dell house! Everyone had to go back to school on Monday, even David - what a rude awakening it was when the alarm sounded before 5:30! Whew! Then, we got the news that Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno were going pro and not coming back to play for the dawgs another year - not surprised, just bummed! As if this was not bad enough, then we learn that John Smoltz is leaving the beloved Braves to play for the Red Sox (no offense Cari/Cory)! Say it isn't so! On top of it all college football comes to an end tonight with the Gators and the Sooners! Who cares!?! However, I do have a fun story to bring some smiles to this crazy week! The story, of course, starring none other than Carter Stokes O'Dell.

One fun thing about going back to school is spending lots of time in the car with Carter, Summer, and Tilly who I have fondly named the three stooges! Carter literally (no exaggeration, David!) talks the entire way to and from school! Well, he doesn't understand why we drive in so much traffic (welcome to Atlanta) and he does not understand why we have to stop at lights, so I have been teaching him what the different color lights mean. Today, we were reviewing: "Green means go! Red means stop! Yellow means slow!" He has this down pat! Well, today, after reviewing he asks me, "Mommy, what about orange?" I am not really sure where he got the orange from since we were reviewing traffic lights, but I went with it anyway! Being the orange hater that I am (again, sorry Cari/Cory), I promptly replied, "Orange means yucky gators!" A great thing about being a Mommy of a two year old is that I can train him right - he believes everything I tell him! Thank you, Carter, for making me laugh a lot today! I guess tonight, we will be cheering for those yucky gators!

Third Grade Field Trip to State Capitol

On Tuesday, our third grade class went on a field trip to the state capitol! We had a wonderful time! The greatest treat was receiving an invitation to go on the floor of the House of Representatives by Representative Billy Mitchell! One of our school mom's is a personal friend of his and she arranged for him to meet us! It was a huge surprise! He greeted our class and spent quite a while talking to the students and answering their questions!

'Tis the Season

Our little family has been quite busy this Christmas season. Make sure to scroll down our entire blog because we added several posts at once this time! We finished up school with parties and performances. Carter did so well in his first school Christmas performance and we were so proud of him. We had check ups for baby Tilly and we are so thankful that she is doing well. Summer had her second ear infection, but is doing really well after a round of anti-biotic! We celebrated Mommy's birthday. We went Christmas shopping, decorated our home for Christmas, mailed out our Christmas letter and photo, put together a gingerbread house, rode the pink pig, drove around to look at Christmas lights, and now we are enjoying time at home as we prepare to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus! Below are some pictures of our family during this special holiday season! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The children in their new Christmas outfits from Gigi & Papa


Carter gettin' ready for the deer woods!
Our 3 precious little ones! We are reminded of what a gift they are this hoilday season!

Sweet Summer

Summer is now 17 months old. She will go next month for a well check up and we are excited to see how much she has grown! She now has all of her baby teeth, save her two year molars. She is saying lots of words now, too. Summer also loves to sing and dance! This sweet girl is definitely our fearless one - she climbed out her crib again this month and we can no longer allow her to take naps in the pack and play because she won't stay in it! David and I were noticing this past weekend how well Carter and Summer play together. They truly enjoy each other's company and we are thankful for that! Here are some recent pictures of sweet Summer.

Summer with one of our favorite bed time books!

Summer and Carter driving the car at Home Depot!


Summer playing on Daddy and Mommy's bed!

Summer helping Carter put on his rain boots!

Tilly is Four Months Old

Tilly Brooke turned four months old on the 19th of this month! She weighs 13 pounds 10 ounces and is 26 1/2 inches long! Tilly drinks 5 ounces of formula every 3 hours during the day and she is sleeping 12 hours each night - Mommy and Daddy are thankful for this! More importantly than sleep though we are thankful she is healthy and growing! She continues to charm us with her even temperament and sweet smile! We love to listen to her laugh and coo! Not many sounds sweeter than that! Carter and Summer continue to shower their baby sister with love!

Big beautiful eyes
We finally have a thumb sucker!

Looking up at Carter

Sweet sweet Tilly!

Carter's Christmas Program at School

Every year at The Heiskell School, the pre-school does a Christmas program. This year, was Carter's debut! It was precious! Carter's class, the Builders, were the first ones to sing and they sang two songs! On Wednesday, the first of two performances, David was asked to pray at the start of the program. David prayed a sweet prayer and then went to stand in the back of the gym so as not to be openly seen by Carter (I was hiding in the stair well). Carter's class walked down the aisle and stood on the risers. The director of our school instructed the children to wave to their parents, so that the waving would not go on once the performance began. Carter pointed to the back of the gym where David was standing and shouted for all to hear, "That's my daddy over there!" It was too cute and made Daddy's day! Here are a few pictures from Carter's performance!

Dress Rehearsal

Looking around for Mommy and Daddy

Wednesday Performance

In his new Christmas outfit!

O, Christmas Tree

Our family is really enjoying the Christmas season. Carter's class is participating in a Christmas program next week and it has been so very sweet to hear him talk about the baby Jesus. Summer is enthralled with the Christmas lights popping up all over the city. She points her finger and says Ooh WOW! Even little Tilly sat sweetly with Santa today at her school and had her picture made! Last night, the five of us went to get our Christmas tree! We waited longer than we planned because we fear Summer is going to climb to the top or tackle it; we are still waiting on one of these to happen! One of our favorite places to go is Home Depot. Carter and Summer love riding in the car there! Tilly does too; she just doesn't know it yet! After all, we are Tony Stewart fans at our house! Anyway, we loaded all three children into the car and set off to find the perfect tree! We did find the perfect tree, Frasier fur, 6-7 inches tall! It is sitting outside in a bucket of water. Now, we just have to make it pretty! Stay tuned for decorated pictures of our perfect tree! Until then, here are some pictures of our family going to get our tree this year!

The Pink Pig

One thing I love about the hoildays is traditions! When I was a little girl, my mom took my sister and me to Lenox Mall to ride the pink pig during the holiday season. The pink pig has been around in Atlanta since 1953. Today, (thanks to my mom) I was able to pass along that tradition to my little ones, well two of them anyway. Tilly was too small to ride and I forgot my baby Bjorn to hold her! So, Carter, Summer, David, David's mom (Gigi), and I rode on the pink pig! It was so much fun! David's dad (Papa) sat with baby Tilly while we rode. This was not special because it was the grandest ride out there, but it is a tradition famous in Atlanta and special to my family. It was so neat for me to be able to experience the pink pig with my little ones! Thank you, T, for the ride and for instilling in me a love for traditions!

Grandparent's Day at The Heiskell School 2008

Carter's Teacher, Miss Page

Grandparent's Day Opening Ceremonies

Carter's Class at School

Singing a song about a scarecrow

Carter and Papa

Today is a special day in the life of our family. It is our very first Grandparent's Day celebration at school! I have been looking forward to this day since Carter began the school year! Carter's grandparents, Gigi and Papa, were able to share in this very special day with him. We are so thankful they were able to be here with Carter to celebrate Grandparent's Day.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Praise God the Father who's the source;

Praise God the Son who is the course;

Praise God the Spirit who's the flow;

Praise God, our portion here below. Amen.

Praise God for the work He is doing in the life of our little Tilly. Today, I spoke to our pediatric surgeon, Dr. Bussey. He updated me on the test results from her surgery. There was nothing abnormal in the tissue; it was just a yucky, old cyst! I know so many of you have been praying for this sweet, sweet baby and we are so grateful! She has been the BEST patient! If you didn't know better, you would not even know that this little one had surgery a week ago. She has continued to eat and sleep well and her little disposition has (if anything) become even sunnier! Today, we are celebrating her three month birthday! She has brought so much joy and laughter into our home. Carter and Summer simply adore her and are so very sweet to her. We are so thankful for Tilly. Please continue to lift up this sweet little one. She still has a small cyst (pea sized) inside her left ovary. Because this is her only ovary now, we want to take every precaution. David and I take her back to the doctor for a follow-up visit on December 1. We covet your prayers. We are praying for the health of this ovary and complete healing! David and I are confident that God has BIG plans for Tilly's life. We believe He is already using her story to bring Him glory!

The Birthday Song

Carter loves to sing the birthday song. We sing it most everyday to somebody and sometimes to everybody we know! Today, we are actually celebrating some special birthdays. My niece, Zoie,turns 3 today! Happy Birthday Zoie! We hope you had a wonderful day and we pray that this year will bring you much joy! We love you very much! Today, is also Christine's birthday. Christine is the mid-wife who delivered Carter, Summer, and Tilly! She is very special to our family and we love her dearly! Christine, we hope you had lots of fun today and we hope this next year is one of your best yet! Here are some pictures of the birthday girls!

Zoie

Christine with baby Summer.

Christine with baby Tilly.

Tilly's Surgery

Tilly, had surgery this morning at Scottish Rite hospital to remove a cyst on her right ovary. Dr. Bussey, Dr. Davis, Nurse Corinne, and Nurse Lorie were all so very good to us throughout the procedure keeping us constantly updated. Tilly was taken back at 9:55 a.m. She was put under and Dr. Bussey began the surgical procedure about 10:40 a.m. He was back in our room by 11:15 a.m. to update David and me. The surgery was successful in that he was able to remove all of the cyst from her body. In the process, he did have to remove her right ovary and the fallopian tube because they were too far damaged to be repaired. We are thankful that she has two ovaries and are praying for the good health for the left one. The left ovary does have a small cyst (pea sized) inside of it, so it was not removed today. We will go back in 6 months for another ultrasound to check its progress. Tilly did remarkably well in recovery and was back in the room with us before noon. She has been a wonderful patient, so calm and not fussy. Mostly, she has been sleeping. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for our precious little one today. Please continue to pray for her recovery that she would have little pain and that there would be no infection. Pray that the cyst does not have any suspicious tissue as it is being tested. Pray that her left ovary would remain healthy and that the cyst currently there would resolve itself. We are so thankful for this precious girl. Words cannot even express how in awe of her I am. She was such a good patient today. Below are some pictures of this precious one.

Tilly's Surgery Updates

Tilly was taken back for surgery at 9:55 A.M. It is estimated that the surgery will take about 75 minutes. The OR nurse just phoned and said that Tilly is doing great and went to sleep just fine and that Dr. Bussey is beginning right now. Please pray for our little one.

Fall Festival 2008

One Nascar driver, one little angel, one pink leopard (thanks to Gigi), and two crazy, but adoring parents describes our party of five this October 31st! I left school as soon as I was able and gathered my little people. We met Daddy at Chick Fil A for a very early supper since the party did not begin until 5:00. There was no time to go home you see! We ate supper at Chick Fil A and then the fun began in the back of the car! I tried to capture the moments of David and me changing our three little ones into their Halloween costumes! It was a riot! Carter was climbing over seats, Summer was trying to see what Carter was doing and Tilly - well she was just one cool cat - or should I say leopard, a pink one! David and I were a mess of arms, legs, tights, shoes, and diapers! For Halloween this year, we took our children to the fall festival the church where David served in Marietta. It was wonderful to see our church family at SPBC and visit with old friends! As you know all good things must come to an end, or all tired children must go to bed, so we loaded our wee ones into the car and began our journey home. As you can see from the pictures, Summer did not even make it home before falling asleep. It was a very memorable evening. I am thankful for cameras to capture these sweet moments with our children!