Ms. Molly

Here are two adorable pictures of Ms. Molly and Marshall. They just LOVE each other! I was talking about Ms. Molly today in Bible Study and one of the girls said, "You know Ms. Molly is your angel" and you know what? They are right!!!

Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures I've been meaning to post for a while. Some of them are several months old.

This picture cracks me up - Paul left us in the car while he quickly ran into the bank so Molly decided to hide on the floorboard and scare him when opened the door. It worked quite well! I just wish I had a picture of Paul's face!

Over Spring Break, I took the kids to see the Easter Bunny at The Woodlands Mall, while we were there Molly rode the carousel about 10 times (hey, it's cheaper than Disney!) while Marshall napped in the stroller.

Pig nose while riding the pig...

Just a cute picture of my boy back when he still had his comb-over

We passed this sign at the Race Track a few days ago and had to take a picture:

Some cute shots of the boy eating...

Mum-mum shards stuck on his head:

I found these ridiculously large Indian rice cakes at H.E.B. and Marshall LOVES them!

These are my FAVORITES...
I was in the kitchen when I heard Marshall starting to laugh and get really excited in the living room. I went to check on him I couldn't find him at first because he was hidden between the couch, chair and footstool. He was so excited to have gotten the remote off the couch and could not have been more delighted with himself!

Julia's Birthday Party

We celebrated Julia's birthday with a little party in our backyard.
We also discovered that Marshall LOVES balloons!

We all wrote little messages to our sweet angel and tied them to balloons that we sent up to heaven.

Molly releasing her balloon
Marshall checking out the note that Molly wrote for him.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Julia

Today our little angel would be two years old. It's hard to believe it's been that long since we saw our sweet Julsie Mae for the first time.

Several weeks ago Paul and I were asked if we'd share Julia's story at church on Holy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter), I reluctantly agreed since the though of public speaking makes me queasy. Paul and I wrote a little something together and through by the Grace of God I was able to stand up and read my speech.

I thought I'd share it today as a tribute to our sweet girl.

Two years ago this month our second daughter, Julia , was born and diagnosed with Trisomy 18, a fatal genetic disorder. We didn’t know about her condition until she arrived. Like most parents we had everything ready for her. We had the nursery, the toys and all the things a baby needs, we also had our hopes, dreams and expectations for her.

It was immediately clear to everyone that something was very wrong and our worst fears were realized within a few days of Julia’s birth. She was with us for 80 days, with the last of those days spent at home with us while we loved and honored her as much as we could.

While Julia was with us and after she was gone, Paul and I were brought to our knees in confusion and grief. As hard as it was to grasp what had happened to our little family, we soon realized that we had nowhere to turn but to each other and our faith in order to find peace.

Julia seemed to bless everyone that met her. Through her short but amazingly meaningful and blessed life we grew closer as a family, gained some amazing friends, were brought into the family of Grace Church and most importantly, our faith was deepened.

Since Julia came into our lives and brought so many wonderful things, it became evident that God is in complete control and has a plan for everyone and everything. He truly does give us with what we need at the exact moment we need it. I've often heard the saying "If He brings you to it, He will bring you through it," and now more than ever, I know it to be true! He is all-knowing, all-powerful and all-mighty but that does not mean that he will protect us from suffering.

I have come to believe that suffering is just a part of being human. It's the difficult times in our lives in which we are given the opportunity to draw closer to Jesus and rely on Him for all that we need.

Were we not to suffer, we might not ever find a reason to turn to God and hand our burdens and eventually our lives over to him. Without Jesus, we are all helpless and hopeless, but we must accept our circumstances, “pick up our mats” and carry them in triumph, trusting in Jesus’ imparted strength.

God wants us to turn to him anytime we suffer. If we respond to him in faith, he will provide the strength and healing we need. I believe that God can and will bring good through all difficulty and suffering, it might not be evident to us now on earth, but I have complete faith that one day we will see God's glorious plan in it's entirety. We can only do our best to honor God as we remain steadfast in his love for us – and he does love us, so much that he sent His son to suffer and die on the cross for the benefit of all mankind.

The road we have traveled in the last two years has not been easy and has brought us through pain and sorrow, dredged up more anger and unanswered questions than I ever imagined possible, but we have also been blessed beyond measure as God has shown us his mercy and grace. I hope to always do my best to honor Julia’s memory by remembering her and thanking God that he brought her into our life.

In the past two years our family has become stronger and larger with the birth of our third child, Marshall, 8 months ago. If you would have asked me even one year ago if our family would be where it is today, I couldn’t have imagined the blessings we were set to receive. God's love is so good and so pure and we just have to learn to lean on him in our times of need, praise him in our times of happiness and glorify him always.

I know Julia is having one heck of a party today in heaven. I just wish I could be there to see her in all her heavenly glory!!!

I love you sweet girl and hope you know how much you are loved and missed.

Arizona

Last week we went to Arizona for my cousin Patrick's wedding (will post those pictures separately). While we were there we spent a lot of time visiting my grandpa and Geneva. As usual, Molly had fun at her great-grandparents' house. They have a beautiful backyard full of gorgeous flowers and an amazing assortment of fruits and veggies. When we visited last February Molly insisted on planting a seed from her orange in the yard.... Grandpa was so excited to show Molly where her orange seed had actually started growing a tree! Paul, Molly and I were all so surprised that the seed actually took... well come to find out Grandpa spent a ton of time looking for the tiniest seedling he could find and planted it where Molly had buried her seed. I doubt we'll ever let Molly in on that little secret! When I was Molly's age my grandpa used to have so much fun doing things just like that for me. He is just the sweetest man!

Molly and Marshall admiring the tiniest orange tree ever!

Marshall had so much fun cruising all over their house!Molly and Marshall enjoyed a play date at our cousin's house where Marshall got TONS of hugs from his cousin, Pierce!Visitng Aunt JoAnn and Uncle BudWe enjoyed dinner and Bowling with the cousins Sunday night
Shannon and all the baby boys (including baby boy #4 due in just one month!)

Marshall really liked the blowy-thing on the ball return at the bowling alley!

Molly got a STRIKE!!!