Christmas 2008

Faith looking at her new fish named Elmo.

Billy reading the kids Twas the Night Before Christmas

a longtime family tradition.

This was the best family shot we could get before

going to church on Christmas Eve.

Well, it is so hard to believe that Christmas is over now and we are on the verge of a new year. We had a nice Christmas. Faith started getting the hang of unwrapping. This year Faith had alot of fun playing with her toys. Billy read the kids Twas the Night Before Christmas. That was very special to me. Growing up and every year until my dad passed away he read us that story. If we had moved out, we got confrenced called in. Last year was the first year that I did not hear that strory from my dad and I couldnt bear to hear that story at that time. This year, I wanted my children to grow up with the same tradition as that is something that I hold very near my heart. I promised my dad when I said goodbye to him for the last time that I would carry on the same traditions and instill all of the qualities that made him such an amazing man and father . I want our children to always remember that special memory with their father as I have such wonderful memories of my father. Another tradition my mom and dad did was always make us remember the true meaning of Christmas. Before we opened any presents on Christmas morning, we always had to put baby Jesus in the manger and sing happy birthday to him. Another thing that Billy did with the kids this year. I miss my daddy so much.

Will is hanging in there. He has found his smile and will just make you laugh. He is still fighting this cold and they are still trying to figure out what is going on with his tummy, but he is hanging in there. As you can see we got a little video camera, so we can start posting more videos on here. Still trying to figure it all out, so bear with me :) . Stay tuned for more videos as I get this upload figured out. Wishing you a very happy 2009.

Week before Christmas!

This is Faith eating cereal with milk from a bowl!

Getting his breathing treatment. He usually likes it and

falls asleep.

Holy cow... Did I really just type that it is the week before Christmas? Where does time go? These past few weeks have been so crazy with Billy traveling and kids being sick and the list goes on! Soo much to do and so little time. We went to a Toy for Tot drive this weekend at our pediatritions office. They had a horse ride that Faith loved. They were supposed to have a santa there as well. Well, they did but he was just not friendly at all and kind of just wandered around. So, we are going to have to take the kids to see Santa at the mall. (been dreading the crowds) The kids are doing well. Faith is still loving preschool. This week she starts going every day in the morning. She is starting to say more things that almost sound like words. She just truly makes us laugh! She is doing very well with her speech and occupational therapy. She had pink eye and some weird rash last week, but is all better now after some medicines. She is also feeling better from her cold. Oh, we started a place called My Gym with her. It is in our opinion 10 times better than Little Gym. She LOVES it! Will is hanging in there. He has been sick for over 3 weeks now. Been back and forth to the doctors. He is on breathing treatments to help and just was started on steroids. We took him in for a chest x-ray and it showed that his airways were swollen and he was showing signs of wheezing. He just sounds so pitiful and is extremly fussy. Hopefully the little guy will start to feel better soon! Billy is on a airplane right now headed to New York for a week of training. He is excited to see New York at Christmas time. Though it is hard to be away. I am doing well. The house is quiet and I should be sleeping while I finally got Will asleep, but I am waiting on Billy to call me to tell me he got to the hotel. So, I thought I would update and add some pictures on here. Hugs and kisses to all. Miss and love everyone very much.

When I was uploading these new pics, I found this
one of Faith dated exactly 1 year ago today! It is so
amazing how much she has changed!

These pictures of Will were so fun! He is really
starting to smile alot more now.

Hi everyone! Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Ours was nice. The holidays are so different now without daddy here. We just miss him so much. We are all doing well. Faith is getting over a sinus infection and Will now has a nagging cough. Faith is doing very well in Preschool and with her speech therapy. She is now saying hi there, Hi barney, hi Bon Bon (her preschool teacher, her name is really Yvonne, but the 2 year olds cant quite get that yet) she says some other things, that kinda sound like whats that. She is signing alot more, like for please, give me, pick me up, and more. She is also mimiking what you are doing alot more. We have a awesome speech therapist here. Faith really responds well to her. She told me that she can see a huge change in Faith. Will is doing well. A typical nearly 3 month old! He is sleeping a tad longer at night, which is nice. He is smiling alot more as evident in the pictures! Billy is doing well in his job. He is still really loving it and has just never been happier with a job before. He is going to New York in December for a few days for training. I am doing well. Just trying to keep everything balanced, which is easier some days than others. Work is going well. I am doing 99% of my work mostly at night while Billy is home after Faith is asleep, so he can help me with Will.

Lets see, I think that about sums it up. We plan on decorating for Christmas this year, even though we dont have a yard, we have a balcony and you can bet that Billy will be putting his airblowns out there. We love you all.

New song.....

Hi everyone...

We added a song called My Wish.. If you have your sound turned down, then you may want to turn it back up. We found this perfect song I believe that expresses everything you want in this life for your children. We never thought our dream would come true of having a family. We were told by 2 different doctors as some of you know that due to some problems we would never be able to have our own children and after losing 2 little precious angles who are now in heaven, we have been blessed with Faith and Will.

We are all doing well. I will be updating with some new pics in a few days. Billy has been in Dayton for training and the kids and I have been hanging out at the house. Faith just finished her 2nd week of preschool and has loved it. We really love the place she is going and is having so much fun! She is also starting to recieve some speech therapy and occupational therapy to help with some delays. Will is doing fine as well. He is starting to give those precious smiles, though I can never seem to catch one on camera. He always stops when the camera gets pulled out. LOL.

oh as a side note, if you want to see older posts/pics you can go to the blog archive on the right and click on a month there or click on older posts. :) You can also leave comments to us under each post, if you click on the bottom of the post that says comments and let us know you were here!

Check back later this week for Thanksgiving pictures and we hope all of our family and friends have a great Thanksgiving. We love you all and are so thankful to have each of you in our lives.

Faith's first day of preschool!!!

Faith loves the park.

This is Faith exploring her classroom.

First day of preschool....

Getting her bookbag!

She put on her little tu-tu and we painted her nails.

Well, our little girl had her first day of preschool yesterday! She had a fantastic time! She did not cry at all, which is good because I made up for her! When I went to pick her up she had a big smile on her face and she was eating a breadstick from Olive Garden. The school had catered Olive Garden for lunch. Though she doesnt eat spagetti. (what kind of italian does not eat spagetti? LOL) They give out a little report care letting us know what she did each day and on it said happy girl! They said she said hi to everyone and blew everyone kissess all day. We think she is going to really love it! Grandma Barber got to be there on her first day, so that was really cool!

Will is doing great! Cant believe he is 2 months old now! He is getting so big! He is doing well and was cleared by the surgeon last week! YAY!

Happy 2 month birthday Will!

The above picture is Faith and Steve waiting on the
train to ride into Uptown.
The picture below is Faith downing a peanut butter
shake.... Needless to say she LOVED it!

When we went into Uptown, we visited a bar that

Dale Jr, our ultimate favorite Nascar driver just

opened here in Uptown Charlotte. We got in to see it

luckily because the manager was super nice and let us go in

before it opened. The above picture is Dale Jr. personal

booth. All the other seats are white and his was red.There

is also a little tv in the middle of the black table. No other

booths have that.

The picture below is the sign from the street.

How time flies. How hard to believe that it has now been 2 months since we had our 2nd little miracle and in that time have finished moving in, had a 2nd hospital stay and surgery, countless doctor appointments and had his first train ride. Wow..... We truly are blessed and are so thankful to God for what he has done in our lives.... And to think that we were told that we were never going to have children.

Will is doing well. Eating and growing like a champ. Since his surgery he has gained nearly 2 pounds, now weighing in at 11 pounds 10 ounces! He is just starting to smile. He still has his days and nights mixed up though, hoping he figures out that one soon! :)

Faith is just a happy little girl. She actually was just evaluated by Early Intervention here and she is showing a big delay in speech in both receptive and expressive and some in motor skills. So, she will be starting to recieve therapy in the house. We also decieded to start her in a preschool. We are hoping that this will help her with being around other kids who are speaking etc. We searched and found this perfect little preschool 3 miles from the house. It is a small class with lots of one on one attention. She will be going for 5 hours a day, M, W and F. She loved it when we were in there looking at it. It is all owned by 1 family, the mom, sisters, cousins and daughters all work there and their love for children is very evident. They have a awesome cirriculum. So, she will start next week... Be looking for pictures :) :)

Love you all. Thank you so much for checking in!