Why?

Price has asked WHY for a lot of things. Normally I say "just because" if I don't know the answer......

But today was different...

Price has been having bad dreams lately.
He says he dreams of strangers taking him away.

I have told him that God is always with him. I have told him to pray about it and ask the Lord for comfort. I have told him that God will take away his Fears.

He knows every word to the Veggie Tales song "God is Bigger" (then the Boogie Man, he's bigger then Godzilla or the Monsters on TV. God is bigger then the Boogie Man and he's watching over you and me!..... just in case you weren't familiar.....)

But still.....he's scared!

Every night when he starts to get scared, we pray, ALWAYS asking God to take away Prices bad dreams and bring him comfort through the night.

But still......he has bad dreams.

When I told him to pray about it again, he said "God NEVER takes my bad dreams away so why should I pray?"

I stopped a moment and thought about it........ but I'm not sure how to answer his question. I'm not prepared. I'm unsure myself.

I, personally, have so many "Whys?" to ask the Lord.......a lot of unanswered prayers.

But it's all about faith! Right?

But I don't know how to teach a 4 year old about faith and trust. Especially when I struggle with my own sometimes.

But a very special friend taught me that my Faith in the Lord can't be circumstantial. That I must have the same FAITH thru the good and bad and TRUST that the Lord is in control and has a reason for the "Whys" of our life.

Struggling makes us stronger, and I know that the ups and downs of our life is all in His plan, so I will teach Price to trust that there is a reason for unanswered prayers. Maybe these dreams will make him stronger, braver, more careful around strangers....... I'm not sure. But I know there is a reason, and Trusting in the Lord will be my answer.

Update on O

Just left MUSC and Dr. Meyer said that his MRI was clear except for inflamation on his right side. There could be several reasons for the inflamation but nothing major, just something to watch. Thank you for all your prayers. I am so releived!
The speech therapist @ MUSC also evaluated him today and they said he is so far ahead with speech that they would not recommend it for him. Yay! Praise the Lord!

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Let the Memories Begin!

To say our Disney Trip was fabulous is an understatement! It was definitely one of the best vacations I have ever been on. The boys had a wonderful time! (as did the adults!)


We went to all 4 parks and Sea World so it was a busy week. We all got lots of exercise, for sure!

I was amazed at Price riding everything. He wasn't scared a bit! He did Space Mountain first, then the t-rex ride, Expedition Everest......and every other one he could hit up. His favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride @ Hollywood Studios. I must say, it was very impressive!

I think Owens favorite thing might have been the street party at the magic kingdom. He got to dance with Lucious and Mr. Incredible.


The boys LOVED meeting the characters, except the ones who looked like regular people......like the princesses. I had to pull Owen away from most of them.


Owen refused to remove his superhero cape which actually turned out to be quite handy. The characters kept coming up to him during the parades to give him a high five and thumbs up and pointing to his cape.



Price ended up getting strep the end of the week but thank goodness it was at the end and not the beginning.

We started our trip by eating dinner at Chef Mickeys, which is the best way to get pictures and autographs, by far!
Then we went to Cinderellas Head Table for Breakfast with the Princesses! (Yes, I made the boys endure this, but it was very good!)

The only things that I really wanted to do that we didn't make it to was the Electric Parade and Fantasmic. We will have to catch those next time.

I can definitely say that Disney is the Most Magical Place on Earth!

And we stayed at the Jambo House Villas @ Animal Kingdom, which I highly recommend. It was beautiful and we had a Savannah view. The boys loved going on our balcony and watching the zebra, giraffes, wildebeest, gazelle and other animals that were roaming around.

This was a baby giraffe that watched

and this was the view from our room.

Lobby of the Jambo House

This place will be missed!

We would like to thank Gigi & Papaw for the best. vacation. EVER! What a great time!

Update on O

Josh and I took Owen to MUSC yesterday to meet with Dr. Meyer about Owen's ear. I am thankful that we were sent to Dr. Meyer because I definitely think he is the most knowledgeable, proactive doctor we have dealt with concerning Owen.
Apparently Owen's total hearing loss in his ear is very uncommon and he wants to do his best to find out what happened before deciding how to treat.
They will be doing a MRI on the 21st of Feb to rule out the chance that a tumor may be sitting on his nerve and causing it not to work.
Obviously this causes us great concern but we are trying hard not to worry until there is actually a reason to worry.
I do ask that you please remember Owen in your prayers and please, specifically, pray for a clear MRI.
We will go back for a follow up on the 28th but I am hoping they will notify me of results before then. I will keep everyone updated on the results.
We will be leaving for Disney World on Friday and look forward to spending an exciting week together with the boys and Gigi and Papaw! If I haven't already filled up your prayer list, then please add safe travels to it as well! :)

John 16:33

"In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, for I have overcome the World!"

On Thursday I woke up thinking that it was going to be one of the best days of my life! I was having my final anatomy scan and thought I'd finally be able to tell the world I was having a GIRL! I had already been told on Jan 5th and 12th that I was having a girl. I was so excited, that I really thought it was too good to be true. I actually had trouble believing it, which is why I wanted to wait until Thursday to be able to tell everyone. (Although I did have trouble keeping it a secret, because I was so excited!)
Josh and my mom met me at Dr. Browne's office to be there for the exciting time. When I layed down the sonographer started scanning my ovaries. From previous experience, I had to be the one to ask the question, "Is there a heartbeat?". She immediately scanned over where the heart was and told me "No!"
No? No Heartbeat?!?! Words can't even begin to explain how I felt at that moment. How could one of the best days of my life, turn into one of the worst?
How could I go from being so happy to heartbroken in a matter of seconds?
Most of all, I wondered how the Lord could LET this happen! I have done nothing but thank the Lord every. single. day. for this precious blessing!
My sadness turned to anger. I was too vested in this. I had already picked out a name, I had already bought clothes. Dr. Browne had told me that everything had been looking so great. How that less then 1% had miscarriages after the first trimester......
How could this happen? I'm still asking myself these questions, still wondering what the doctor missed, still wondering why the Lord let this happen.......
But I DO know that the Lord DOES love me. And I DO know he wouldn't give me more then I can handle. And I DO know that I CAN handle this.....although I wish I didn't have to.
I am feeling better everyday. I am still emotional but nothing that I can't get through.....
I have a wonderful husband and two precious boys and they help put a smile on my face everyday.
A smart person wrote me, and told me that grief, brokenness, hope and joy can all occupy the same heart, and I agree!
The words from Kutless' "That's what Faith Can Do" keeps playing thru my mind and I know there is a reason.
I haven't spoken to many people since Thursday, and that's just my way of dealing with things. It really does amaze me at all the wonderful friends who have reached out to me during this time. The emails, calls, texts, cards, flowers, dinners......I am overwhelmed at how loved I feel. Even if I don't respond, know I am very thankful for each of you. I am truly blessed with wonderful friends.

Our Christmas!

We had a great December but it was pretty busy. Price was in 3, yes 3!, Christmas Programs. Once for preschool, one for church choir and then he was in our Church's annual Christmas Pageant which ran 5 times from Thurs - Sunday. It was a commitment but in the end we all had a great time. It was worth the time and effort and hopefully brought a few people to know the true meaning of Christmas. We appreciate all our friends and family who came to see Price! It meant a lot to him. Everyday he'd ask me who was coming to see him! I guess he likes the attention! :)
I have no pictures of Price in his choir performance b/c mom of the year forgot her camera. He was a donkey and they did their performance to "The Crippled Lamb". It was so sweet.
I didn't get pictures of his pagent performance b/c I helped and was up on stage with him, however, Josh did get it on video, so I'm thankful for that.


I did get pictures of him being in the "Heavenly Choir" for his Preschool performance. (Finally, I come prepared!)

Afterwards, at the cookie reception w/ 2 of his best buds.





P&O with the big man, himself!

O didn't want to get out of Santa's lap!

And we also got together with some friends and made Santa cookies.

I think this crew ate more cookies then they made!

The finished product

Santa Came!

This year Price asked Santa for just under a million things for Christmas. Luckily, he seemed very pleased with what Santa could fit in his sleigh.
Owen was pretty easy because aside from the pink leapster and Dora playset, he just wanted "presents"! (And in case your wondering, he did not get anything Pink or that involved Dora!) :)

Checkin' out the goods!

O loved his Toy Story Imaginext!

Price loved opening gifts. He loves a surprise!

And even though we didn't have a White Christmas, We DID have a White "Day After" Christmas! Thank Goodness we didn't loose power and Josh got to play with the boys in the snow for the FIRST time EVER!

We had a great Christmas!

I even got good news about my Risk Factor Screening. I have a very low risk of Downs Syndrome, any trisomys and my ultrasound looked great!

Today I am 15 weeks so only 25 more weeks to go. Please keep praying! I am going to see the specialist one more time on the 27th and if all goes well, he will release me back to Dr. Smithson. But so far, so good!
Thank you, Lord!!

Christmas Blessings!! (and prayer requests!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Wow, I can't believe it has been almost 2 months since my last post. We have been so busy that it's hard to find time to update like I should but I am going to work on making this a priority since it is my only form of scrapbooking for my kiddies. Its so much fun to look back at my old posts and see how much my boys have changed. And let's face it, it's the only way I can remember things these days.

Well, this Christmas we have so much to be Thankful for and the first are these precious BOYS!!!
These photos were taken by my good friend, Micah Bolen.


I was so pleased at how great they turned out!

The next thing we are Thankful for is that on July 5th (Owen's Birthday) we are expecting a new addition! The 3rd and final Baby Jackson of the bunch!

Apparently we only make July babies! :)

We are very excited but also asking for prayers because we have had 3 miscarriages this past year and the doctors aren't sure what exactly is going on but think I have some sort of auto-immune disorder (such as Lupus) and are giving me prednesone to suppress my immune system and progesterone (actually, prometruim.....which apparently is a form of progesterone) to help stabilize the pregnancy. Today I am 12 weeks and go for a risk factor analysis tomorrow so please say a little prayer if you think about it.

Also, I believe in the power of prayer, so I would also like for you to pray for Sweet Owen. We found out he has no hearing in his right ear and are talking to ENT's about getting a Bone Anchor Hearing Aid (BAHA) put in. This is hard for us on so many levels but ultimately we want to do what is in the best interest of Owen. We are being referred to a new ENT who specializes in these and then I think we will go for a second opinion at MUSC just to make sure this is the right thing for Owens needs. We are also being accessed by Baby Net for Speech Therapy but so far I think he speaks very well for his age.

Ultimately, I want, for our family as a whole, whatever the Lord has in store for us. I pray that he guides us in what direction he wants us to go and I pray that we hear him when he calls. I also want to feel comfortable and confident in his decision for our lives. In fact, I want that for everyone I know... So many are struggling, but I hope that they are secure in the fact that the Lord is in control. That is my Biggest Christmas wish!

I hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy New Year!