Happy Late Thanksgiving... The Stomach Bug Strikes again!

Since it has been exactly a week since Thanksgiving I thought it was about time to wish everyone a good one. I can't seem to catch up on my blog. Maybe one day!

We were exited and prepared to visit the Trevathan family in Tennessee on Thanksgiving day. I was not feeling the best Wednesday night at church but thought that it was my normal morning sickness that always seems worse at night. Around 10pm Wednesday night everything changed. Corey got really sick and then I followed him a few hours later. We were up all night. Thank goodness Will slept through the night! About 8am we decided to get in touch with my doctor who said that we should both head to the hospital. Corey to the ER and myself to Labor & Delivery. Praise the Lord for Mark and Debbie because we would not have made it without them. Debbie came and got Will for us and Mark took us to Crestwood. We ended up spending the whole day there. We both felt so bad for Mark & Debbie who not only missed Thanksgiving but had to babysit us all. Mark's Thanksgiving meal was crackers, Cheetos, & M&M's... that was for the whole day! The blessing was that no one else seemed to catch it including Will. We were so thankful!

We spent most of the weekend resting with exception to one very short shopping trip on Friday... nothing could keep me from such a good deal on a new washer & dryer. This is our Christmas gift to each other. We must be getting old to be excited about such a thing. Although, I am not sure Corey is as excited as I am! Then on Saturday we had fun cheering on our Auburn Tigers. War Eagle! We really enjoyed watching the game with Corey's family.

We had all planned to visit the Trevathan family on Sunday since we missed them Thursday. I had a change of plans when I woke up not feeling the best that morning. Dr. Conrad, my obgyn, saw me at church that morning and told me that it would be very easy to relapse and get sick again. I had no idea that you could relapse from something like that! So I spent the day resting while the rest of the crew went for a visit. I am still waiting for turkey and dressing... does anyone have any leftovers???

Growing Up!

My little boy is growing up a little more everyday. I told Corey that other night that I was going to put our baby to bed and it hit me at that moment that he is not a baby anymore. While he will always be "my baby" he sure doesn't resemble the little wrinkled boy curled up in a blanket that he used to be.

Corey and I both agreed that Will was showing some of the traditional signs of being an only child that stays home with mommy all day, like not knowing how to interact with other kids, hitting, not sharing and not using very many words. Last week his cousin Jaxon stayed the week with Corey's mom, aka Nana. So, we decided to take advantage of having another little friend down the road and went for a visit everyday. I know that it probably wore Nana out having two little boys run around her house all week but, it really did a world of good for Will. He learned the word No, which his loves to say. His very first phrase was No, Mommy! (Got to love that!) Jaxon, also taught him lots of other words and most importantly how to share a little and that hitting is not nice.

So, hears to growing up and learning new things everyday. It is fun watching him change a little bit every week. It is a journey that we would not trade for anything! Here are a few more pictures that we took last month when it was still warm and Jason was in town.

The Lost Month

As this month comes to a close I realized that so much has happened that I have missed sharing with you. So here is my attempt to catch up a little. This is kind of long so you might want to check back later if you don't have a lot of time.

The last weekend of September (yes, I realize that I am breaking the rules a little since it is technically not part of this month) we took a trip to Gatlinburg to check out the condo's that we are staying in for Winterfest this year. They are really nice and even a little fancy. If you are a huddle leader you should really consider going this year! We took Corey's parents with us on this trip and my mom and Joe (my step-dad) and his parents were already there for their vacation. We had fun spending time with all of our family and shopping a little. Here are a few pictures from the trip.









When we got home from Gatlinburg we quickly unpacked and got ready to go to a conference called Catalyst in Atlanta, GA. I don't have any pictures from the trip but I must say that it was a highlight from this month. They had the most dynamic speakers such as, Rick Warren who wrote The Purpose Driven Life, Dave Ramsey who has transformed our financial future over the past 8 years, Andy Stanley, Erwin McManus and so many others. The theme of the conference was Reverb which focused on the impact of our influence to all those around us. The question was "What will you do?" It was awesome and just what I needed to get refocused again. It was also great to have dinner with Taylor and Tori while we were there. We miss you guys so much!

The next weekend (10/13) we got that terrible call that you never want to get... "He's gone, he had a heart attack". Corey's Uncle Wayne who was a mere 49 had a heart attack and left this world early that Saturday morning. We were so shocked and heartbroken. He was a quiet man, kind, and gentle. He always had an encouraging word to share and loved his family and his Lord with all of his heart. He cared for anyone in need I learned at his funeral. He was the kind of man that would stop for anyone on the side of the road no matter how scary you looked. He helped all of those that this world considers the least of these. It was standing room only at the funeral and you could tell by looking around the room that he loved all walks of life. He lived to serve and find Jesus in everyone he met. We really miss you Uncle Wayne. I wish we had a picture to share... maybe later.

Last weekend, Corey went to the Junior High Retreat. They had so much fun! I wish I could have went but my morning sickness was in full swing so I didn't think we should try to make the trip. We are sad we missed it.

So that brings us to this weekend. We took Will to the doctor yesterday and found out that he has ear infection is both ears. No fun! We haven't slept hardly any this week. I went to my cardio doctor later that afternoon. I have a small leak in my aortic valve that I already new about and is no big deal right now. Dr. Conrad, my obgyn, encouraged me to get things checked out because my heart has been racing the past couple of weeks and I have had chest tightness and pain. Dr. Smith, my cardio doc., decided to have me wear a monitor for the next 30 days that will allow me to record each of the episodes that I may have. Will thinks it is very interesting that I have cords handing out of my clothes and he keeps wanting to play with that little black box clipped on my pants. It could be a long month! : )

Today we went to Tate Farms and had fun taking some pictures. It was freezing cold so we didn't stay long, remember we have ear infections. Here are a few pictures from the morning.

We're having a baby!

We're excited to announce that we are having another baby! Alisha is 10 weeks along & is doing well. She is sick (as always) but will hopefully feel better soon. Our due date is May 19. We appreciate your prayers!

Will Walks!

Snug as a Bug!

Don't you just love a blankie! Will sure loves his. It is not what you think, though. It is not one special blanket that he uses. It is not fancy. It does not have his name embroidered on it or any of those fancy tags they sew on them. All he requires is a small flannel blanket. It can be yellow, green, blue or even have animal designs on it. The look on his face when you hand it to him is priceless! The biggest smile appears and you may even get a laugh. When he gets his blankie in his arms he will proceed to bite it for a minute and then wrap it around his neck if he is sleepy. So if you ever see me with a blankie thrown over my shoulder just know that it is there for good reason. It makes my little man smile with delight and feel at peace with the world around him.

Above are a few pictures I took the other afternoon. Will was a little fussy and was carrying his blanket around in his mouth while he played. So I had the great idea to tie it around his neck. He was so much calmer the rest of the afternoon while he wore it around the house.

We wanted to share a few pictures from the past couple of weeks. It has been such a fun summer. We hope you enjoy the pics!

Will learned to stand up in his baby pool in the backyard with Daddy and Sam the dog! He is reaching for Sam. I am not sure he even realized he was standing up by himself.



He got stuck in our entertainment stand. He loves to crawl and climb!



Can anyone say War Eagle? Don't you love how Brandon Cox is in the background? (We didn't plan that.) Will had fun watching the game with us. He got a little nervous when we got excited.



Below are a few that we took of Will on Labor Day. We were trying to get some 1-year-old pics.

I love pictures of him crawling.



We wanted to make this one into a portrait but, we're not sure if it will work.



Silly Will! He had fun standing in his chair.



A few more of our favorites!

Just Catching Up...

I just wanted to share a picture of Will playing with his cousin Jaxon and Uncle Richard in Montgomery. We went down the week before last and spent a few days helping them get unpacked and settled. It was great to go to Vaughn Park that Wednesday and see a few old friends.



We have been so busy around here lately. We celebrated our anniversary, had the seniors over for a prayer night, hosted our Welcome Home dinner and since then we have been helping Will get through his newest round of teething. He has 10 teeth now! Including 3 molars that are working there way in. None of us are getting much sleep as he struggles to get them in. Hopefully, this will be the worst of it for awhile. So, we are relieved that things are a little slower this week. We are able to focus on Will and catch our breath a little. I have included a picture of our Sr. prayer night at our house. We had a lot of fun that night.

Celebrating 8 Years Together

Today, Corey and I celebrated 8 years of marriage! We feel so blessed to have found each other and have the opportunity to build a life together. This picture reminds me of how young we were when we got married. Time has really flown by!

The Beach & Milk and Cookies

We have finally got our bags unpacked and recovered from the beach. We had so much fun! I have added a few pictures from our adventure. The beach picture is right outside of Sea n Suds (our favorite seafood restaurant) and the other is us riding a Ferris Wheel in Orange Beach at The Wharf. It was a great time for us to reconnect and relax. The look on Will's face when we walked in the door on Friday made the whole thing even better. He was so happy to see Daddy & Mommy!

So I have to tell you about the milk and cookie treat Will had last night. First, I have to tell you that we are finally off the bottle! Yeah!!! While we were gone to the beach his Nana taught him how to drink out of a straw so when we got him on Friday we put away the bottles and are only using straw sippy cups. He got very upset about it on Saturday but after he worked through that he was fine. So yesterday while I was folding laundry I was having a little snack of Oreo cookies. I looked away for just a minute and the next thing I know Will has dumped out the cookies and has one in his mouth. So there in the floor Will had his first milk and cookies. He was so cute with Oreo and milk all over his face.

her name is Hope

I just wanted to share that we got our test results back from my D&C a few weeks ago. The results showed that she was a girl and that she had Turner Syndrome which is a genetic problem. Dr. Conrad said that she would have had a lot of health & mental problems if she had survived. So after some thought we have decided to give her the name Hope. We look forward to meeting her one day in Heaven and cradling her in our arms. She really makes Heaven a little sweeter each day as we think about our reunion. The good news is that Turner Syndrome only shows up in 1 in 30,000 so Dr. Conrad was not concerned about future pregnancies. We feel so blessed to be Will & Hope's parents!

Going to the Beach

Yeah! It is finally time for our vacation! We have decided to go to the beach and leave Will with Corey's parents. We are a little nervous to leave him for a whole week. We are worried that we may miss him the whole time. But, I know that it will be a much needed break for both of us. Thanks to some good friends that reminded me that if Will goes it will not seem like a vacation for me since he is still taking two naps a day... not much time left for laying on the beach and reading a book! So, here we go driving to Gulf Shores with one suitcase, a couple of beach chairs and a few really good books. Pray for us that we don't feel sad every time we think of Will! Below you will see a few funny pictures that we took of Will.

Happy Birthday Will!!

We can't believe it! A year ago today William Luke Emmanuel Trevathan entered the world. What an exciting year this has been! He has blessed our lives more than he will ever know. We feel so proud to be his mommy and daddy. So to our little boy who is turning 1 today we say, "Happy Birthday!" After looking at all of his pictures I am finding that I hardly recognize this little man that he has become. That pudgy little face and tiny fingers and toes have been replaced with big boy features. I am so thankful that he is healthy and is learning and growing strong everyday. God has truly blessed our family!

Today I wanted to share some of the pictures from Will's birthday party last weekend. We had so much fun! We ate, opened presents, watched a video (that I hope to share with you later) and visited with all of our guests. Will loved the balloons. He also enjoyed his cake that my mom and I made. The only thing that he couldn't understand was why we would take his presents away as soon as he opened them. Thanks to all of you for his special presents. He has had so much fun playing with his new toys. We hope you enjoy the pictures!

Whew, I'm Tired!!

As hard as it may be to believe, Will is turning 1 next week! We are having a party at our house with family and a few friends. We are so excited that we have family traveling from all over to celebrate this special day with us. We feel like we are celebrating more that Will having survived our first year of being parents! Corey and I both had Teddy Bear themes for our 1st birthday so we are caring on the tradition with him.

So, have you ever planned a party that you thought would be a lot of fun and the closer you got the bigger and more complicated it became? I must say that I am exhausted!! I have been washing windows, base boards, cleaning out closets and pulling weeds. Corey reminded me yesterday that no one is coming to see our house. They are coming to see our boy on his big day. So, to all my friends and family out there who keep me grounded everyday please remind me next time to order pizza, ignore the mess and embrace the special moment that is about to happen. We are so proud of our boy!!!

Music Man

Many of you know that Corey got home from Mexico last week. He brought Will a special present all the way from the Baja. It is a brightly colored mini guitar as you can see in the pictures. There is nothing Will likes more that making music (which makes his daddy really proud). So here are some cute pictures we took the other day of Corey and Will both playing their very 1st guitars. I may even have to learn to play something soon. Everyday Will begs to get out daddies guitars and play. You can imagine how bad it sounds when I pretend to play him a song! Thank goodness he is too young to know the difference.

Oh, by the way...

Sorry I didn't mention it before but I decided that I was ready for a change on our blog. So I made a few adjustments, with Corey's help of course. I hope you enjoy our new look!

Taste Test

Will is cracking me up! The boy that used to eat everything is now not so sure about the world of food around him. When he is not sure about something he sticks his tongue out to see if it is good. If not you can guarantee that he is not going to be eating that today. This all started with his knew found independence. One day Will woke up and decided that he did not want to be spoon fed anymore so we quit pureeing everything and started giving him finger foods. Now it seems the only way I can get him to eat his veggies is if I sprinkle a little unsweetened applesauce over it. Then you would think he had found the best food ever! So tell me, is this normal? Am I creating a monster by using the applesauce. Any advice would be great! Below you will see pictures of Will eating a food that he does love... spaghetti. We tried it the other night and praise the Lord we didn't have to fight him to eat it!

On the Sunny side of Life

Check out some of our favorite foto moments from the last several months. Turn up the volume to enjoy one of our (Will & Dad's) favorite songs that we sing to mom.

Summer Fun

On the lighter side of things... Will loves the pool, which is a good thing because we are the biggest fans of the pool/beach come summer time. There's nothing we love more than enjoying the water & the sun. As you can see, Will enjoys it too!

A big thank you to everyone...

Obviously it's been tough lately. Losing a child you've never met is difficult. We look forward even more to that great day when our Savior calls us home & we meet this little one we've said goodbye to. It's in times like these that you realize & are thankful that God is God despite our circumstances, situations, joys or disappointments. His glory doesn't depend on our present happenings & His presence isn't a feeling, it's fact. And we truly are thankful for His comfort today.

We want to say a big thank you to all of our friends & family. We haven't returned many (if any) phone calls, emails, or text messages. But we are so grateful for the overflow of support. They have meant so much to us. Though we haven't answered the phone much, the voice mails have meant the world. The emails & text messages have been very encouraging.

We just want to say thank you tonight.