Family

{HOPPY} Easter!

March 31, 2013 Leave a Comment

Lately, our lives have been filled with lots of happiness and snippets of
pure bliss…

Kisses!
I love that they are besties!
(… most of the time…)

Hollis is pure sweetness!
Seriously, her sweet little spirit melts my heart on a daily basis!

And this boy’s smile is contagious!
The happiness he exudes is sure to brighten anyone’s day!

Then there is little miss mischief!
This girl wears us out!
She keeps us on our toes and makes sure we NEVER have a dull moment!

Lately, we have been soaking up these fleeting moments!
Spending time with those who mean the most and thanking God for blessing us with these three precious littles!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

1 Peter 1:3

Filed Under: Family, Holiday, Holidays, Life

Hello!

March 23, 2013 4 Comments

Wow.
Is it just me or is time FLYING by at a really fast pace?!
I mean I swear I Hollis was just born…
but the reality is that was almost 8, yes EIGHT, months ago!

Since I stepped away from JIAD a LOT has happened…

Like….

Being the best Mama I can be to the precious littles that God blessed us with:

And going on lots of dates with my amazing hubby:

I have also been working hard with my fabulously talented business partner and dearest friend, McKeever, to grow our new business…

More details coming VERY soon about nattieMACK, !

Hollis is growing like a weed!

Harper is as fabulous as ever:

and Cliff is just doing stuff little boys love to do…

…Oh yea.. and walking with his crutches!!!

I have even done a few projects that I am planning on sharing with you soon!
So in my absence,
I have not forgotten about my JIAD family!
In fact, I miss all of you and plan to make time to create, write and inspire right here on JIAD!

Filed Under: Family, JIAD

Rockin’ around {The Christmas Tree}

December 16, 2012 1 Comment

A fun topper…

plus some super fun ornaments…

equals …

My favorite Christmas Tree to date!

How do you decorate your tree?!
(Colored lights, white lights, random ornaments, etc?)

Merry Christmas!

Filed Under: Decorating, Family, Holidays, My House

Our Sweet {lil Pumpkin}

November 3, 2012 5 Comments

Can’t believe Hollis is 13 weeks today!
Where does the time go?!?

Filed Under: baby, Family

Dear Baby Hollis,

August 21, 2012 8 Comments

Words cannot begin to describe my love for you.

From the moment you entered this world,
you brought nothing but pure joy to our family.

You have the sweetest soul, that I know for sure.

I have this overwhelming need to be close to you all the time.

And thank God for you what seems like a million times a day.

I wake up in the middle of the night to stare at you and spend most of the day trying to etch every tiny feature you have in my mind because I know how fast you will grow.

I want to remember you as you are now, my brand new baby girl.

I promise myself that I will remember every little face you make, every little newborn noise that comes from your tiny mouth, the way you smell, all the ways you move your little arms and legs then startle because you are free and not confined in my belly anymore.

I hold your tiny little 6 pound body in my arms, close my eyes and pray that God will always protect you and keep you from harm. I pray that He will guide you through life and keep you safe in this bug, scary world.

I also pray that He will help remember what it feels like to hold you in my arms.

I watch you move in amazement and think “Wow! THAT’S what she was doing in my belly, I KNOW exactly what that feels like!”

And sometimes I get all weepy wishing you were back in my belly so I could feel you move inside of me just one more time.

Holding you is like holding a slice of heaven.

You are so pure, so innocent, so sweet.
I am so thankful that God chose your Daddy and me to be your parents.

I am truly enjoying every fleeting moment with you.
You are the closest thing to heaven there is.
I will love you always, not matter what.

With more love than my heart can contain,
your Mama

{All of these photos were taken by me when Hollis was 24 hours old}

Filed Under: baby, Faith, Family, The Baby

Welcome to this world, Baby Hollis!

August 14, 2012 20 Comments

Here is Hollis’s birth slideshow!
My labor with her was so easy and such a beautiful experience!
We are so blessed to have her in our lives.
God is so good!

Thank you all for your support and prayers throughout my pregnancy with Hollis!
I am so blessed to have all of you rally around my family!

Ross and I want to say a HUGE thank you to Jenn of JK Photography for capturing these precious, magical moments in our lives!
If you live in North Carolina or South Carolina, you HAVE to get Jenn to capture special moments for your family!
To see more of Jenn’s awesome photos, Check JK Photography out on Facebook too!

Filed Under: baby, Family, Pregnancy, The Baby

Baby Update 37 weeks {Happy Birthday Hollis}

August 3, 2012 5 Comments

I am 37 weeks 6 days today!
Hollis is FULL TERM!!!
We are praising the Lord that Hollis stayed in my belly this far!

{37 weeks}

{37 weeks 5 days}

Last night we went to dinner to celebrate Hollis’s pending arrival!

Yes, I drank sweet tea while Ross had a beer!

Jennifer, the most amazing photographer/cousin EVER came into town to capture every moment of Hollis’s birth! I am thrilled she is here!

On Monday, I had the last ultrasound of this pregnancy!
Thankfully, Hollis passed the BPP with flying colors and everything looked great!
Here are some pictures of Hollis from her last ultrasound:

{37 weeks 2 days}

Today, Hollis will make her big debut!
After waiting on pins and needles for a week and a half,
the time for Hollis to enter the world is here!
Ross and I are thrilled to welcome another precious soul into our family!

It’s crazy to think that not too long ago, I shared this picture to announce Baby #3’s existence:

This pregnancy has been such an amazing journey
and ya’ll have been there from the beginning!

and everywhere in between…

…there were so many Baby Updates…

Week 13
Week 14
It’s A…..
Week 16
Weeks 17, 18 & 19
20 weeks
Weeks 21 & 22
Weeks 23-25
weeks 26-28
Weeks 29 & 30
Week 31
Weeks 32 & 33
Week 34
Week 35
Week 36

Then there were all of the updates on Instagram and Facebook… didn’t you feel like you were carrying Hollis too?! Ha!

If you want to go through labor today,
you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter!

Please pray that Hollis makes a safe entrance into this world today!

She will make her official debut on JIAD very soon!
…until then…
I’ll be having a BABY!!!

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.
Psalm 127:3

Filed Under: baby, Faith, Family, Pregnancy

TheraSuit Week 3 {Cliff Update}

July 29, 2012 10 Comments

Cliff completed TheraSuit last week!
We are AMAZED with his progress!
He accomplished all of the goals Lisa set for him and then some!

Three weeks ago, Cliff walked into The Therapy Place for TheraSuit in his walker.
Last Friday, he walked out of TheraSuit with his canes!

Cliff worked so hard for three weeks and his hard work has paid off!

Cliff’s body now moves in a different way, a good way!
He is so aware of his body mechanics now, it really is amazing!
He will point out when he is moving properly.

Cliff still needs to build confidence, but we are working hard on that!
We are praying that the Lord will give Cliff peace of mind and confidence so that he will be able to gain more independence!

Remember about a month ago when I shared this picture of Cliff standing with his canes all by himself?!

Look what Cliff is doing now:

This is nothing short of a miracle!
We are so so SO proud of Cliff, his hard work and dedication!
We also want to say a huge THANK YOU to Lisa who worked with Cliff over the past three weeks, who pushed him to his limit, who REALLY challenged him, who cheered him on when he wanted to give up and who fought back tears when Cliff was pushing through a difficult task, who had total confidence in Cliff’s abilities and helped make his dream of walking with his canes all by himself come true!

Of course we must stop to praise our awesome God!
God’s hands have been on Cliff since Cliff was born!
Watching Cliff is truly watching God perform a miracle.
We are so blessed to see God perform miracles right before out eyes through Cliff!

Thank you all for your prayers and support!
We are so blessed to have each and every one of you who cheer Cliff on, send the sweetest emails and pray for Cliff!
We read each and every comment, message to Cliff and they mean so much to him and us!

You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
Psalm 77:14

Filed Under: Faith, Family, The Boy, TheraSuit

Baby Hollis {36 weeks}

July 28, 2012 8 Comments

I am 37 weeks today!
That means Hollis is considered FULL TERM!
WAHOOO!
Ross and I are so thankful that Hollis is still hanging out in my belly!

The belly continues to grow…
which IS the whole point of pregnancy – to grow a baby.
But for me, this is HUGE!
and even though it is virtually impossible for me to get comfortable,
I am loving every second of growing another life inside of me!

{36 weeks}

I had a doctor appointment last Tuesday for a BPP and to get my cerclage removed.
Hollis passed the BPP again receiving an 8/8!
We are so thankful she is doing so well!
…but we were unable to get any good ultrasound pictures of her this week…
she just wasn’t feeling a photo shoot that day!

{36 weeks 3 days}

The second the cerclage was removed, I immediately dilated from 1cm to 3cm.
But Hollis decided to stay put!

I have been taking it easy since the removal of my cerclage and am so thankful to have Ross who is amazingly supportive and who has been completely running our house since last Tuesday! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and daddy for our children!

{36 weeks 5 days}

This week I have been VERY uncomfortable.
Lots of contractions (obviously Braxton Hicks), back pain, etc!
I am not sleeping at night and have NO energy…
Thank goodness I am able to lounge around in my PJ’s all day and take it easy!
So, when I went to see Dr. Keeton on Friday morning for a NST and to get checked,
I was CONVINCED I would be at least 4cm dilated and Hollis would arrive this weekend…
NOT the case!

{36 weeks 6 days}