Life with my sister

Samuel is an All-Star once again! A baseball All-Star. This is his 4 th year to compete with an all-star team. He has only been eligible to play on an all-star team for 5 years. So 4 out of 5 isn't bad! Being on an All-Star team is a commitment. A commitment of money and time. We have to pay for new uniforms, tournaments, and travel. That isn't too hard for us. The commitment of time is the hard part for our family. We believe in commitment. We believe in following through, not letting your team down. We also believe in church on Sundays. During all-star baseball our two beliefs clash. Samuel has never played on a Sunday. (Except for 2 weeks ago when he took the field at 12:40AM Sunday morning) The all-star coaches know from the very beginning that Samuel will not play on Sundays. It has been heartbreaking for us to leave on Saturday night knowing that the team would play without him the next day and that it could possibly be the last game of the year. I have shed many tears. ...

Our Travels together have been many (matching pillow cases to prove it) Our destinations have been large. (Disney World 2 times, even...this was taken on our 2nd trip) Many years shared and many more to come (this was the last year we rang it in together b/c this is the year the hubbies appeared) And for 2 weeks we were both brides to be, together. (this is a pic of the brides to be sporting the rings) God just knew we had to do things together in order to survive. Happy Birthday, my sweetest & bestest friend. I am so glad God gave me you! Abby

These three things take me back to a very special place, with my Meemaw & Peepaw in West Tennessee. They always met Mama & Daddy in North Little Rock at the Holiday Inn to pick Julie and me up for a couple of weeks. Us with Meema, outside of the Holiday Inn in NLR They were our paternal grandparents. As Julie got older, I started going by myself because she wanted to stay at home with her friends or go to camp, etc. It was always such a fun time and summer always makes me think of all the memories made every summer of my life for 23 years. Did you get that....I went for 23 summers, until the Lord took both of them home . Us outside of Peepaw's church. My Meemaw loved peaches. We would stop in Clarksville and buy peaches at the stand right off the highway (which is no longer there). She always put them in a brown paper bag to ripen them up and then sat them on the kitchen counter. She would peel and slice them with a knife while resting the peach in her soft, feminine han...

Jules' crew and I all went to Daddy's house in north Mississippi (Memfrica) for a quick visit on Saturday and stayed until today. We had fun shopping and being together. We also got to see Aunt Babs, Hollye, Claire and the rest of the crew, but forgot to take pictures because we were having so much fun. These sweet children are with their Grandaddy & Mrs. Connie until Thursday while Jules and Stephen are at the Convention. The kids will be a rotten, tired mess when they return home, that is for sure! As you can see Grandaddy is already a sweaty mess from all the activity. Jules and I had fun shopping for maternity clothes and we were glad Daddy's step-daughter, Ashley came along with us. Julie was in a mid chip chew in this picture....just so you know. Time with my Daddy is always full of activity and heavy on humor. Happy Father's Day, Daddy.... WE LOVE YOU! Abby & Julie

4 Months (taken 1 week early) My belly has grown so much in the past week or two. I feel pregnant when I roll over in the bed, get out of the bed or bend over real quick to pick up something. Fun, fun. Leaving the first trimester has been a blessing. I feel like Abby Jo again, finally. I think Baby Daddy is also glad to have me back. I was beginning to wear on him and it was getting too hot outside to stay in his garage all the time. Ha!I go back to the doctor in 2 weeks and then the first week of August I will find out if this baby is a girl or a boy. I wish I could know today. Waiting is so hard but fun at the same time. People ask me if I want a boy or a girl and I really don't care. I just want a healthy baby. Everyone predicts a boy, so I am anxious to see if they are correct. A little Randall wouldn't be so bad. He is awfully cute, you know! I am getting excited about Christmas and driving my family & friends crazy about it. Christmas tree theme ideas, card ideas, fa...

I've waited long enough. I can't hold back any longer. I must confess. I don't like to garden. I know Abby said it was "therapeutic" and made her "heart glad", but it is neither therapeutic or making my heart glad to garden. It is in my blood to garden. My great grandmother ( who really was Great!) and my grandmother (who also is Great! but isn't called great grandmother by me, just my kids) and my very own mother (who, yes, is also Great, but who has ever heard of anyone called great mom?) enjoy gardening and their flowers were and are beautiful. Their yards are yards to envy. Made beautiful with all the color that God thought to put in flowers. There are small flowers, large flowers, bushes, and even little flower bed do-dads. But, I don't like to garden. For two reasons. 1- I don't like to sweat. 2- I don't like to get dirty. There. I've confessed. I will only sweat when I'm sitting by the pool. And I won't do that very lon...

I have many thoughts rambling around in my head. Instead of writing them in some cohesive form I will make a list. Because I don't think I could make them into a cohesive form. ** VBS is this week. This will be night 3 of the week and so far so good. The decorations for VBS stressed me out to the point of fever blisters, acne and sleepless nights. They aren't anywhere close to what they should be or what they have been in years past, but I think VBS will be a success anyway, despite my lack of creative juices. Thank you LD for your help!!!!!!!!!! ** Regular season baseball is over! Can I hear a scream from the crowd?! Samuel made the all-star team once again. So, we are still playing some tournaments. And when I say playing tournaments let me tell you that Sam and I made it in from a game Sunday morning at 2:30. Did you get that? 2:30 in the morning. And the game was just 30 minutes from us. His team took the field at 12:40am. Crazy, but fun! ** I am suffering from pool wit...

Today I bought our first box of wipes. Everyone has been telling me to start stocking up on diapers and wipes as I go to Sam's & Walmart. Well, I started today. We are the proud owners of 720 baby wipes, yet we have no baby bottom to wipe just yet. We will be prepared by December, for sure. And this is how I feel....like the Blueberry Girl from Willy Wonka. I know, I know...I have a LONG road ahead of me. I am at that "I feel like a big ole lump of frump" stage. I am seeing the light bulb go off in peoples eyes when I say "Yes, I'm pregnant" because they have been staring at me thinking, "A little too much buffet or is that a baby bump...hmmm?" Blueberry Girl, that's me. That is the best way to describe how I feel this week. This in between stage of not looking really pregnant yet but feeling every bit of it is an odd place to be. Was it odd for you? Let me know how you did with it. Abby

Looking at my plants/flowers is therapeutic for me. I remember going through a rough spell some years back and a wise man telling me to go dig in the dirt. I never realized how much truth there was to that until then. The women in my family have a love for planting each Spring. I never understood that love until I started digging in the dirt myself. Granted, Randall likes to do most of the digging and planting around here, yet I still do enough to make my heart glad. I am realizing that I need to be out with the plants more. I am not spending as much time in my flowerbeds as I did in Byhalia. Life is different here, my priorities have shifted and the mosquitoes are insane. Yet, I must make it a priority to get outside more often and enjoy the beauty in my very own yard. Oh, bell pepper, What color will you be....red, orange or green? This year we planted 3 different types of bell peppers. Can you count all the tomatoes on the vine? We are excited about all these 'maters. We did n...

I have had the best beginning to these past couple of days. Yesterday morning my friend Cindy Lou called me first thing in the morning. Well, not first thing in her morning (she must be an early riser), but first thing in my morning. I haven't talked to her in so long. A couple of months. Too long. Can I just tell you how wonderful it was? It was wonderful. And today? She called me again this morning. Two mornings in a row getting to talk to my bestest friend. Are you kidding me? These have been the best two mornings I've had in a long time! I'm not big on keeping up with old friends via phone. I know it isn't the right thing, or even the friendly thing to do, but I just don't keep up communication with old friends like I should. I guess I should follow Abby's example. I think she probably talks or emails everyone she knows every day. She is a really good friend. And she is going to be a great mom. I just can't wait to see her holding that baby. It will be ...

Here is a recap of how it went: Cravings: Chips & salsa tacos Pickles Popsicles Oranges Aches & Pains: Cramping Nausea Heartburn Breast tenderness Exhaustion First Doctor's Visit: We went to see the doctor at 9 weeks. We had our first ultrasound. We heard our baby's heartbeat and saw our baby moving all about inside of me. It was amazing to hear the heartbeat, to see that little baby, and know that it was really real. I cried tears of joy and relief, and Randall giggled and smiled from ear to ear. It was at that moment that it was reality for both of us. After 6 years of it being just about us, it was now about much more than just us. What I Wore: At about 8 weeks I was officially too big for my regular pants and my dresses were starting to hug me pretty tight in the midsection. Maternity clothes are still a little too big. I am still in that awkward stage where it looks like I have eaten too much when actually it is a growing baby in there! I have worn my regular pant...