Great Way to Celebrate Christmas!!!!

Well it has definetly been a rough year of my family. My family had never been torn apart more than it was during 2009. The devil was working overtime all year long. There were times that I could have sworn that he was winning....but FEAR NOT he has not and will not win. Yes there still will be difficult times in our life and with raising Zack and Erin. But God is in control and good will come out of this. One thing is that Zack wants to be baptized on Christmas Eve. What a better way to celebrate the birth of Christ than with a baptism. Truely showing why Jesus was sent to this earth, in order to take all our sins and so that we could be taken to Heaven with him. I am truely blessed with the things that God is doing in our lives. He is full control in the drivers seat of our lives. Thanks you everyone for all of the prayers that were sent our way during this difficult time. I know with out a doubt that we would not have survived without all of the prayers. My prayer is that everyone will have a blessed Christmas and that God will knock everyones socks off in 2010. Love ya.

Missing Things.....

I know that God is way greater than anything that I am going through and that He has overcome the world and because of that I can to.....
The older I get the more I realized how much I miss things. I miss my girls being babies and totally dependant on me for everything. I miss high school and being able to be silly and still being dependant on someone for everything. Don't get me wrong I LOVE MY LIFE. I love everything that God has blessed me with.
Right now in my life I miss something else more than anything that I ever thought was possible. I miss my sister. I miss talking to her, seeing her, our fights, our goofyness, I miss my sister so much that it hurts..physically and mentally. I never thought that my life would not include her and it sucks. I am angry at her for what she has done to her children. They love her so much and she doesn't even care. I am angry with her because my kids won't be able to get to know who she is. I am angry with her because I have to explain to my four year old daughter why she can't talk to or be around her Aunt Emmy. I am angry with her because I see what she puts my parents through and it makes me sick. I am angry with her because of how my heart feels. But I will forgive all these things just to have her back. I need her in my life. I want her in my life. I just want her back. I need her back. I pray for everyday and I know thats all I can do. I know that this is God's plan for us now, I don't understand it, I dont like it, but I know that HIS WILL WILL BE DONE. Sorry for the bummer. I am just having a moment. I love all of you and pleeeeeaaaase pray for my sister for God to use whatever possible to change her life around. Love you all.

My Wonderful, Amazing, God Loving, Husband

Johnny and I on vacation this past July...I love this man!!!!


Most of my blogs have been about my kids, but I am doing this one in honor of the man of life, my husband. I know without a doubt in my mind that when God formed this wonderful being 28 1/2 years ago he was thinking about me. Johnny is such a blessing in my life. We have not had the perfect marriage; there have been some major bumps in our path, but they have brought us closer together. These moments have also made him into our spiritual leader of our family that he is.
Last October Johnny and I made a very special trip together. We went on a short mission trip to Haiti. That trip totally changed my husband's life forever. He has always been a giving man, but this trip totally made my husband have a servers heart. He was/is ready to sell everything here and move there to be full time missionaries. I am the one that is dragging my feet on this. Not sure that I feel that God is calling us there...anyway...When we left Johnny gave everything that was need to make it home to the people there. It's so amazing to see him give the shirt off his back to a Haitian person that is that was half his size. Anyways, yesterday at church we were asked to suffer a little bit and leave our shoes at church. Walk home bare foot and give our shoes to people who have possibly never had shoes ever. I whole heartedly gave my shoes...I looked at my husband and knew that he had on his new Nike tennis shoes that we have recently gotten to replace the ones that were given to a Haitian kid. I asked him if he was giving his NEW NIKE SHOES, his response: "Absolutely, Why would I not". I love this man. I just pray to God that one day I have a givers heart like his. Giving, Giving, and more giving and expect nothing in return.
I thank God everyday for this man...I love him...I love him...I love him.

Preschool: A huge SUCCESS!!!!

Well the first day of preschool went off without a hitch. I only got teary eyed once. She was so cute. She was dressed (with her backpack on) and ready to go at 7:30. She asked to go then we held her off until 8 took Addyson to the sitter and we were still the first ones there. She was so excited. She talked about preschool the whole rest of the day. She said one of the cutest things ever. Don't want to post in on here because it includes another child so ask me and I will tell ya. I still get teary eyed every time I tell the story. I hope that this find everyone having a great short work week. Have a great day. Love ya.


Daddy, Hayleigh, and Addyson(being Addyson I might add). Love these three.



Hayleigh on our front porch before school.


Hayleigh in front of her locker.


Addyson kept saying, "I preschool tooo".


Hayleigh and Kayton after the first day.

Preschool Here We Come!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's finally here. The day that Hayleigh has been waiting months for and the day that I have been dreading.....The first day of preschool. It's not that I don't want her to go or worry about her, but it's just that I don't want her to grow up so fast. I want her to be my baby forever. I want to rock her all the time and baby her as long as possible. I tried to rock her the everyday and she told me to quit being silly. Sniff sniff my little one is all grown up. Now Addy is begging to go to preschool too. It seems like just yesterday they were born. Now they both want to grow up so fast. Well enough of my sob stories. I will post again tomorrow and show some pics of her first day. She already has her outfit picked out ready to go. Hope you all had a great Labor Day Weekend. Love ya all.

Potty Training 101

Potty training is going well. Number 1 is a whole easier than number 2. M&M's is good reward for Addy as long as I give her a llellow one(yellow). She is starting to recognize her colors more and more everyday. We are starting to plan Hayleigh's B-day party. Back by popular demand is the popular jumpy party. Hayleigh has said she wanted one again since her last party. This year will be fun because we can invite all her preschool friends. So I will keep you posted on how that goes. I hope that all is well with everyone and we are doing great. Love ya all. Amy

The trying Times of Potty Training

Potty training Addyson is going great. Hayleigh pretty much trained herself. She woke up one morning went potty and has had very few accidents since. Addyson is not that easy, but I have had a couple of other moms tell me that I am lucky on how easy Addyson is too. We started doing this on Monday. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were not so good. Went through every pair of panties that we owned in those days. Thursday and Friday she stayed dry all day long. No accidents and used the potty all day. Yesterday we went to McCormicks Creek for the day, so she wore a pull-up all day. She went potty a couple of times, but the pull-up was wet. Today is another dry day. One accident she went # 1 and 2 in the potty I thought she was done but she wasnt done and finished #2 in her pants. I love my kids and I love being mom. This time is soooo fun. Hayleigh is having fun helping.
Addy's verbal skills are growing everyday. The things that she says absolutly amazes me. Hayleigh starts preschool on September 8. I am extremely emotional about this. She is soooo excited can't wait to learn all kinds of new stuff. I am going to so emotional when we take her. I love being a mom, but not liking them growing up. I really want my kids to stay babies forever. I know that they won't but wishing they would. I thank God everyday for both of my blessings that he has trusted me with. I love my kiddos.

A lot of Changes in the Cummins Family

It's once again been a while since I have blogged. There are a lot of changes going on in our household. We have started potty training Addyson. Today is day 2. Today was better.....I think. Hayleigh is getting ready to start preschool. She is sooooo excited. We have already purchased her backpack and the school gets the school supplies. It is crazy how fast your kids grow up. Addyson counts better in spanish than she does in english. Her pediatrician cracked up about this on her two year well baby check-up. The kids are getting along well until they have to share toys or anything. Addyson is a little Hayleigh. She copies everything that Hayleigh does. I hope this blog finds everyone doing well.
I want to thank everyone for all their prayers during the last couple of months. We have definetly felt them. Life is getting better and easier. I can see the kids improving everyday. Especially Erin. She still has her moments, but on all she is moving past her mom and thats good. I still pray for my sister everyday for God to work is will in her life. My faith tells me that He will prevail and I stand strong on that. Love ya all, Amy

It's been forever!!!

Hello all. It was pointed out to be the other day that I hadn't blogged in over a month. (Love ya Sandy. Thanks for getting my butt in gear. haha) Anyways, things here have been going better. It's amazing how God shows himself in the midst of storms. He is totally amazing and has given my many blessings in the last few months. When my "storm" started a few months ago I really did have trouble on focusing on all the positives in my life and was obsessing on the negatives. I have since in the last few weeks decided all that was doing was ruining my life and I want my kids to have a good mommy. So I perked my butt up and have saw how amazing God really has been.
One is that Addyson blood counts keep going up. She was at the doctor this week and her count was up to 93. She is getting closer to 150 everyday.
Two is that I have an amazing husband and is so supportive of everything that I do and say. I truely know that he is my sole mate. With my family issues and my life falling apart he has been my strong hold. We also only planned to stay around here for vacation, but my husband knew that with the year we have had so far that we needed more so he has worked extra hours and we are now going to Myrtle Beach. I am so stoked. My parents and neice and nephew are going also. It is going to be an awesome week. 31 days until we leave, but hey who's counting.
Third is that Hayleigh is truely an amazing child. She is sooo funny. The things that she says is so hilarous. She is so quick witted. I sometimes wish that I was as quick witted as she is. God has truely blessed me with my girls.
God has also given/shown me a closer relationship with my neice and nephew. We have always been a close family, but since all this has started our closeness has doubled or even tripled. I see or talk to them everyday. Just and FYI for those of you who don't know what my "storm" is here is a short synopsis. My sister has chose to abandon her family including her kids and start a lesbian relationship. She has let everything in her life slide except for this relationship and it really stinks for her kids. She has ruined my moms health and her kids lives. There is soo much more if you want to know just ask and I will share. Anyways...I just ask for everyone to pray for her. She has lost God and I hope and pray that something or someone will bring her back to Him sometime. Just pray for God to do his work in her life because that is what it is going to take. Thanks for listening and I love each and everyone of you.

P.S. Don't forget to thank God everyday for every blessing that he has given you. Let the negatives go and always think about positive things for the future. Because God really is soooo Good.

Chop, Chop, It's Haircut Time!!!!!

Hayleigh has been begging for a haircut. She wanted to have her hair look like Tori and Erins(which is a lot shorter than hers). I wasn't to nervous because last time she said this she freaked out when the girl started to cut and we left with just a trim. Well last night she didn't freak and her hair is short. I was a little sad because her hair was beautiful, but this cut is so cute. She does look a lot older an even more like her dad. I am also going to post pics of Addy because she also got her first haircut last night as well. We just trimmed the baby fuzz off so hopefully it will start to grow. In the after pics they both got new sunglasses yesterday also so they wanted to wear them too. So take a moment and look at my pics please and enjoy my little cuties. Love ya.

Hayleigh getting ready to start cutting.


Addyson during her haircut. She is so cute. Had to post this pic!!!


Hayleigh's after shots with her new sunglasses!!!!




Addyson's after shot with her new shades. A movie star in training!!!!

Update on Addy

Found out on Thursday night that Addyson has the "good" form of ITP. She will always have the disorder but after about a year it will go dormant in her body. So for now we will just moniter her closely. The trying of not letting her fall is about to drive me crazy. She gives me a heart attack every time she stubbles in the slightest way. I am babying her sooo much. I am being a very protective mother right now. I hope that is okay and won't ruin her. I will keep everyone informed about her. Next Dr. visit is May 26. Thanks for all of the prayers. Love you all.

Be Strong and Courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go -- Joshua 1:9

This verse has been my motto for the last couple of days. Addyson has had major bruising all over her body. We noticed this during the winter, but just thought that it was your typical toddler legs. They now look so bad that I am very self conscious about putting shorts or skirts on her. Yesterday she had to have her hearing test from getting her tubes in, so I went ahead and scheduled an appointment for her with her pediatrician. He was very concerned with all of the bruises. He said two year olds do have a lot of bruising on their legs, but hers were excessive. She also has them all over her body including in places that most people don't get bruises(her armpits for example). So he said that she could have anemia, a blood clotting disorder, or leukemia. He sent us to the Jasper Hospital for blood work. And I was to call back this morning at 8:30. Before that time came the nurse called me and said that there was abnormalities in her blood and that I need to come back at 10am this morning to talk to the doctor and for more blood work. I had been very emotional but this conversation sent me balistic. I was a wreck and that is putting it nicely. Anyways... Johnny, my mom, Addyson, and I tracked back to Jasper this morning. Addyson has a blood clotting disorder that has a really long name, but has a shortened version called ITP. Her white blood cells(the antibodies) are eating all of her blood platelets. Her platelet count should be 150, hers however is at 25. At the level of 15 she could bleed to death. They took another blood test today and the results from this test will tell us if we are looking at a long term illness or short term. There are two different types and she could have either one. Still waiting on the results from that test. There are three treatments that we could do to treat this illness, but right now the negitive side effects from each drug is too high. We are just going to moniter her very closely. We have to have blood work done every two weeks to make sure her levels are okay. If they stay okay we will then move up to every month, if they don't then we are back to square one. I love our pediatrician, Dr. Ruff, and he is also consulting with the head Hemotologists(blood doctor) from Riley's Children Hospital. When he told me this I felt 100 times better about all of this. I am still scarred to death. I am so scared that something is going to happen to my baby. Right now the only thing that we have to do is no advil, asprin, or motrin if she has to have medicine it can only be tylenol. We also can not let her be any higher off the ground than what she stands, because we don't want her to start any major bleeding. So please pray with us and for us. Pray that she gets better and that we don't have to do this for the rest of her life. Love ya all. P.S. I have added some recent pics of little Miss Addyson Rose Cummins.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

God truely has blessed me with two beautiful daughters. I know that I take them for granted way too often. I do thank him everyday for letting me be a Mommy. I also have an awesome Mom. I don't know how I would get through life without my Mom. I truely am blessed. I just want to take a quick second and wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day. I am also praying for all woman who want nothing more than to be a Mommy. I know how this feels and Mother's Day is the hardest day of the year. I will pray nonstop for you tomorrow. I will also pray for all woman/girls who don't have their Mom for whatever reason it may be. I am kind of dealing with a situation like this right now and it truely is hard for this person. Just remember the wonderful times that you have had with your mothers. I know that it doesn't totally fix the hole in your heart, but hopefully it will help. I want to wish all Mothers in every situation a Happy Mother's Day. Love Ya, Amy

Prayers Needed.

I know that this is always about my kids, but this blog is a little different. My family is going through some huge changes. Most of these changes are not good things at all (actually they are down right terrible). Johnny, the kids, and I are fine and doing great, but the problems run in my immediate family. We are in need of constant prayers. We are in a mode of praying until something changes, but it has been a long time and I am getting so weary. So to anyone that reads this please pray for us and for my family. Thank you all so much. I love you all and please have a great week. Love ya, Amy

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday. It's abosolutely amazing that over 2000 years ago God sent his only son to die for all men so that we may have hope, peace, and love. I can not imagine what God went through watching his only son beaten, mocked, and nailed to a cross. I always try to put myself in other peoples shoes when they are having problems so that I can try to feel what they may feel and be able to help them better. I can not imagine the pain that God went through watching this. I panic if I don't see my kids at all times in Wal-Mart. Thank you God for sending your son to die for me so that I may live again in you.

Yesterday was WC preschool sign-ups for the fall. Hayleigh has been sooo excited about this. She did inform me that she needed a new skirt for school, because when you go to school you wear skirts. We also had to find her backpack and put crayons and markers in it because once again you can't go to school without a backpack. Last night went great and I am relieved that I know some of the parents that will have their kids there as well. I did get yelled out this morning because I let her miss the bus. I explained to her that 1. She won't go to school until after the summer is over and it starts to get cold again. and 2. She won't ride a bus because I will take her and pick her up everyday. Once again I was told that you can't go to school unless you ride a bus. I told her that her bus will be gray and will look a lot like a mini-van. She was okay with that answer for now. Oh boy do I have a lot to learn about school. Hahaha. Life is never boring.

One more thing... my family is going through some hard situations right now. Please pray for some decisions that are being made, choices that have already been made, consequences of all choices, and peace. I know that this doesn't make sense but God knows and we will appreciate all prayers. We have felt them this week, but will continue to need them for a while. I love you all. Amy

Leap of Faith!!!

Well to all of you who know me well; know that I am a huge worry wart. I worry about everything and often have stomachaches because I am worring so much. Anyways.....My husband has finally talked me into putting our house on the market. We have been talking about it forever. We were going to do it last year, but I kept postponing it. Then with the way the economy was at the first of the year we(I)decided to wait a little longer. Well March 30th was the day. We signed the papers and our house is offically on the market. We(I) would greatly appreciate that if you know anyone looking for a cute house in the middle of Washington send them our way. Our house really is great and I love it, but we out grew it a long time ago. Thanks for listening and I hope that you are all doing well. Love ya.

The Promise was a huge success!!!!!

The last performance of the Promise was on Saturday and yesterday we tore all of the sets down and cleaned up all the mess. It was definetly a stressful, yet fun week. We had really late nights and early mornings but we made it through. Hayleigh has made a ton of new friends that I am sure she will keep her whole life. I will include some pics of us last week. I hope that all of you are happy and healthy. Love ya all.

PRAY

Please pray for Andrea Boes, her family, and friends. She is a very strong and inspirational woman who has fought cancer for so long and it seems that God has put her to the end of the long endless battle. I can't imagine what all she has gone through and she always thinks of others before herself. She spent time with her family last night to say her goodbyes and she is so strong. I pray for her peace because I can't not imagine saying goodbye to my kids(her little boy is a couple of months older than Hayleigh). She has definetly changed our family. So please say a prayer for her as you are reading this that God will take care of her. Thanks so much. Love ya.

Having Faith Like A Child

I have read in the bible where Jesus has said to have faith like a child, but I never fully understood until recently. As I stated in my post a couple of weeks ago, Hayleigh, Johnny, and I are doing the Promise this year. Hayleigh has amazed me. She has inspired me soooo much this year. I now know what child like faith is. She has her whole heart into the Promise. She even called me a Brutus Snake the other day when she was in trouble. (John the Baptist calls the Pharisses, this Brewd of Snakes, in that scene.) She has made so many Christian friends that I hope and pray that she keeps her whole life. Yesterday morning I was a little on the crabby side and I told Hayleigh that we may not go to Promise practice and just stay home and rest and go to bed early. She promptly told me that That decision would not make her Jesus happy and We are doing the Promise to praise him and make him happy. Wow. I definetly need to put my heart where hers is. I hope to post some pics of all of us in our costumes. Have a great weekend and Try it yourself to have Faith Like A Child. You truely will be blessed and no dissappointments. I promise. Love ya all.

Addyson my child who will eat eat ANYTHING!!!!

I have always heard parents talking about how their kids put everything in their mouth. Hayleigh never did this. Addyson on the other other hand will and would eat everything in site. To begin this story I have to start at the very beginning. We moved Addy to her big girl bed and she did great for a couple of nights. She did realize quickly that she could get out of bed and she is cutting her bottom I teeth at the same time. So needless to say she is not sleeping much. After the second night in a row of no sleep I asked Johnny on Saturday morning to please watch the girls so that I could take a peaceful shower. He let Hayleigh play the computer so she was good, he then decided that while I was in the shower he would go ahead and shave and make his morning rountine go quicker. ANYWAYS.... As soon as I opened our shower curtain to dry off this is the face that was looking up at me..........

With the PERMANENT MARKER still in her hand with no tip left on it. Yes she ate the permanent marker. I knew at this moment I could be really mad and ruin everyone's day or I could just laugh and take pics. I chose the second option. She had already done the damage why be mad. The even funnier part is that she loves to look at herself in the mirror. She kept looking and opening her mouth and giving herself this look like she didn't know who she was looking at. Sooooo funny. Hayleigh came in the bathroom and looked at Addy and her exact words were.."What did you do girly" We laughed even harder after this. I can promise one thing, there is never a dull moment at the Cummins household. I love these two girls. P.S. The marker did come off her face with a baby wipe and some scrubbing, but her tongue still has a little black on it. We still have not found the tip of the marker either... Anywhere. Love ya All.

WOW!!! It's been over a month. A lot has happened.

I can't believe I haven't blogged in over a month. Time flies by when you are having fun. Let's see. A lot has happened in a month. Two exciting things for Miss Addyson Rose. First we decided that February 1st was the day that Addy would go paci free. It was a couple of long nights but all is well and we are free of pacis. YEAH. It's been over three years since I haven't had to worry where a pacifer was and making sure that I have one in every available spot. The second is that she is now in a big girl bed. I was way more saddened by this than anyone. After four years of having a crib in our house it is now in pieces and about to go in storage. I feel like I no longer have babies but big girls. AHHHHHHHHHH. Where does the time go? We have also been very busy with the Promise. If you don't know what this is, it is a play put on by the Washington community about the the life of Christ. This is my third year in it, but Hayleigh's first. She has amazed me through the whole process. She knows every song and everyone's part. I hope that she loves God through her whole life as she does now. My favorite part is that at one part of the play Jesus(Cody) sings Word of God. Hayleigh sings it word for word and is the most precious sound that I have ever heard. I could listen to her sing all day. She has made some buddies in the Promise Cast and I have had many compliments on her. I am so blessed to have Hayleigh as my daughter!!!!(Addyson too) The only bad thing with the Promise is that I feel like I am neglecting Addyson. Johnny, Hayleigh, and I are all in it. I feel like Addyson is still to young to be able to do it. Right now we practice 6 hours a week, but in a week or so we will be doing it every night for 2 1/2 weeks. I feel like I am growing so close to Hayleigh through this but Addyson is paying the price for that. I'm not for sure how to handle it. Any suggestions would be nice. Last but not least the flu did hit the Cummins household. I was sick on Valentine's Day, and the two days after it. Addyson was just sick for one day a week later. Knock on wood Johnny and Hayleigh missed it. Well I need to go for now. Love ya all.

Hayleigh Faith Cummins

Hayleigh is having a friend over for one of the first times tonight. She has had people over for birthdays or when we had parties but tonight one of her friends came over for a little while. We had so much fun. First I need to explain that we have known about this night for about 2 weeks. Hayleigh has been praying for a fun night and thanking Jesus that Tori can come over since she found out. So sweet. Well tonight was the big night. We picked the girls up @ Tori's house(Tori's mommy Margie is the bestest, greatest, most God Sent babysitter that there is)(she watches my kids)anyways, Johnny and I picked them up and we came home. The girls first played in the play room and around the house. While I was finishing up dinner the girls then began to play our Wii and Computer Cool School(a great buy for anyone with toddlers!!!!!). Tori is older than Hayleigh but she played the computer game with her. We then ate dinner and once again Hayleigh thanked God for Tori and that she could come over tonight!!!! After dinner the girls played computer while Addyson got a bath from her daddy. Then was Hayleigh and Tori's time for a bath. Hayleigh was so excited for this part. Addyson and she takes baths together all the time but Addy doesn't play yet and Tori did. They had fun. They then played Bella Dancerella. That was fun to watch. I then being the mom that I am(one who is getting ready to put her house on the market)told the girls that it was time to clean the toy room and that if they did a good job they could each have an ice cream sandwich. The play room was cleaned in record time. We enjoyed a few short minutes of jumping on our indoor trampoline with all three girls. Addyson was then whisked away to bed and Tori and Hayleigh got to enjoy an ice cream sandwich. To finish up the night and to help the girls calm down a bit we have ended the night with watching High School Musical 2 in my room. I have included some pics of the girls watching the movie. They had fun and I can't not wait for sleepovers. I say that now because Tori will go home in little bit and I won't hear giggling all night. Hahahahaha. Well I hope you all have a great and safe weekend. I love you all.

Snow Day

I was off work today because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I thought and figured that since Johnny had to work, that the girls and I would stay around the house and have a Cummins girl PJ day. This is where we stay home all day in our pjs. Little did I know that God had different plans by giving us some snow. Since there was no school, I texted my sis and told her that Zack and Erin could come here if they wanted. Johnny also left work at noon. We took Hayleigh, Zack, and Erin sledding. This was Hayleigh's first sledding adventure. She was not much impressed. She went down once and said that she was done and cold. She gladly sat on the ground and watched the rest of sled. Right before we left I showed her how she could make a snow angel and she LOVED it. She would just stop fall and start moving her arms and legs. I forgot my camera at home so I didn't get any pics, but it was soooo cute. We got her on the sled one more time before we headed home and she laughed until we hit the snow and she got some snow on her face. Thanks for listening. Love ya all.

An Amazing Experience!!!!!

This past Friday my sister invited Johnny and I to a church service done by the people that attend the Lighthouse. This was an incredible experience. I encourage anyone that wants to see God working in peoples lives to attend this church service. The only other time that I have ever felt an experience like this was in Haiti at their Sunday's service. It is truely an experience to see people giving everything that they have to God. I don't understand why I don't feel comfortable enough to do it. I just want to thank Emily for letting us have this experience. God really is working in her life and heart. Thanks Emily I love you. Love ya all.
I included a picture of my sister with this for those of you that don't know her.

A Great Christmas and thoughts on 2009.

We had an amazing Christmas. The look on Hayleigh's face when she saw a bike from Santa. It was truely priceless. We could have made one of those credit card commercials. Hayleigh loved everything that she got and Addyson just wanted to rip the paper. We were truely blessed. Our church had a Christmas Eve service; after the service we came home and left our Santa cookies out and feed the reindeer. We started having our bedtime prayer time and Hayleigh said, "Thank You for Jesus being our Saber". That was all I needed for Christmas. My three year old understands everything @ a three year old level.
A quick look back at 2008. This was a great year for us. Addyson started walking and turned 1. We took our first family vacation to Myrtle Beach. Hayleigh turned to 3. Johnny and I took our first mission trip to Haiti. These five things were definetly the highlights of my year. I met Richie and Gamael in Haiti and still think about them daily. I love these two children like they are my own. Hayleigh prays for them everyday and loves to look at there pictures.
Now a look to the future. I pray and hope that 2009 will be as a rewarding year as last. I want to try to make a few hopes and dreams for the coming year. I would like to lose at least 40 more pounds. I would love to adopt a Haitian child. These are my "BIG" dreams for the coming year. On a more realistic hope I would love to pray as pure prayers as Hayleigh. They are the sweetest and most innocent prayers I have ever heard. I would also like to be a more patient mother and wife. I love the 3 people that I live with the most, but they get my worst moods it seems. I am trying on this really hard. I want to spend more time with God. I would also like to listen more and talk less with all of friends and family. I want to not compare myself to them, but to truely listen whole heartedly.
Thanks for reading. On a little side note, I would enjoy a few prayers for my shoulder. It started hurting few weeks ago and keeps getting worse. I went to a chiropractor today and he thinks that it is in my joints. It scares me to think that at the age of 28 I could have early arthritis. I want to be able to play with my kids and enjoy them. I hate hurting. Please pray that it will heal and that it is not the worst option. I go to a different doctor on Wednesday and we will see what they have to say. I will keep everyone posted and thank you in advance for any prayers that come my way.
Love you all.