thankful (4)

I didn't think that I had anymore room to love another girl the same way that I loved Natalee, Lydia and Julianna. In fact, when I found out that I was having a girl with our fourth, I cried. I wasn't sad, but I just didn't know how I could do it again and have the same kind of love that I had for the other three. I must say that I really did feel this way and just wasn't sure how I would feel when she was born since we had hopes of having a boy. But, she was born....and it was indescribable!

The labor leading up to her arrival was drug out for the first 4 hours since I was just waiting for iv's to go through me with medicine for being strep positive. I had time to relax as much as I could and I was getting anxious to finally meet her. When my water was broken it was just one hour later and she was born! That one hour was filled with lots of intense pain but I just kept thinking about the end! 

Alyssia was born and somehow, only by God's divine power, my heart was filled with even more love for her then I had imagined!

The girls were so proud of her!

With our other girls we were able to send them to the nursery if we wanted to during the night. With Natalee we didn't know any better and kept her in our room the whole time:) With Lydia and Juls we sent them to the nursery during the night so that we could get some sleep in between feedings. With Alyssia, the hospital no longer provided a nursery for the infants. She was with us from the moment she was born and I even gave her the first bath!

So we were ready to leave the hospital by the second day
and we were so thankful for a healthy little girl!
We couldn't wait to see what her little personality was going to be like!

At 10 months she was full of energy and happy!....
constantly wanting to get down and crawl or move around.
 There was hardly ever a moment where she would want to just sit
still in our lap or sit still to read a book. She just wanted to keep up
with the other girls all the time:)

Before we knew it, she was turning a year old!
It was a big adjustment when she was born but we certainly could not imagine our family without her. She is full of joy and is the sweetest little girl. She loves her momma but is starting to become a daddy's girl more and more now!

We went to chic-fil-a on Alyssia's birthday and she had their ice-cream there for the first time:)

Alyssia Sadie, 

me and daddy are so thankful for you!
You have found a special spot in each one of our hearts!

thankful (3)

 Julianna

Of course I am thankful for each one of my girls. Julianna is the 3rd girl and turned 3 in July. I will start off with being thankful for her since right now she is the one that is the most challenging for me. She knows how to get my attention and most of the time it is through doing something that she is not supposed to be doing, like drawing on the floor or pulling her sisters hair or trying to get candy out of the pantry, etc. But, she is so sweet and has the most infectious smile:)

yet she can be so mischievous... 

and determined to do things her own way...

and full of personality!

but I am thankful for all this personality that God has given you. You are a bundle of joy! Even though some days can be very challenging to know what to do with you and to know how to love yet be firm without it breaking you and me down to tears all day.....

I have loved you from day 1!

and will always love you more then you know!

thankful (2)

I'm thankful for my family (top) and my husband's family!

For awhile when we first got married I wanted to move away as far as I could from our family. If it had been up to me we probably would have ended up somewhere west or north. I just wanted some space and to experience living somewhere else besides here in Virginia:) I kept insisting on it but my husband, Nathan, didn't feel like we needed to leave as much as i did. He had just gotten a job at UPS when we got married and didn't want to give that up. Now I can say that I am glad that he didn't listen to me!

I now have my parents and his parents within 10 minutes from us! We have relied on them in so many ways over the past 9 years of our marriage. Our girls are so close to all of them....4 uncles, 8 aunts, 2 sets of grandparents and 3 (almost 4) cousins. Although they do not all live nearby, most of them do and my brother (in Roanoke) and sister (in Tennessee) we still get to see at family gatherings. 

I'm thankful for the relationship that we have with our parents and siblings and for the relationships that our girls have with them. They have been a part of molding who our family has become today!

thankful (1)

I am thankful for my family! This picture was taken at our church on the Sunday that we dedicated Alyssia which was just a couple weeks ago. We have dedicated each one of our girls to the Lord and asked our church to keep us accountable in raising them. We felt so blessed standing up there with our four girls! My husband and I realize the huge responsibility that we have in raising them and we can only turn our hearts back to God and say thank you!