My Baby is growing up~

In the last month...

• Taylor told me that he knew the Easter bunny was not real, and has known for two years, but liked getting the gifts.
• Confessed that there was a little girl in his class that he thought was "cute"...and that everyone in his class has girlfriend/boyfriends.
• Asked Adam if he could wear some of his cologne to school. After going through the two choices that he had, he settled with one. He told me that afternoon that he would like his own cologne and that I could just pick it out because he would like what I picked....however he didn't want any of that stuff that smells like "Old Spice".

I'm so glad that he feels comfortable enough to tell me things that he is feeling and his honesty. However, at the same time, the Mother in me is very sad that he is getting so big! Where oh where did my little boy go?

 

From this:

 

To this handsome young man-

 

Insert Mommy tears here!











What a Special Day!

Each night before bedtime, we sit with Taylor as he says his prayers. It's been a ritual that we started when Taylor was young, and it brings me great joy to watch his love for the Lord grow with passing time. Around December of last year, Taylor asked me as I was leaving his room when he was going to get baptized and asked me some questions regarding the experience. I told him that it was a decision that he would have to make and that I would guide him in any way that he chose. A couple of weeks later, around January, he inquired again. When I spoke to him about it, I told him that I would talk with Hayes (Our Pastor) if he was truly serious about this commitment. I didn't want him to take this decision lightly because I believe that it is such a great blessing and symbolism of your faith to God. 

We set up a meeting with Hayes and he spoke to Taylor about the meaning behind baptism and made sure that he was sure about his decision. Taylor said that he understood and was ready for the commitment that he was about to take. You can't imagine the joy it brought to my heart to know that my little boy was making such a powerful testimony for his love for God. As parents, we often worry about whether we make the right decisions in regards to our children. Are we being the positive influence that God would desire? Are you teaching them enough?
A parent's concerns are never ending.

Taylor's one request was that he get to be baptized in the fountain outside our church like I did. He said 'I don't want to go down in front of the whole church. I just want my friends and family there and do it like you did, Mama.' So we fulfilled his request.

 

 

(Yes, Mother of the Year, forgot his waterproof shield for his cast)

 

 

 

 

 

As requested, our dearest friends and family joined together to celebrate one of the most greatest blessings we could experience with Taylor, being a child of God that wants to live a life through him.

 

 



Never a dull moment...

A couple of weeks ago, Taylor and I were arriving home on a Friday afternoon as we normally do. Well little did we know, we had a surprise awaiting us when we drove up the driveway. Out of the bushes came a rooster and bear (in full costume) attacking each other and  running straight toward our vehicle! Just as a normal person would do, I immediately locked the doors and stared out the window at these 'crazies'! Finally the culprits took their head pieces off and we realized it was Adam and our neighbor Philip.

 

Rooster

 

Bear

 

Tiger

 

To clear up a little confusion, Loftins was going out of business and had an auction. Of course my husband thought of this grand idea to go purchase the costumes (clearly without me knowing anything about it...which is pretty normal in our household).

Since the purchase, we have had a ton of fun with them. My Uncle was down from South Carolina for a weekend and Adam's Dad came in town the same weekend for a family event. They both were able to experience a little craziness with us. We all dressed up in the costumes, (Bear, Tiger, Rooster, Dog and Scooby Doo) and proceeded to "crash" Sarah Beth's birthday slumber party. However, before we made the getaway with my Uncle driving, we made these two videos:

 

 

 

Needless to say, we have enjoyed these costumes immensely!

 

Just another day in the Thomas' household...

 



I'm Back!

Gosh, there are so many things that have happened since I have last blogged. I'm going to try to catch up on the highlights of the last couple of years in a nutshell.

On to the Big News...

I know that it was a shocker to everyone, but Adam and I did get married! After dating for 6 years, we finally tied the knot in Antigua (August 2012). Just the two of us went and we loved how everything turned out. We spent our honeymoon at Sandals and they handled everything for us. Loved every minute!



Dancing to "At Last"-Etta James



Happiness!

 

Everyone knows that Adam doesn't dance!

Enjoying one of our many dinners. 







After we returned from Antigua, Adam moved me out to the country!

 

 

However, I have easily adjusted to the lifestyle!

*We took a vacation with our two sets of neighbors. We chose to go to Abaco, Bahamas and stay on the island of Guana Cay. Such a fun time for all six of us!*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Taylor finally got his braces off! He was one excited boy...*

 

*We went on a road trip this past summer up North. Taylor requested that we go to Washington, DC. and Pennsylvania to stay with Uncle Chuck & Aunt Vicki. While in Pennsylvania we visited Amish Country, Gettsyburg, Hershey Park and went to a NY Yankees game. We had a blast on this trip!*

Washington D.C.

Gettysburg

This boy loves guns!

Hershey Park

Riding with Uncle Dave

Uncle Dave's first ride on the roller coaster. Priceless!

Yankees vs Orioles

Uncle Chuck and Aunt Vicki's House

Taylor with Hurricane


*One year later, almost to the date, my sister got married! (August 2013) We were so happy to welcome Nathan into our family.*

*First we had to have a wedding shower for the two of them. My friend Misty and I planned it together and were happy with how it turned out.*

So many details to this shindig!

The soon to be Bride and Groom.

Hostesses with the Bride

My Hubby & I

Seester~

*You can't have a wedding without first having a little girls weekend away...*

Cheeseburger in Paradise

Little Moo-Moo anyone?

Loved our beach hats

I couldn't possibly leave this one out...this is for you Misty!

*On to the wedding...*

 

*Such exciting things have happened in the past couple of years. Our friends Michael and Kelli Strowd had a precious little girl! Ava has been such a little blessing to their family.*

Such a natural!


*Taylor started 5th Grade! Boy is he getting to be such a big guy!*

*I finally gave in this past year and let Taylor play football for the city. He had such a great time playing and learned so many things. Adam was his number one coach and probably enjoyed it more than Taylor! I of course was his number one fan!*

 

 

Is this a sign that he is growing up?

After practice...can we say sweaty?

Taylor was their kicker and played tight-end/cornerback.

Win!

His cousins, Abigail and Sarah Beth, came to cheer him on!

 

Aunt Cindy and Uncle Nate came to watch our football star.

Handsome little guy of mine.

Loved all his teammates.


*Before we knew it, Christmas was here! We had a quiet and joyful Christmas at home this year.*

*We went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a little vacation with our neighbors. While there we enjoyed a dinner show of the Hatfield & McCoys, Snow-Tubing, WonderWorks, and ate, ate, ate! Oh....and how could I forget....watched Auburn win their way to the National Championship!*

Hatfields & McCoys Dinner

Snow Tubing was so fun!


*We went to our first NFL game. Adam, Taylor, Daddy John and I went to Atlanta to see the Falcons play the Panthers. It was a fun experience and we especially loved seeing Cam play.*

He was worn out!

*For New Years this year (2014), we decided to attend 'The Great Gatsby' themed party downtown at The Grand. Our friends Shane and Misty came up and enjoyed as well.*

My Bestie

Fun times!

Happy New Year!


*Taylor ended his basketball season...*

*Taylor had a sleepover for his 11th birthday. Those boys had a great time and didn't go to bed until after 2am!*

Superman and Silly Boys


*Taylor received a new gun this year for Christmas. He got his first "big boy" gun...a 243 rifle! Of course this Mommy was pretty concerned about him having such a powerful weapon. Adam worked with him on how to use it and make sure Taylor was comfortable with it before he went on his first hunting trip. That training must have paid off because a few days later, Taylor killed his first deer! He was one proud 11 year old!*

Serious Concentration!

My little hunter~

Apparently when you kill your first deer, the tradition is to put the blood on your face. Ewww~


*We have had an unusually colder winter this year for Alabama and actually got a little bit of snow/ice. School and work was cancelled for two days. By the third day, our little family was getting some serious cabin fever!*

Trying to get enough snow together to throw a snowball at me!

*Last but not least, we had our first broken bone. On Wednesday nights, I have a small group class that I attend at church and Adam also teaches the 9th & 10th grade boys. In return, Taylor always hangs out in the gym of the CLC at church and plays basketball with the older kids. Well Taylor took a fall after being fouled and landed on his arm wrong. They came and got me out of my class, but he seemed to be ok. He had some ice on it and said he thought it would be alright. So I went back to my class and we carried on as usual with the routine of the night. That evening, Taylor complained about it hurting and continued for the next few days. I just thought that it was sprang pretty good (since there were no signs of swelling or bruising) and that it was going to take some time to heal up. On the following Sunday, we were playing some baseball in the yard to prepare for the next week of baseball practice that was kicking off the season. We could tell that Taylor was not playing to his full potential and even got a little upset with him because we thought he just wasn't trying. At one point, Adam even told him to stop 'faking'. That night his arm began to swell and still hurt. The next day I took him to an urgent care facility to get an xray of it to make sure that we were not dismissing anything that could be worse. You can only imagine how horrible I felt when the doctor told us that his arm had a buckle fracture and needed to be in a cast! So off to Southern Bone and Joint we went to get the cast! *****In my defense, with Taylor being an only child at our home, he does have the tendency to 'over exaggerate' things sometimes. So you  can imagine that I don't like to run to the doctor at the first sniffle, etc. However, I won't take this kind of thing lightly anymore since he went almost a week with a broke arm!*****

Poor thing was a trooper!


I'm sure there are many things that I have left out from the last two years of not blogging, but hopefully I highlighted some of the most important events.
I'm going to try my best to blog consistently from now on....no promises though!
Happy Monday!