My man's turning the big 3-0!

It's time to celebrate--Daddy is turning the big 3-0 today! 30 YEARS OLD! In the words of J, "My Daddy is 30 today? Well, that's young". I bet Daddy has been prepping him for that one. :-) He enjoyed a HUGE birthday gift a few weeks early this year: our San Francisco trip and his absolutely necessary electronic gadget (the GPS). I love these photos of him. He was such a cutie when he was little. Love that curl in his hair. For the record, I still think he's a cutie. In the photo below, he was waiting on me to get the camera timer ready (AGAIN) and I snapped it while he wasn't looking. I think he looks pretty se*y. Hehe. Can I say se*y on a family blog? Huh. I guess I just did. Please no comments on how se*y you think my man is. He's mine, thank you very much.

Baby--close your eyes and imagine. Imagine your first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. Imagine standing on the cliffs of Point Bonita and Ocean Beach. Imagine Napa Valley and all the amazing wine. Imagine holding onto the railing of a crowded cable car and taking in the beauty of it all. Imagine the richness of the best chocolate bread pudding you've ever tasted. Imagine the chaos of Chinatown and the uniqueness of dim sum. Imagine sleeping in on a Saturday morning without interruption. Imagine snuggling with your wife and adult conversations over dinner. Imagine the most amazing trip we have ever experienced together and never ever forget it. Happy 30th Birthday Baby! I love you.

Making Lemonade...

What is it they say...
"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade".

Well, that's what we're going to do. We're going to make lemonade at the Womble Times. It's going to be the BEST stinkin' lemonade we've ever tasted. I have a month of posts to catch up on (along with laundry, organizing, meal plans, etc). I'll be back with more posts over the next week.

P.S. Thanks to all who checked on us during the hiatus (even if I didn't actually answer the phone or reply to your emails). I'll admit I was avoiding most of you but don't take it personally. You didn't REALLLLY want to talk to me anyway. I was a real stick in the mud.

to my son...

You are, without a doubt, the greatest Miracle of my life. My blond haired, blue eyed, fiesty little man. You have so much to offer the world. You have overcome so many odds to become the amazing little boy you are today. You have proved the world wrong more than once in your little life. You will, without a doubt, do it again. I believe it with everything in me.

I have spent the past few weeks thinking about what the next few years may bring. I have imagined it every way possible. I have played the "what if" game until I can not play any more. I have examined all scenarios and yet I logically come back to the same realization. No matter how many times I wonder, the reality is I do not know what the future holds. Only God holds that card.

Five years ago, I wondered if you would ever BE five years old. When you were an infant, I believed each time I woke to the screech of an apnea monitor that you would be gone before I made it to your crib. I believed, ever so secretly, that I would wake up one morning and your days of struggling for every breath would be over. Thankfully, you proved me wrong. This was the first instance and, without rehashing your journey in detail, it was not the last.

I want to believe you will be the exception to their rule. I WILL believe it. I WILL BELIEVE it because that is what Mommy's do. Mommy's BELIEVE when others doubt. Mommy's find the positive when others focus on the negative. Mommy's defend without question. Mommy's love unconditionally. Mommy's advocate when others short change. Mommy's see the little things that others miss. Mommy's ensure their babies have everything they need to be successful in the world. Mommy's remember that God is much bigger than the opinions of other human beings.

JTW, I am not just any Mommy. I am YOUR Mommy. Of all the little boys in the world, God chose YOU and only you to be my son. I promise I will always BELIEVE in you. I promise I will always find the positive. I promise I will always go to the ends of the Earth to ensure you have everything you need to be successful in this world. I promise no matter where your path may lead, I will always be right by your side. Always.

Love,
Mommy

Fish and Friends...

Off to the Aquarium to see the "feesh"...The boys and Mrs. Courtney checking out the penguins. This little guy stopped right in front of the boys and did a little penguin swim dance. The boys thought that was cool.
MG admiring the "feesh". The new wore off after a while and she was over them. I guess if you've seen one fish you've seen them all when you are 21 months old.J inside the crab tank...Handsome little Jacob...The kids loved this wavy concrete wall. Up...down...up...down...up...down...The best group photo I could capture. We stuck the boys inside this brick boat on the sidewalk. J was too busy manning the ship to pay attention to the camera.I think the three little people had a good time but the Mommy people were ready to come home and take a nap! We didn't use all of our tickets so we will definitely take another trip this summer with Daddy. J can't wait to ride the train again. Until next time C-nooga...

Choo Choooooooo...

It is Spring Break week at the Womble Times so I decided to take the kids to do something fun. Courtney and Jacob agreed to tag along with us and all of the Wombles were thrilled about that. Last summer at a silent auction, I won a getaway package with lots of fun things to do. I decided now was the time to use it. We left early Tuesday morning on a mission to find the Choo Choo. The kids did great in the car and we were there in no time. J and Jacob shared their car toys so well on the way. We were impressed. Here we are waiting to board the train. The children were so excited! MG must of said "choo choo" at least 100 times. The train ride was 50 minutes round trip. We rode to the train station at the end of the line, got off and then watched the "train workers" turn the engine around. That was pretty cool. We wandered around the mini train yard grabbing a few pictures, of course. Then we hopped back on for our return ride. Jacob was not impressed with having his picture made on the train. This ones for you Court.We spent the rest of the day feeding our famished crew, checking in the hotel and walking around the city. Ms. Courtney somehow signed herself up for the job of little boy wrangler while I had stroller duty. I think I got the easier end of that deal. Thanks friend! Here they are walking over the plexiglass pedestrian bridge. I have this little fear of heights so it wasn't my favorite part of the day. There was no other way to get to the other side so I walked swiftly and didn't look down. Glad the baby girl couldn't actually see the look on my face. I'm sure it was priceless. I was very impressed with the downtown area of C-nooga. They have really put a lot of work into making it family friendly. If you haven't been in a while you should load up the kids and go for a day or two. We will definitely go back to finish up the tickets we didn't have time to use. The kids had a great time.

Woohoo!

I've decided the kids and I are taking a little road trip. This week is Spring Break and we could use a little time away from every day life. Daddy can't get away since there are several people off this week at the office (including his partner). Luckily, Courtney has agreed to be my partner in crime. JPM will be great company for the kids and she will provide a grown up accomplice for me! Have a great week. We'll be back on Thursday.

Love to all,
Mommy

Welcome baby Emsley...

All these babies making their debut. I love it! Miss Emsley Grace arrived this morning at 7:58 weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 19 inches. She's a peanut compared to both of my babies. Welcome to "The Crazy Life of the W's" as your Mommy calls it. It might be so crazy but you are going to be so loved!

Thank you Easter Bunny...

The Easter Bunny knew that J wanted to play a sport so somehow he signed him up for t-ball. He brought all things necessary to take us out to the ballgame beginning in June. J was THRILLED!
MG was brought to tears when we told her the Easter Bunny left her the basket. She must of been having flash backs from Friday. :-) He left her the cutest little pink bathing suit and cover up for summer along with the pillow Mommy has been stalking at Target. How did he know Mommy wanted that for her room? He must of read my mind. ;-)
Our Easter egg hunt in the cold. MG was the only participant.
J was not interested. He was working on "the catching and throwing" with Daddy.

MG bailed on the egg hunting after round 3. All she really wanted to do was this...
AKA Ma-eee sing, Ma-eee sing, Ma-eeee siiiinnnnnggggggg...

the Womble Easter Parade...

We actually went to church for Easter service on Saturday night. Our church was expecting over 3,000 people on Sunday so we decided to celebrate Easter with the Holy Land. Technically it was already morning on the other side of the world so we weren't early (you were late). :-)

For whatever reason, J decided he needed to pray during our Easter photo session. MG refused to sit still. Don't ask me why. It was probably just to drive the camera girl crazy. Why is it they never want to cooperate when you want them to?

Presenting the Womble Easter Parade 2008...

Where are all the eggs?

We attended a community Easter Egg Hunt today at the park near our house. It was supposed to begin at 11 am so we arrived a few minutes before. There were children and Easter baskets everywhere. J was so excited! As we were walking up to the large group , the whistle blew and everyone took off. The big kids ran ahead of all the small children and the eggs were gone in literally 30 seconds. GONE! I was secretly irritated that every 8-9-10 year old kid had baskets filled with eggs and the little ones were crying because they didn't have any! We made the best of it but you can clearly see the look of frustration on J's face. Oh, and no I did not button his top button like that. He said he was cold so he "buttoned up to stay warm". hehe. :-) MG could have cared less though J was devastated because he didn't find even one egg. A very nice Daddy took two eggs out of his own sons' basket and threw them on the ground behind J. I had to point him quickly in the right direction before the 10 year old beside us pounced on them. I stood between him and the eggs since he saw the Dad throw them down. :-) Then we ran into his friend Calen and he shared some eggs with both of them. It was so sweet. If you look closely you can see a little bit of the crowd. This was taken about 5 minutes after the hunt and everyone had already gone back to the pavilion except a few lingering children still trying to find an egg.After the egg hunt (or lack thereof), we stood in line to have our picture made with the bunny. MG was smiling and waving at him the entire time...until it was our turn. Then, she LOST IT! "Nooooooooo bu-ee! Nooooooo bu-ee! Noooooooooooooo...". She was clinging to me like I was waving a snake in her face. Ok, no Easter Bunny for you. This was his reaction...J wasn't too keen on the idea either but when bunny brought out the Dum-Dums he decided maybe posing for a photo wasn't such a bad idea after all. The bunny even shared a few suckers for MG even though she thought he was the devil in disguise. J played a few games and MG played in the "quack quack" pond for a bit. We ran into a couple of friends and then we headed for the hotdog line. We waited for about 15 minutes. Then, in a moment of sheer brilliance I convinced J I would take him anywhere he wanted for lunch (and let them eat a Dum-Dum beforehand) if we didn't have to stand in line for another hour to get our free hotdog. He was resistant at first but minutes later asked for the Golden Arches. I happily obliged.I think the kids had a good time despite the egg hunt thing. I promised we would do plenty of egg hunting at home and that made J feel much better. Here they are enjoying their sugar fix before lunch. Dum-Dums are such a winner at our house. Thank you Easter Bunny!