On a personal note...

Dear Friends and Family,
As the year 2010 comes to an end, I have been thinking a lot about the past 12 months. I have started and restarted this blog post so many times I can't even count. Wanna know why? Because even after experiencing the last 12 months, I still can't put 2010 into words that will explain to you how incredibly blessed we are. I think about how in January, Eric and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. In February, we watched Abby celebrate her 3rd birthday. In March, we were thrilled to capture a video of two healthy baby girls. In April, we experienced the worst moments of our entire lives. In May, we watched God perform miracles. In June, we were together as a family of 5 for the first time in a hospital hallway. In July, we were home sweet home. In August, we bought a new home. In September, we moved to Enterprise. In October, we stepped out for the first time as a family of five. In November, we were thankful for everything. And in December, we sat back and enjoyed the month with family, friends and our healthy, beautiful, wonderful daughters. Well, there you have it...our year in a few simple words. In a way, I can't help but think about one of Dickens' most famous opening lines...it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. But really nothing I can say begins to describe how with everything we went through, with every tear shed, with every prayer said, with every smile that shined, we were so incredibly blessed in 2010. We thank each and every one of you that took this past year's journey with us. We enjoy sharing our lives with you, whether in person or through our blog, and we hope you will join us as we see what blessings are ahead for us in 2011. So, from our family to your family - Happy New Year!
Love,
Barbara

P.S. And there is no way I can end a blog about how blessed we are, without sharing some pictures, taken today, of our three biggest blessings! I say it about a thousand times a day, but "Love, Love, Love!"


Abigail Lee Wade
(3 years, 10 months)


Reagan Nichole Wade
(7 1/2 months)


Blaire Elizabeth Wade
(7 1/2 months)

A good walk spoiled

This morning everyone woke up in the house feeling better than we had in days! Eric was off work and decided that instead of spending the day at the office, he was going to spend it on the golf course...with Abby!!!! She was extremely excited to hear that she was going to get to play golf and walked around the house practicing for about an hour before she headed out. Eric and Papa (a.k.a. Will, a.k.a. Eric's dad) played 9 holes then swung by the house on the golf cart to pick up Abby. She took her golf clubs, all three, out to the course...but only came home with two. Yep, she lost her putter! I guess some players lose golf balls...leave it up to our daughter to lose the entire club. Ha! But a great time was had by all and Abby is already waiting for the next time to play!


P.S. On a side note, the day didn't end so well for Eric - he's sick. He caught the head cold that has been going around the house and is now hanging out in the guest room - away from all kiddos and babies - and hopefully will knock this out of his system before the New Year gets into full swing.

The greatest wealth is health

Well, less than three weeks had passed since the house was labeled the "Wade Infirmary" but we retook the name this week when sickness came and hit us hard. On Sunday afternoon, Abby woke up from a nap with a 100.6 fever. In a few hours it was up to 102 degrees and she was not feeling well at all. Although we were all home on Monday, we called in extra help and Nana (a.k.a. - Nana, a.k.a. - Eric's mom) came to hang out with Abby, while Eric stayed upstairs with the babies (far far far away from Abby's germs) and I was able to get Christmas stuff put away (well, not the decorations but the presents and chaos of the weekend). By Tuesday morning, Abby was feeling better but managed to spread her germs to me. Eric headed off for work on Tuesday and Wednesday and the rest of us did nothing but stay indoors and take medicine! A big shout out and thank you to everyone that helped, called, sent goodies and prayed for us to feel better!

Christmas Day

The day began with Blaire and Reagan awake around 5:30 AM. After a morning bottle and diaper change, they were content to hang out in the upstairs den waiting for their Big Sister to wake up....which wasn't too long! Before 7 AM, we were all downstairs, in our Christmas PJs, opening up gifts and stockings! Blaire and Reagan hung out for the first few gifts and then headed on up to their cribs for a morning nap. Which left Abby downstairs opening up all the gifts herself - even though the two phrases we heard most were "I'll open theirs later, I'm looking for the ones that say A-B-B-Y." and "I don't see my bike anywhere. Maybe this box is my bike." Most of you know that Abby asked Santa Claus for a big kiddo bike this year. She had a specific Barbie bike she wanted and made a point to even tell Santa exactly what kind in her letter she wrote about a month ago. Although she loved her presents, she was a bit sad that there was no bike under the tree...until she saw something Santa left IN the tree - a scavenger hunt. A couple of clues later, she found her bike hidden in the broom closest! After our traditional waffle breakfast, she and Daddy headed outside to practice bike riding while Mommy cleaned up. Then after lots of playing with all of her new toys (her all time favs included her bike, computer, video game Leapster, and Pillow Pet), it was time for our Christmas BLT lunch and then nap time! Whew - we were all exhausted! Then before we knew it, it was time for company...we invited Eric's parents, brother and his brother's fiance over to our house for Christmas dinner - fondue style! We had chicken and steak fondue, cheese fondue and our yummy chocolate fountain for dessert. After everyone ate, hung out and left, it was time for a few more Christmas night snuggles before bed time...it was a wonderful Christmas day and once again, we realized that we are definitely blessed - to the 5th degree!!!!

Christmas Morning

The time is here...a day full of celebrations for so many reasons, but for little kiddos - most think of this time as one where you wake up early, run down the stairs and see if Santa Claus thought you were on the Nice List this year!!! Think about it...go back to your youth...do you have the image in your mind? Do you remember that morning? Chances are, your mother or father were there dressing you in matching PJs and capturing the morning on video or camera...we were no different! Ha ha! Let the morning begin!!!!

CHRIST IS BORN!!!!

Luke 2:1-7

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Twas the Day Before Christmas

Twas the day before Christmas
And all through the town
We traveled and partied
Til the sun went down.

First at the Fulfords
We ate and we stayed
Then on to the Wades
For gifts that we played.

We ended the travels
And the day of the season
At our church Lord's Supper
Remembering Jesus is the reason.

Headed home for the night
And the big guy in red
With three little ones
all tucked in their beds.

We remember this time
And we just think it's right
To say Merry Christmas to all
And to all a good night!

Daddy's Date Night

Tonight was the night....Daddy and Abby's date night! The weather was cold, cold, cold so the two of them bundled up and headed off to dinner and the movies. It was so funny and cute because Abby's been looking forward to this all week and she had a blast! They headed off to McDonald's and then to the movie theater. Lots of popcorn, "paper cola", and laughs later, they headed home (taking a little detour through the big lights displays of Enterprise) and she was so excited to tell everyone that "It was the BEST movie ever!"

Working hard or hardly working?

When we woke up this morning, we realized lots of things needed to be done before Christmas, and, well, Mommy just can't be everywhere all of the time...so, we called in some reinforcements! Jess came to hang out with our crew while lots of last minute things got done around our house. And, we even got to help our neighbors out by having one of our favorite little friends, Ella Rose, come visit with us that morning! It was a great day where everyone had fun!

PS - Spoiler alert for kiddos so stop reading out loud now if you've got children in the room....Here's the deal...Jess was playing and watch the kiddos while I was locked in my bathroom wrapping presents. In our house, all presents are wrapped - even those from Santa. I had a little heart attack when I realized that there were TONS of presents to wrap and I only had a couple of hours. Yikes! But that wasn't the real deal scariest moment of the day! After all three girls went to their beds for their afternoon naps, I headed into the bedroom to tackle Abby's big gift from Santa - a bike. Jess stuck around that thank goodness she did! After 5 minutes of "What does that mean?" "What's a front fork?" "What in the world is a sproket?" "Where is that piece?" "Where are the directions?" I almost gave up! The first line of the instruction paper said "Assembles in 15 minutes." Yeah, sure, right. Ha! Jess got in touch with her boyfriend, Branden, and he was over here within minutes and sure enough...15 mins later, the bike was assembled!!!! A BIG shout out to those two for their help today! Thanks guys, love yall!

Zat you Santa Claus?

Ever since 2007, we've taken Abby to the local mall's Santa's Workshop for a picture with the Big Guy's Helper. I don't think in the last 3 years, there's been one good picture...she couldn't stand going there. We try not to use the word "hate" in our house, but she hated it. She'd cry, get upset, and even last year that she'd never do that again because it made her sad. It was awful hearing that...so this year I had a plan. The thing was, she was terrified on meeting Santa. She would talk the talk all about him, but when she saw him she froze up. This year, we told her that it was only Santa's Helper - not the real Santa - because Santa needed help this time of year. Apparently it worked! We headed out to the mall this afternoon (after a morning of learning how to make Divinity...yum!) with all three girls in their Santa dresses. After waiting in line about 15 minutes, it was our turn. I am still in shock that not only did Abby go up there, she talked to Santa, sat next to him, the babies stopped crying and everyone looked at the camera. Shock, complete shock!! I love love love this year's picture! Merry Christmas from the Wade girls!

P.S. Here are a couple of pics from this morning - where we went to Carolyn's house to learn how to make divinity. We all had a great time...even Jackie!

Make a joyful noise

For a couple of weeks, Abby has been saying that she would sing a song during our church wide "Sing Along" tonight. She would practice at home but Eric and I had our doubts that she'd actually do it in front of the entire congregation. But she did...and although it was only 40-something seconds, we were the proudest parents in the entire church!

Be of good cheer

It's the most wonderful time of the year...with kids jingle belling...and that's exactly what we head this morning! We packed up the car and headed back to FUMC this morning for the annual school Christmas program. Abby, a member of the FUMC Stepping Stones Duck Class, was a member of the choir in the program. And thankfully, it was nothing like her church performance. We were pleased to see her stand, sing and with the exception of jumping and yelling "Bells!" when the jingle bells were handed out, she did exactly what she was told to do! The performance was adorable and for the second time this week, Abby felt like she had an in with God since she knew the baby Jesus - LOL! And there was even a special visit from Santa for the kiddos! After the program, we invited some of our best pals back to the house for a fun afternoon get together that had lots of food, giggles, stories and fun! Just another fun filled Friday with the Wades!

Rockin' around the Christmas tree

Ever had one of those days where you think it's going to be complete drama and then everything seems to just perfectly fall into place? After Eric left for work this morning, and Abby headed to school, I had to get ready to head to my office for some client meetings. With almost everyone enjoying holiday luncheons today, the twins were going to have to sit at my office with me - until I found out that Jess (an all A student I might add - ha!) didn't have to go to school today and was able to sit with the twins! After getting several good hours of work under my belt, I picked up Reagan and Blaire and headed over to Abby's school where it was time for her class Christmas party. Abby is in her 4th year at Enterprise First United Methodist Church Stepping Stones and Preschool. Her favorite teachers, Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Jennifer, planned a great party and she had a ball with her friends, including Emma Riley, Libby, Nick, Arrabella, Sylvia and a few more! There was a yummy pizza lunch, Christmas cookies, crafts, games and presents! It was a fun day for all the kiddos...including Blaire and Reagan who go to watch a bunch of crazy three year olds celebrate one of their favorite parties of the season!

Lucky Number 7

HAPPY SEVEN MONTH BIRTHDAY TO THE TWINS, REAGAN AND BLAIRE! Yep, today they turned seven months old. It is weird to me that they have now been out of the womb for longer than they were in the womb! If you read last week's post from their doctor's appointment, you already know that they are gaining weight and doing great! Although they should be in the developmental stages of a four month old (for their corrected age) they are doing a bit more than the average four month old - and we are glad to see that since it tells us they are slowly catching up to their birth age. We celebrated their big day by heading out with one of my BFFs, Veda, to Florida for a photo session that was better than words can describe! The birthday girls were all smiles today and I couldn't have been prouder of them! Love love love girls!

Signs of Christmas

Last night the Children's Choir of Providence Baptist Church put on their annual Christmas performance. This year's play, "The Signs of Christmas," was a great reminder that while the signs of Christmas are everywhere, the important thing we must do for our children at this time is to make sure that all these signs point to Jesus. Jesus, who came to earth a baby in a manger, to Christ who died for us on the cross. And as wonderful as the performance was, the only signs we seemed to notice were the signs of one very unruly toddler doing everything BUT the peformance. Abby managed to sit through an hour of practice, stand for the opening song and then from there on out - for the next 15 minutes - it was, well, embarrassing. While everyone in the congregation seemed to think it was cute, there were two people that didn't find it too funny. But, all in all the children's choir did a great performance and we were proud to be members of a church that has had a wonderful year in both worship and fellowship - for all ages.

Merry Christmas To All

The Wade Family
(Eric, Reagan, Abigail, Blaire, Barbara)
December 2010

Aged to perfection

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
Abraham Lincoln

Today was the day...the big day...the day that one of us looks forward to for the past 364 days...ever since last year's December 11th when she's already looking forward to the next year's December 11th! BARBARA'S BIRTHDAY!!!!! Yep, happy happy happy birthday! And what a great day it was! The morning started with lots of *early* morning loving from my three favorite girls. Then, when getting ready for the day, Eric and Abby went to get the birthday breakfast from McDonalds. And by 9 AM, we were on the road...to our church's children's Christmas party. And as much as the kiddos were having fun with their reindeer games, crafts and scavenger hunt, they took the time out to sing Happy Birthday to me and join me in a yummy birthday cake surprise from Aunt Julia and Uncle Lomax. After the party ended, we all headed back home for much needed naps. The girls slept soundly for a couple of hours while I ended up enjoying my afternoon reading all of my birthday emails, Facebook messages and comments, cards, letters and also listening to my phone messages as well as getting some phone calls. It was the perfect afternoon which ended when we all got dressed up for a birthday dinner and celebration. We headed out to one of my favorite restaurants and I was treated like royalty...or at least like the people all around us in formals and princess attire (including Abby who happened to fit right in since she was wearing her Snow White princess dress). After the restaurant staff sang Happy Birthday (including singing and drums!), we headed back home for a great evening including sleep for the twins but for the rest of us - cupcakes, coffee and presents! It was a great night!!!! Thanks to everyone that remembered the day and helped me celebrate in some form or fashion!

Flying north for the winter?

With the sun shining all day, and the cold weather on a bit of a hiatus, it felt like the south once again. We got an extra bit of the south today when Gramercy and Papa Doc (Barbara's parents) came up from the Florida coastline to spend the day with us. After some good snuggle time, play time, arts and crafts with the Big Sister, yummy lunch salads, giggles and grins, they headed back to Florida - but not before getting lots of holiday hugs.

It's SNOW joke!

As we close out the year, we tend to look back on the things that we remember the most during the past 12 months. One memory that sticks out was in February - when Enterprise, AL was covered in a blanket of snow! Sure enough, snow in south Alabama! That is so rare (although there was a random Sunday afternoon in 2009 with a few flurries) that we all went outside making snowmen, snowballs and enjoying an entire day of snow! So imagine our surprise when this morning, about 10 AM, the snow started falling...and continued to fall for a couple of hours! Snow again in south Alabama...twice in one year!!! Wow! The flurries were rather pretty to watch and so we did - from inside. With two of the three girls still recouping from not feeling so well, we watched the snow accumulate in the back yard and all over the girls playground....and if you thought it was hard to drive, walk or ski in snow - try keeping a 3 year old inside and telling her she can't go outside to play in the snow because she is/was sick!!!

Wade Infirmary: Limp In, Leap Out

After such great visits with Dr. Mac on Monday, everything went a bit downhill. With the twins receiving their 6 months shots, we expected some "post shot" symptoms (i.e. fever, chills, etc.). However, what we didn't expect was for Blaire to also show symptoms that she was getting a winter cold. And to top that off, Abby was sick with cold symptoms and an upset stomach. All three girls went to bed around 3 PM that afternoon and we didn't hear a peep from Abby until about 11:30 PM and nothing from the twins until about 4 AM. But...we loaded up on Vitamin C, prescriptions and cans of Lysol. By late Monday night, it was obvious that a bug had gotten into our home. By Tuesday morning the twins were kept upstairs and Abby was kept downstairs. There was lot of coughing, sneezing, nose blowing and vomiting to make 2 cans of Lysol disappear within 2 days. And miraculously, Reagan never even got a sniffle from her two sisters!

Grow little grow worm

Before Eric even took Abby to school this morning, Barbara and the twins were headed off to the Doctor's office for their monthly Synergist shot. Since last month's 6 month check up was a few days before the girls officially turned 6 months, they weren't able to get their 6 months shots...so that was on today's agenda as well. Because the waiting room was jammed packed with sick kiddos, our favorite doc's office let us go back right away into our exam room. Our fav nurse, Leigh, came in ASAP and we got the exam started. The girls passed the check up to see if they were OK for their big shot...and the "torture" got underway - ha! Just kidding...the girls really tolerate shots well. They cry (of course) but it only lasts a few minutes. Within 3 minutes of the shots being given, both got lots of loving, and were sound asleep in their car seats. No kidding - 3 minutes. We timed it - ha! And although it was only an appointment for shots, they still get weighed...here are the latest numbers on our growing girls:
Reagan - 13 pounds, 10 ounces
Blaire - 14 pounds, 9.5 ounces
When Dr. Mac came in to give the girls a once over before their shots, we mentioned they were a bit congested in the mornings. She gave us a prescription to get them started on so in case it is something, it doesn't turn into something major. Seems the cold weather is getting to the girls...but clearly isn't stopping their growing spurts! Grow on girls, grow on!

To be a part of His Providence

Today our church (Providence Baptist Church, Clayhatchee, AL) headed out to a local trailer park in Daleville, AL to entertain the children and families with a "backyard Bible study" with a Christmas nativity theme. It was a complete joy to be a part of! Although the weather was cold, tons of folks from PBC showed up and welcomed a bunch of local families into our hearts. We had hot chocolate and food, games, great fellowship, a live nativity and even presents galore! To see the look on the children's face was wonderful - and to join hugs with the parents was even more touching! PBC has a very strong emphasis on missions...Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong, Kathleen Mallory, etc. Today was another way where those of us that can't travel on missions could do so close at home. I was very proud to be a part of today's celebration!

www.hisprovidence.org

Whirling around like the winter wind

Boy oh boy are we exhausted around here! Today was a wonderfully jam packed day full of absolute fun and craziness! After a whirlwind morning at the house, we all got dressed up and headed out to our church for the Children's Choir Christmas party. All of the kiddos and their choir leaders were there for fun, pizza, pictures and a little bit of singing (of course!). The kiddos are practicing for their big performance - "The Signs of Christmas" - which will be performed on December 12th during one of our church worship services. Although Abby's so confused about all the songs she is singing (school Thanksgiving program, school Christmas program, church Christmas program) she's doing fairly well with the words when we practice them in the car. By far, her favorite song on the program is Deck the Halls...and I wish you could hear the words she sings...usually not the right ones but it is priceless to hear! Anyhoo...after the party, the kiddos choir was heading up to the Nursing Home to perform for them...but we headed in a different direction and went to the Bryant home to celebrate cousin Khloe's 2nd birthday! It was awesome!! The kiddos played, ran around outside, drove the Barbie Jeep and even sat still for some Sponge Bob birthday cake! Happy Birthday, Khloe! We love you!!!! After the party, we rushed home because it was Daddy's big date night. While Barbara and the youth headed off to the Third Day concert, Eric stayed at home with his girls having a pizza party! It truly was a day where everything went by so fast...but it was all sooo much fun!

Moms Unite

On the first Friday of each month, I (Barbara) go and join a bunch of my friends in our monthly Mom's Club meeting. This month, in lieu of our meeting, we all gathered together and enjoyed our Christmas luncheon....which was yummy yummy Mellow Mushroom! It was a great time where some mom's were solo because their kiddos were still in school and some mom's (like me) were able to bring their kiddos to play in the Kiddo Room during the luncheon....but regardless, I was able to laugh and enjoy some great company from some close friends! It was an absolute blast and I love our local Mom's Club!



Mother's Dictionary of Meanings

Dumbwaiter: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.

Feedback: The inevitable result when the baby doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.

Full Name: What you call your child when you're mad at him.

Grandparents: The people who think your children are wonderful even though they're sure you're not raising them right.

Hearsay: What toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.

Independent: How we want our children to be for as long as they do everything we say.

Puddle: A small body of water that draws other small bodies wearing dry shoes into it.

Show Off: A child who is more talented than yours.

Sterilize: What you do to your first baby's pacifier by boiling it, and to your last baby's pacifier by blowing on it and wiping it with saliva.

Top Bunk: Where you should never put a child wearing Superman jammies.

Two-Minute Warning: When the baby's face turns red and she begins to make those familiar-grunting noises.

Whodunit: None of the kids that live in your house.

(Copied from http://www.mothersdaycelebration.com)

Wordless Wednesday