It's Looking a lot like...

Christmas at the Bailey's

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Some of our past Christmas pictures

Our Family tree that adorns the loft; this tree is full of ornaments that have meaning to our family. Each year the kids get one from us, some are made by them, and some are gifts from grandparents. This is a tree of memories, they already like looking at "their" collection of ornaments. This is my favorite tree in the house!

The ornament I gave Greg this year...he is my heart!

Jannah's ornament...she is my sweet little girl

Jordan's...he loves, loves, loves motorcycles

Jamison's...he did NOT want it to be on the tree, he wanted to play with it; he loves, loves, loves trains!

This is "my" tree; these colors are my favorite! The painting (one of my treasures from Korea) was the inspiration for this tree! This is in the room right off of the entry, across from the dining room. It acually holds several of our "Korean Treasures".

Our red and white tree in the stairwell. I didn't realize I had so many red and white ornaments. I was going to purchase some especially for this tree, turned out I had plenty to decorate with!

I have this ornament from my own childhood collection. My Mama made it for me in 1980...love it!

That wraps up the Christmas decorations for now in the Bailey home!

To Be Thankful

I like to think I'm a thankful person, in general. I mean I usually have a spirit of gratitude, I think. Maybe I should ask Greg about that, so that I'm not walking around deceiving myself. I think about praying and how much of my prayer life revolves around thanking God for every day and the gifts that are in that day; even the gifts that are sad, difficult and trying. I think being thankful, like many other feelings/attitudes, are choices. So, what about you, are you thankful? Do you choose to live each day, hour by hour with a spirit of thankfulness? May we each one strive to do just that. We may not have all we want, but if we have Christ, we have all we need; which should make us a thankful, grateful people. The spirit of thankfulness is constant in our home. I pray that G and I are raising grateful, thankful children; Speaking of G and the kiddos, I am SO VERY thankful for them!

This Thanksgiving, my parents joined us. They were here for an entire week!!! They actually surprised the kiddos and me and showed up 4 days sooner that was planned (G was in on the surprise). We had a great time. I always love being with our family. Family is important to us. Daddy and Greg painted until their heart was, I'm sure, very content. They covered about 2500 square feet of the house...whew...that's a lot! Now Greg and I only have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms left. Mama and I prepared a delicious meal on Thanksgiving. Can I just say that I am still not comfortable preparing a turkey?!? I watched Mama and was ready to sanitize the surfaces once she finished! I think it's just nasty to pull that stuff out of the cavity of the turkey, I think that maybe when I'm 35 I will be able to do it, the verdict will be out until then! Jordan was beyond excited to have the 4-wheeler that Gampa brought to him (that was one of the main reasons for them driving). He's been riding it every day and so have a few of our neighbors.

Friday Fun

Jamison with his water gun...he thinks it's loads of fun to wet us with the "juice"

Jannah showing off her latest gap...she pulled her tooth at school

all bundled up

Jordan was so excited about his new gloves, he wore them for two days...slept in them, played in them, you get the picture!

my boys eating suckers...and barely able to keep their eyes open due to the sunshine!

A Putt-Putt Kind of Day

We've had some very mild weather recently, and we thought something outdoors would be fun. So G and I put our brains together and came up with putt-putt. We had a blast, Jordan was the star with 2 holes in one! He's ready to go play again; too bad they are closed for winter! Jannah, she had fun, but her competitive edge kicked in; she did NOT like that Jordan was doing better than her. She is a LOT like her Daddy when it comes to winning and being on top...Jamison, he enjoyed himself and did his best to play. He kinda kept messing the game up, the older J's were getting a little impatient with him! The dynamics of our family are funny to me right now. Sometimes I laugh at them, sometimes I want to pull my hair out; mostly, I'm just enjoying each one of my little blessings and all of our days together.

I love this picture of my Jordi, it's rare to get a true smile from him

Jamison with his prized ball and putter (he was not sure why he had to return them at the end of our game...you'll see what I'm talking about at the end of the post)

Jordi teeing off

This is what I love. The place wasn't too busy, good thing; we were all over the place. Trying to keep everyone on track and occupied while we all 5 took our turns was a little bit of a challenge and comical. No worries, the J's just wander and occupy themselves!

Jannah's victory jump

Jamison's ball was gone for good after the 18th hole, that was just not cool to him!

Flashback Friday

I just couldn't help myself...I love flashbacks. They make me think of time and how quickly it flies, they cause me to be still and reflect, so that I might see God at work in my life and in the life of my family. My flashback for this Friday is a mere 3 years ago. These pics were taken in Branson Missouri; we had gone there for Thanksgiving, and my parents joined us. It was a fun trip and I'm ready to go back...and we can, because we are only 4-5 hours from this family-fun-spot! Jannah is 3 1/2 and Jordan is 1 1/2...they are so cute and little, I wish they would stop growing up. Since that's not possible, I will just enjoy the memories I have made with them...

Reflections

I have had many thoughts and times of reflection surrounding October and what should have been. I should have given birth to our daughter October first. Even now as I type, the truth of the matter seems distant and surreal. I guess surreal sums up the entire experience of losing Josianne. I think about her every day. Some days, my thoughts are few, some days they are many. Some days my mind travels back so quickly to the day I held her in my arms, some days I have to trudge to get there. I don't know if that makes any sense. I think it is God's way of healing me and still guarding my feeble heart. There are times I want to hide the fact that our baby died in the womb at 24 weeks, there are other days I want to remember her and mention her name without tears welling up in my eyes. I know that will come and it will get easier. She is real to me, to all of us. The other night, I was talking to my Granny, who just celebrated her 81st birthday, and we talked about Josianne. It seemed strange, but we talked about her being in heaven and being like Christ...it's so hard to imagine and understand. She's not a baby in heaven, at least I don't think so. But yet, in my mind, she will always be my baby. I see mothers holding their babies, and it's bittersweet to watch. I rejoice for that Mommy that cradles her baby, but then my heart aches for my baby and the time on earth that I lost with her. Sometimes my arms ache to hold a baby, but I am scared of that too; how will my heart handle that? I still wonder why we lost Josianne and how we lost her. When I am full of sorrow, God gently reminds me that He is a god of love and mercy and that he promises not to make our journey here on earth easy; but he does promise to carry us through the storms of life and the joys of life. So, my reflection brings joy and sorrow. Sorrow because I miss Josianne, joy because I will see her one day...

The Arch with Gamma

Off we go...it was a chilly, overcast day; but we set out for the arch and we were not disappointed! The whole arch area is beautiful and full of color. It was a weekday, so the crowd was small and the wait time to go up into the top of the arch was not long at all. The kids had a meltdown the first time we went to the arch (because the wait time was more than an hour and a half and we just didn't want to wait), so they were excited to be going up, not to mention Gamma was with us.

our walk down to the arch

the kiddos and Gamma at the base

~ J and J doing their best to climb up~

I love this of Jamison looking at the small replica of the riverfront/arch area

Jordi & Daddy while we were waiting for our turn to go up

This is the VERY SMALL space we were in for the 4 minute ride to the top; I didn't like it so much! After snapping this shot, there was barley enough time and space for me to get in. I later saw the sign that said not to take photos while getting in the tram/elevator due to the short boarding time...oops! The highest point in the arch is 630 feet, pretty high up. It was nice to look out over the city and river, not to mention the views of the pretty trees (I know, I'm obsessed with the changing of the leaves)!!!

J and baby J looking out

view from the top

Pumpkins and Apples

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the colors, the scents that accompany the season, and I love the crisp air (which is totally here in O'Fallon). For me, Fall and thanksgiving go hand in hand. I find myself constantly giving praise and thanks to the Lord as I see the beauty of the season unfold. I see His amazing handiwork all around me, and I think it's a great time to teach the kids about creation and celebrating God's creation.

Another thing I love about fall is pumpkins!!! I was thrilled to find that we have a beautiful pumpkin patch (and apple orchard) near us. The name of it is Eckert's; it's the coolest place. They have a market there with delicious meat, pastries, fruits, veggies, cookbooks, homemade fudge and much more. There is also a restaurant.We've eaten there twice now. The food is just all-right. But the show stopper is the fried biscuits and home made apple butter that's served with your meal Seriously, I could eat a million of those biscuist! Between the market, restaurant, pumpkins, and apples, we made a day of it!

We took a hayride to the apple orchards. The kids were so excited to have their own bag and to pick their own apples. Jamison picked most of his from the ground (they were all bad ones); I had to weed through his bag! They told us we could try apples and eat them as we picked; I think my family ate a minimum of 20, no kidding. I suppose there is nothing better than picking your apple right from the tree and eating it! When we got home, we unloaded the apples into a bowl, and what do you know...there were at least 5 apples that had been bitten into in just one place; I think Jamison was to blame! That's okay though, at least he does love apples. We are still eating our bountiful supply of apples, and we even made a crock pot of applesauce. We've discovered it's super good mixed in oatmeal and on peanut butter toast!

Gamma was HERE!

The big news in our house is that Gamma was here! We had a wonderful 10 day visit with Mama, aka, Gamma. The kids couldn't wait to pick her up from the airport and bring her home. Thank you Daddy for sharing her with us for 10 whole days. Jannah still doesn't understand why she couldn't stay for 11 days, or 1oo (her own words). Our days were spent having fun and sprinkled with some lazy times too. I loved having Mama around. We were able to spend time chatting, drinking coffee, shopping, watching HGTV every night before bed... Greg treated us to a day alone in St. Louis; in return, Mama kept the kids for G and I to go out. I liked the living situation...mama, when will you be back??

Jamison is 2!!!

5 days old

My heart is happy and sad when I see this picture at just 5 days old. I rejoice for the many memories we have made with Jamison, but I'm sad to see how quickly time has gone by. How can it be that my baby is now two? It seems like just yesterday, while living in Korea, I gave birth to him. I'm so thankful to be able to stay home with my children and give them the love and attention they need. Yes, it can be overwhelming; but, I wouldn't change it for anything! Because, time does fly by.

My happy 1 year old. Honestly, he was such a happy, fun loving baby. While living in Korea, our friends gave him the love that our far away family couldn't...thanks friends!

Energetic 2 year old! He has enough energy to keep up with the big kids. He may be little, but that doesn't stop him from doing what they do. He is still ever so passionate about balls, or anything that resembles one. He likes bugs, especially stomping on them. He gives lots of kisses and snuggles. His Nina (Jannah) and Jordy (Jordan) are his best friends. He has also decided he likes motorcycles...must have a need for speed. He likes to play baseball and football...he would surprise you with his abilities!!! He likes to draw...on everything and anything, which can be a problem sometimes. He loves band aids (there's no need for a boo boo to have one) and brushing his teeth. Food, there's not much he won't eat...he's the biggest eater in the house. He has beautiful brown eyes that pierce straight into my heart. We love our baby J so much. I thank God for letting me be his mother, this side of heaven.