Sunday Finest

~This little outfit was made with love by Gamma~

Boots and Basketball...

One thing I love about my children is that they have a mind of their own and they do things in such unique ways...sometimes it also drives me crazy! Jamison has recently decided that he likes wearing boots. I think it's super cute, especially when paired with the right outfit. It seems like there are too many times when the boys want to wear boots with shorts or sweatpants...I know I have blogged about that before. Anyways, on this day, the boots looked great with the jeans. What cracked me up is that he wanted to play basketball. He had his boots on, doesn't Jamison know you don't wear boots to play ball in? Apparently not! So, out we go, and we played some ball until I just couldn't stand the cold anymore. Not only does he have his own ideas about wearing boots, he has his own opinions on how to play basketball too!

Made with Love

So, here are some more things made with love...

I had these panels made before we left Korea (fabric was sooo cheap and it was sooo cheap to have them made too). BUT, I decided they needed something else, and after getting some inspiration at a very neat fabric store, Jackman's, I made these toppers, with trim and all. They were simple to make, the exciting part is that I actually sat down and did it...and stayed up until 2am in the process!


Now this wall art was made with love by Daddy. I have taken a fancy to the vinyl wall art, and it just so happens that Daddy's a pro at that (he owns a sign business and vinyl is one of the many products he works with). When he and Mama came out for Thanksgiving, he brought some of his creations; I love them all!

This is in the entry...

the kitchen...

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