tomorrow...

Tomorrow is a VERY difficult day for my family, every.single.year. Especially for my sweet Mom and Dad. October 28, 1978 is the day that my 4 yr. old sister was taken to heaven. So, while knowing that she is in such a better place it is also HARD for my parents and family to face every.single.waking.moment. without her,even though it's been 31 years.

I never felt what they felt until I became a mother. I knew it was sad and it made me sad that they were hurting. I was sad because I never got to know my sweet sister. BUT, I never really got it until I gave birth to a sweet little bundle of pink named Claire and then her sister, Lily and brother, Drew. Now I KNOW. And, I use this, the end of October, to allow myself to truly feel someone else's pain. I make myself slow down and capture each little moment that God gives me and I tuck it away, I cherish it. Each little hug and kiss and story and laugh and even each tantrum!! I try to give thanks in the midst of it all...

This year, I invite you to join me. You will never know if this is your last laugh with your child. Your last coloring sheet. Your last battle over bedtime. Your last story time cuddled in your lap. Your last Fall. Your last Christmas. Your last good morning and good night.

You will never know.

So, squeeze your kids. LOVE them A LOT!!!! Shower them with love. Do something they want to do and don't look at your watch. Take a deep breath and just "BE"...... in the moment....because it could be your last.


Much love and many prayers for you all,

Julie

Claire bear is 4!!!

*I am just now getting to post this! monday, my computer was acting wild(still is & it's NEW!) ugh. yesterday, we had to take Lily for her blood sugar test and Claire & Drew for shots. Well, Claire also got a blood sugar test. So, it was an awful day and we just really need your prayers. We hopefully will get the results today. I will keep you posted.

5 years ago, I gave my infertility to the Lord. After 3 years of waiting every month and then crying and being so depressed when I wasn't pregnant (again) and the 4 years before that when I had so many babies go to be with Jesus. , after all 7 years of heartache, we just "happened" to catch this pregnancy on a fluke! I just happened to be having blood work done and that is how I know that Claire is from God. She was detected extremely early, we got the correct medicine and I carried her to term! All of our babies are miracles but she was the first! And, what a blessing she is!

Claire is the very best little girl a mom could ever ask for. She gives me trials but she loves me desperately and she has such a love for God. She talks about Jesus all of the time and we sing songs everywhere about Jesus. She sings loud and she doesn't care who hears her! She inspires me and I hope she never loses that zeal for Christ.

Claire is an excellent big sister, amazing. She is always ready to help me with the other two and she tells everyone that Lily is her best friend and Drew is her baby. :) I love the sweet way she calls them "Lil-wee" and "Drew-bee" She is always such a helpful little girl and she always wants to learn how to do whatever Mama is doing. She is an amazing little chef (really!) and already can tell you what flour, sugar and everything else are and when to put them in. She almost has the exact measurements of the ingredients down pat! She is wonderful in the kitchen and she's only 4!

We can count almost to 20 now and we know our colors and letters (most of them). We know our ABC's!!! She always wants to read and for Mama to read to her and I love that! I used to be so engrossed in reading. She definitely takes after her Mama there!

What I really love to watch her do is to get down her journal and her bible and sit in the chair and underline things in her Bible and write and draw pictures in her journal. No, she doesn't really know what she is doing but she knows she that reading the Bible and taking notes is important so she does that. I think it's wonderful and it's really neat especially after we have just read a bible story she will sit down and basically tell it back to herself almost word for word and I love how much that helps her! She plays like she is reading Bible right now but in a little while she will be really reading it and that is just amazing!!!

What I am most proud of with Claire is her loving heart. She always wants to help someone and she prays for everyone she knows. She hates for other kids to be left out. I love to see that sweet heart in her at such a young age. And when she's acting ugly, she says this adorable thing: I will say, "Where's my good girl?" and she says, "Right here in my heart, mama" Isn't that precious?

So, HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL, PRECIOUS, KIND, SMART, LOVING, SWEET BIG GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU, (This much!!!!)

Mama

The greatest gift...

My husband spoke about the greatest gift of all today. He spoke of our Lord Jesus Christ being born so that He would be tortured and crucified for our sins.....in order that we may live..............ETERNALLY. WITH. HIM.

All day I have been thinking on these things & asking myself how I can draw closer to my counselor, my fortress, my Savior, as should we all..

Merry Christmas to all.....

Blessings....

Ah....the blessings of family are the greatest..... some highlights from our weekend thus far.......

* Claire did NOT sit on Santa (aka, Uncle George's) lap, however Lily did & talked up a storm to him! Goes to show what Mommy knows, huh? :) Drew also did excellent! We did, however, get a good picture of Claire with Sarah & Santa Claus a little later. :)

* 4 HUGE sacks of candy, apples & oranges to take home from the sweet family of the American Legion my family has been a part of for 3 going on 4 generations.

* Wonderful parents (and Carissa) who offer to babysit ALL 3 children so we can shop all day undisturbed! WOW! What great grandparents & great cousins our children have! :)

*Lunch with Jeremy & Tammy (Charlie's brother and his wife) after we met up in the city. What fun! We never get to do anything together. That was such a great idea, ya'll!!! :)

*WONDERFUL husband & 3 VERY sleepy worn out babies!!!

Got to go and get the middle child back to sleep! Have a great rest of the weekend!! :)

*Sunday-

*church even though it was FREEZING cold!!! Seriously, people, it was 70 here yesterday. This morning we woke up to 21 and it felt like 11 degrees outside. That is INSANE. and hey, I found my very nice gloves that I lost last year, in my dresser drawer! That's crazy.

*I got up at 6 am and made chili and left it cooking on my wodstove all morning while we were at church! Came home to Frito Chili Pie(I have had 3 bowls) shh..... oh, it was good! :) And, I felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder cooking on my woodstove!

*When the kids wake up, we are going to bake more cookies, make more spice ornaments, and tonight open Christmas pj's (that I got at Old Navy for $5 each! Can you belive that?) and after baths, take our traditional picture under the tree. Hopefully, Claire will get a barbie nightgown from MeMe because that is all she has asked for and I can not find one!! Silly Mama, I waited until the last minute. But, all is not lost, I still have a few days. ;)

*We have been watching Barbie's "A Christmas Carol" and "The Nutcracker (which is where I first heard the name Clara (hence, Claire)). I love both of these movies just as much as the girls and I am not afraid to say so. It's so much fun watching my little girls and remembering back to my childhood and dreaming along with them.... I LOVE being a Mama! SO Much!

Well, I have to go and feed Drew. He made the paper today. He was in the baby's first Christmas. I haven't seen the kids Santa Claus letters yet. Hopefully soon!

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Julie

Happy Thanksgiving....

Colossians 3:15 (New International Version)

15"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

Happy Thanksgiving and Love and Peace to you all,

Charlie, Julie, Claire, Lily & Drew

*Be sure and read my husbands post on thankfulness here

*I wish my pies looked this good! :)

Andrew's birth day story & pictures!! (Our handsome sweet baby boy is 1 month old today!!)

Drew's birth day story (well, the abbreviated version, for those of you who asked for it)!

Andrew Coy David Fogg "Drew"

Andrew- "manly, strong, wise"-first apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ & in honor of Baby Andrew Fogg (Charlie's uncle)

Coy- "gentle, kind, quiet"- in honor of: Lloyd Coy Treat (my Grandpa)

David- "beloved of God" in honor of: Kermit David Ferguson (my uncle)

*The story of Drew's birthday begins with feeling achy and crampy off and on for about a month! However, the night before his birth, it was off the charts! I was up all night going to the bathroom and walking because my back hurt. I tossed and turned because my hips ached. But, I still did not think that I was in labor! =)

I woke up at around 6 and thought my water may have broke but I was just barely doing anything and in my history I have been a gusher when my water breaks, so, I didn't think it could really be that! But, by around 6:30 it just got worse so I called my Mom to come down and see if she thought that's what it was! Silly I know! After she came down, we called my sister to tell her that my water may have broke! Finally, we decided that's what it was and started getting ready to go to the hospital. It was around 8 am before we left and we had to drive an hour and a half to the hospital. So, after we arrived and got checked in, they hooked me up to pitocin as I was only a 3 and not even feeling my contractions yet! After 6 sticks and no success getting the IV needle in; I finally got the anesthegiolist who got it on her first try. Very painful. About noon I finally started feeling some real pain and progressed a 5 by 1:30. When I got my epidural(which didn't even work; the needle bent), I was a 7! And just minutes (and I do mean minutes) later, I was a 10 and ready to push with no doctor in sight! After the doctor ran from her office to the hospital, I was allowed to push and after much pain and a few pushes, sweet baby Drew came into this world and changed my life forever as once again I experienced the sweet blessed miracle, the privilege of giving birth.

I look at Drew and am amazed, as with all of our babies, that this child is part me & part Charlie & a lot of his own person! It's such a sweet time in our lives right now and I am so blessed and happy to be the Mama to such sweet babies and the wife to such a loving husband.

Well, there it is! The short abbreviated version of little Drew's birth day! And, finally, some recent pictures of Drew and our family to enjoy!

Have a great rest of the week!

Love,

Julie & family