~Claire~

     Claire holding Drew in our "peace place".       Claire & Lily working on their snowmen.

Our firstborn, Claire Victoria, turned 5 on February 15th! Tonight, I am going to tell you a few things about our Claire that are amazing to me..of course, she's my daughter so you may not find these things to be all that amazing but that's okay. :)

~Claire is a fighter. She was never expected to even make it to birth but she did. She was not breathing when she was born but she pulled through. She is such a strong little soul and we are so thankful that she is!!

~She is a helper. Claire is always helping with everything. She is my "big helper" as she likes to say. Whatever I need, she is right there. She has such a servant's heart and that makes this Mama's heart so happy and full. :) She is always finding ways to be kind to others and most especially, her sister and brother. We have our occasional argument but most of the time, she is so thoughtful and sweet and just an amazingly loving child. We are so truly blessed to call her ours!

~The pictures above are how you always see her. She is always loving on her sister and brother. Always concerned and affectionate. Such a little mama to others. :)

~She is most usually very obedient. Now, we do have our little problems and this week has been a bad week. However, usually, she is quick to obey and very pleasant to be around. And, that makes for a happy family. :)

~Claire (and her sister and brother) are just the answers to soooooo many prayers that we prayed and the promises of God that we claimed and believed in!!! God is SO good!!

Here's a few things she has done lately that I think are so very cute and Claire:

~She checks the mail at the mailbox.

~She helps Lily write her name. Every time.

~Has started making muffins almost completely by herself. All I do is stand by and supervise to make sure she remembers and puts everything in correctly. Lately, I don't even bother. :)

~She makes her bed every morning and reminds her sister and helps her to do the same.

~She fixes Lily, Drew and her toothbrushes every morning and night.

~She "reads" to her sister and brother and can actually already read a few words!!!!

Claire Victoria, you are such a sweet wonderful blessing and an amazing daughter to mama and daddy!!! We love you soooo very much, baby. Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

♥Julie♥

Happy Birthday, Claire-bear!!!! 5 years old...February 15th

Monday, was Claire's 5th Birthday. We just had a little celebration at our house with our little family. Her birthday party will be Sunday after bible study! I'll try to caption these pics but blogger is being difficult so we will see what happens!

Pancakes w/strawberries & whipped cream-Claire's request!Cake made by Claire & LilyClaire & Lily proud of the cake they made!(Yes, entirely all by themselves!!!)

Claire's favorite present! A baby doll that cries and drinks its bottle...she named her, Hannah.

More to come, as soon as I can get blogger and my computer to cooperate! :)

a year old today....

Blogger is being extremely slow about posting pictures so hopefully I can get some more up later this evening. I have a really cute one of Drew in his cowboy hat!!

Andrew Coy David.....we love you so very much!! You are one of the greatest blessings that we have ever received and you are such a wonderful son! You are so good and sweet and funny! What a sense of humor you have, already! I can not wait to see what you grow up to be! It is such an honor and a privilege to be your mama. God is so good!!

You greet me every morning with smiles and hugs that usually last a couple of minutes, at least! That always starts Mama's day off right! You are such a delight to your Dad and I and your sisters who never let you do anything yourself! You are "their" baby!!

You have 4 teeth and you are taking a few wobbly steps here and there but not taking off walking just yet! That's okay, do it in your own time. We can wait!

We love you, Andrew, and we praise God for your little life every.single.day.

Love always,
Mama

Happy Birthday, Drew!!!!

This is not his birthday post; I will be back with it later today! We are on our way out the door for our PE class with our homeschooling group!!!! Drew will get spoiled with cupcakes there(brought by Carie; thanks, girl!!) and then we will come back home and nap while Mama gets everything ready for supper here tonight with just our little family and we will have some cake for Drew. Tomorrow night, we will head over to Granny & Papaw Fogg's for supper and more cake!!! Sunday after services is still even more cake!! Whew! what a weekend but we will love it!! :)

I can't believe that my baby boy is 1 already......I am actually pretty sad about it. Happy to celebrate, of course, but sad that it passed by so quickly. But, as Charlie reminds me, he's still a baby!! I still have some of his babyhood left!!

More Andrew later today......

Love,
~Julie~

Happy Birthday, Carissa!!!

Our adorable niece, Carissa,is 14 today!!!! Hope you have a wonderful day, sweetie!!

WE LOVE YOU & CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE GROWING UP SO FAST!!!!!!!!

Love you always,

Uncle Charlie, Aunt Julie, Claire, Lily & Drew

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

Valentine's Day & Claire's Birthday Party pics.......

Me fishing with my girls; ignore how I look, I do not dress up to fish! :)
Lily at the pond
Rose, Sarah & Ashlin (Amanda & Micah in background)
Michael, Granny & Jess
Jesse taking a picture of Aunt Julie taking a picture of Jess(haha!)
Our beautiful niece, Allison! Ann was too busy with the cousins.
Drew-bear up close!! How big is he?!!!! :(
Girls fishing with Daddy :)
Me; you can't really see my hair that great; Charlie's making me laugh
Claire's new outfit from Aunt Cheryl & family; she LOVES the glasses!
Daddy & Drew (ignore my dirty windows;lotion from the girls)
Claire reeling it in (not really but she thought so!)
Claire's cake & Valentine's cupcakes (we just combined) :)


*WHEW!!! What a crazy weekend!! More on Claire's 4th Birthday sometime later (hopefully today) I have done 8 loads of laundry and my house is a total wreck. I have been cleaning like a mad woman all day long and still have LOTS to do!!

Lily has a dr.'s appt. tomorrow to test her blood sugar levels; could ya'll please pray for our baby girl? Thanks so much.

Love to all,
Julie

more of my rambling...........;)

I ran 1 mile today and walked a mile and a half. Pretty good for not running for a few years! I have been a little busy having babies! :) It felt so good to run and today was such a gorgeous day to run! 74 degrees and windy with a touch of rain in the air.......aaaahhhhhhh....... I had forgotten how much I love to run and just be alone, just me, the road and God.

I don't know how many miles I am going to be able to get since I am home all day with the kids and I don't have babysitting close by. Charlie usually doesn't get home until late so that's out. Hopefully, Mom will watch them a couple of days a week for an hour so I can run and the other days we will just walk and I will do some walking videos in the house with the girls. :) That's always fun! They love to exercise with Mama! And, I can always get in some running time on Saturdays and Sundays and I am thinking that will be enough for me! I am not in this for the miles. I just want to be healthy for myself and my family. I want to feel better and be the best wife and mother I can be. That's why I run.

I bought Claire's stuff for her Princess party this weekend. Hopefully, I wil get invitations mailed out this weekend. We also have been invited to a valentine's party on Saturday so I got everything for that, too. I am making Red Velvet cupcakes with cream cheese or buttercream icing (can't decide yet) and placing candy hearts on top. She picked out Princess valentines for the girls and Car valentines for the boys. They got pencils with their Valentines. I thought that was a cute idea.

Tomorrow we are making supper and baking cookies for a family that goes to our church. Miss Tammie's mama is sick so we are going to make her feel better. They don't know yet, it's a surprise! Hopefully, I can get it done. If not tomorrow, I will take it Tuesday. Also, we are going to make a Valentine's garland and work on our letter of the week (A). shape: square number: 1 and nursery rhyme: Hey Diddle Diddle, our theme is Cows and our vocabulary word is calf. We are reviewing or that's the plan anyway!! We are working on grasping objects with Drew and he's getting pretty good at it! Oh my goodness, he is growing SO fast!!

Friday night we all curled up in blankets and watched "Facing the Giants". That is such a favorite around here. We could watch it again and again. :)

Charlie heads back to work tomorrow and I am not ready for that at all. Check out the "My Husband Rocks" t-shirts on my sidebar. I am going to order one and wear it with pride. He definitely deserves it. I have such an amazing husband. Oh Lord, you have blessed me more than I EVER deserve and I thank you!!!

Well, I have to go. Just wanted to touch base since I have been gone all week. I probably won't get to blog much this week, either. I have so many things to do and such a busy week planned with the kids and Charlie.

Talk to you soon, though!! Have a blessed week!!

Love,
Julie

Happy Birthday, Allison & a must read for your marriage(this post is ALL over the place)

Drew in MeMe's lap at church; smiling big!! :)

Allison is on the very end holding Lily. Isn't she pretty? :)

I am taking a "break" from my blogging break today for 3 VERY important reasons! First, Happy Birthday (yesterday) to our precious niece, Allison!!! She is 16 and will be driving next week!! (legally, anyway!) :) I am putting a picture of her on here but it's not real current. I am trying to get better about that! :) Hope you had a GREAT birthday, sweetie!! LOVE YOU!!!

Drew is also 5 months old today!!! I will write a longer post about this later!!!I can't believe that he is almost half a year old(where does the time go?!) and this is a fairly current pic of him but again I will HAVE to get better about this!!! (going computer shopping this weekend!!) YAY!! :)

And the third thing is this post today at Praise and Coffee. Thanks, Kelli, for sharing this!!! If you are married, read this. I have some things to add to this but for today I am just not sure what I should write so I will wait until God makes it more clear. This is a topic that is VERY hard to address and that is exactly why Satan is so victorious in this area. People sweep it under the rug. We CAN NOT allow that to happen; that is just automatically forfeiting the game to Satan!! More on this later when I get my thoughts together and have a little time to write a longer post!!

Praying for my husband is going pretty good but I could do better! I am going to stay on blogging break again until at least Saturday so that I can focus more intently on Charlie and his needs, especially in prayer. Something that I didn't expect is that Claire has prayed with me a few times and Lily (following Sissy's example) got down in the floor with us, as well and said her little prayers. My heart is just full when moments like that happen.

Well, back to my break & I hope ya'll are having a great week!!! :)

Love,

Julie

Happy LATE Birthday, Ann Mary!! :)

Well, I took a blogging break and in the process forgot about our niece, Ann Mary's 12th birthday!!! Sorry, sweetie!!


We hope you had a wonderful day and that you are enjoying being 12 YEARS OLD; I cannot believe you were just almost one year old the day we got married. I still remember you sitting in your Daddy's lap in your pretty white dress. :) You were such an adorable baby and you are a gorgeous girl!!

And, congratulations on making the Honor Roll!! Smart girl!! :)

We love you!!!!

Uncle Charlie, Aunt Julie, Claire, Lily & Drew

Happy Birthday, Mama (MeMe,Granny)!!! :)

This is a horrible picture of me & my mama but it's the only one blogger would let me load and it would only load sideways?! Anyway, just look sideways, I guess! :) Anyway, it actually is the best picture that I could have used because it is a great example of how it is with my Mom! She is always behind me, encouraging & pushing me and never letting me walk alone. :)

Happy Birthday to the woman who gave me life and so much more! I am incredibly blessed that you are my mom! I don't even know where to begin. First of all, you never complain about helping your kids out. Not only that, but you don't even let us ask. You just know even without us telling you that something is wrong and you start in trying to fix it! :) You also teach us that there are things that only God can fix. You only had your mom until you were 16 and she didn't know how to talk to you about things that daughters need to talk about. In spite of that, you have always been there for us and you did not let "not knowing how" stop you from knowing your daughters.

You always put Daddy and us before anything else and you worked hard both in the home and sometimes at an outside job so that we could have what we needed and what we wanted. Everyone at school wanted you to be their Mom because you were always there. You took me and my friends out to eat, you threw the BEST birthday parties ever, you were just always THERE in my life. Sometimes I thought it was smothering but now I know just how much you cared and that means SO much to me.

You taught me how to work, how to read, how to cook, tried to teach me how to sew(haha), how to never give up and how to believe in myself. You only finished the 8th grade but you were determined and did everything in your power to make sure we made the BEST grades we could and that we went to college. You went back and got your GED and went to college all while raising a family. You quit college early because it was too hard on your kids (among other things going on at the time) but you made sure that we knew we could do it. You did the late night helping us study, buying us whatever we needed to accomplish that goal, you did ALL of the paperwork and phone calls. You helped me have the most beautiful wedding and you have loved Charlie as your own son since the day you met him. :) You were there when all of our angels were lost and when our babies were born. You were there through the sleepless nights and even took some for your own so that Charlie & I could sleep. You help me with parenting when I don't know what to do. You calm me down. You go with me to take my kids to the doctor and you help me when they are sick. You buy things that I cannot afford at times. You have helped so much when hard times have hit.

I ,seriously, thank God for you and your unselfish ways every day, Mama. I know that if you go to be with Jesus before I do, I will never be the same. I honestly don't know WHAT I would do without one of my VERY best friends. My first best friend.

I hope you have a very special birthday. One that is just as special as you are to me! :)

Love,

your

Julie Irene

updates with veggie princesses :-)

NO throwing up since 7 AM!!! Praying that IT is GONE!!!!! :)

just updating the family. we have some people who are worrying. :)

oh, also, anyone have any ideas on how to put together a Veggietales/Princess birthday party?! lol. Miss Claire has decided that is what she wants! Okay, yeah, I'll get right on that one! ;) Seriously, any ideas are welcome, Anyone?????

happy birthday, papaw!...

today is Charlie's dad's birthday! I am not telling how old he is, though. Sworn to secrecy, although I can say that he is younger than Uncle Donald! haha. ;)

Look at my sidebar and read more about papaw. Please pray for him if you aren't already & if you are praying, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

papaw is a wonderful person and a great dad & papaw. The kids absolutely adore him and he is just all around a fun person to know! he's always good at making us laugh! :)

Well, Happy Birthday, dad & Praying you have many more to celebrate with us!!

Double the birthday fun!

Happy Birthday today to two very special people!!

Aunt Cherdyl (Cheryl) and Clayton!!!

Love you both and hope you had a great day!! :)

Julie

Late Birthday wishes & a prayer request

SO, I am late getting these Birthday wishes posted! My nephew, Jack, turned 18 on Monday & my mother-in-law,Mom, Barbara, turned ? (I know but I am not telling!) on Tuesday!

I am late getting these posted because our internet went down on Monday afternoon and again Tuesday morning and also because Charlie's Aunt Viva Lee passed away Monday morning so it has been kind of hectic. Anyway, there's the birthday wishes & here are some pictures of the birthday kids. =)

Also, would you please pray for my mother-in-law? Viva Lee was her older sister and she was a very sweet woman loved by all who knew her. We will miss her very much.

Thank you!

Love,

Julie

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

Happy Birthday, Sweet Kylie!!!!

Today is my niece Kylie's birthday!!!!! I tried to have the baby on her birthday (it's what she wanted for a present) but I couldn't sweetie, So sorry!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS!!!!

OUR SWEET

KYLIE RAELENE !!!

We love you, Kylie-bear,

Uncle Charlie, Aunt Julie, Claire, Lily & Baby Drew

Happy 60th Birthday, Daddy!!!

*This is a journal thing for me, as well. I just wanted to get this down and print it out and take it to Daddy today. I am turning off comments because I didn't write it for that reason. Feel free to email me if you would like. :o)

Wow, I can't believe that my Dad is 60!! Where does the time go? And, wow, I must say, you do not look 60 years old! (I knew that you would LOVE to hear that).


Daddy, I have SO much to thank you for and SO many things that I have never said that I should have and a lot of things I said that I shouldn't have! Maybe that makes sense. Anyway, thanks for having such great patience with me. :o)



You were the first man ever in my life and you have left such a huge impact on me. I love the way you are such a tender man and still a man of great conviction. Some things were just not negotiable with you and I can truly appreciate that now. I am so grateful for all of your rules that seemed so silly at the time!

You taught me most of all how a man should love his wife above all. You and Mom are definitely not perfect but I always knew how much you love her. You did not allow people to speak bad of Mama or us. You did not allow us to sass Mama in any way. You always backed her up. One of my favorite memories to this day is you and Mama kissing silly to make us laugh. I can still see you two doing that and laughing so hard.

Thank you so much, Daddy, for all of the tickle wars and hugs when I cried. Thank you for sitting with me and holding me when I was sick. Thank you for holding me when I lost my babies. And for not telling me anything, not saying a word, just holding me and letting me cry.

Thank you for loving Charlie so much. Thank you for always supporting him and being his friend. Thank you most of all, for loving us unconditionally, because I know that is not always easy.

Thank you for the junk food you give the girls. Thank you for the visits and buying me pops. Thank you for loving with all you are.

Thank you for trying to teach me to drive (haha), for teaching me all you knew about basketball (A WHOLE LOT), for teaching me to work hard, for talking to me about boys and friends. For telling me just how much I am worth. For being proud of me. For pulling me up when I fall down. For letting me know that it's okay to fall sometimes. God is there to pull you back up and so are you.

Thank you for always telling the girls how smart and pretty they are. For sitting with me in the van before my wedding and letting me see you cry. For telling me how much you love me. For walking me down that aisle to my future husband shaking so hard but holding my hand so tightly. For loving me enough to let me go. For loving and respecting Charlie.


Thank you most of all Daddy, for serving our country when you were drafted. For not being bitter about it to us even though I know that you witnessed a living hell. For fighting for freedom and being seperated from your family and all that you knew and loved for people that you didn't even know in a country that you really could care less about. Yet, you never let it stop you from loving us with all you had.


Well, I guess I should stop now. I just really do love my Dad and it is very hard sometimes to tell him these things. I see now so many things that I should have done and yet didn't. Time is precious and I hope that by writing this and getting it out, I can let him know just how much he means to his family on Earth. God truly blessed me by bringing me into the family that he did. We have our problems, sometimes some big ones, but we are a family and we hold on. That means a lot to me the older that I get.


If you have a Daddy then go hug him. If you don't have a Daddy, remember how very much more that GOD loves you.


*Thank you, God, for my earthly father. Thank you for the guidance and love he has given to me. Please be with him all the remaining days of his life and bless him greatly for his service to you. In Jesus name, Amen.

Happy Birthday, Baby! And News....

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLIE!!!!! I am making an awesome meal tonight with his favorite Blackberry Cheese Pie for dessert(seriously, you have to try this pie, SO good!) I can't wait until he gets home so we can eat it and it's super great for these crazy hot days! :o) Sarah has some yummy looking pictures here. (We use frozen blackberries, they are cheaper!)

For those of you who don't already know, we are having a BOY!!!! I will try to get the ultrasound picture up sometime this week but it may take a while. I am officially back on blogging break after this post! I had to break my blogging fast to tell you the great news and to wish my hubby Happy Birthday! :o)

So, Happy Birthday, Baby and Welcome to the family, Baby Drew! Can't wait to meet you!!!!

Love and Prayers to all of you,
Julie

Happy Birthday to my baby sister!!

Happy Birthday today to my sweet baby sister! I won't say how old she is because that would be aging me. lol. She's a wonderful sister to have and always has been my best friend through everything. I am so glad that Claire & Lily have each other and I hope they love each other as much as we do. We are truly blessed to have our sisters. Life just wouldn't be complete without them! Have a great birthday, sissy!

Love you,
ME