Fun Times

This past weekend we had Zack's parents, Aunt Lindsey and her boyfriend Josh in town. It was a short visit, but we had fun. Yesterday, we had a great time at the park and feeding the ducks with them.

Josh, Carly, Aunt Lindsey, and Kate

Dad Dad and Kate

Mom Mom having fun at the park with the girls

Feeding the ducks

This picture is a little creepy because it makes Carly's head a little see through. It makes her seems like some kind of ghost. I guess it was because of the lighting. Anyway, Carly loves to play dress up. She especially loves to put on skirts. One night she just could not part with it, so we let her sleep in the skirt over her pajamas.

My parents and us gave the girls some things for Valentine's Day. This is them opening their treasures. The biggest hit was the Cabbage Patch Kid that Carly got. Since receiving this last week, she has yet to part with it. She wants to have it at all times.

Here Kate is at her Valentine Party at school. She was giving her friend and classmate, Bethany a big hug! Precious!

This picture cracks me up of a little boy Daniel helping Kate out with her sprinkles. He was so sweet and Kate's face is hilarious.

Kate enjoying her cookie.

Here is another funny picture. Carly has loved tagging out the dress up clothes in this tub and then sitting in it. Sometimes she really sprawls out and she looks like she is laying out in her bathing suit trying to get a tan.

Carly is also obsessed with this white stool. She loves to sit on it and take it every where to reach things. While the girls were playing outside, I looked out and this is what I saw. Carly did this all by herself. She went and got the stool, a book and propped her feet up on it. So funny!

Having some fun in our little play tent on a rainy day. They especially loved the treat of eating in there together.

Having some sister time. Rod was really sweet and got a hotel room for us to enjoy together one night with a couple of friends. It was sooo nice!

One of my favorite parts was this room service. It was so yummy!

This is a blast from the past! I did Shrinky Dinks with the girls. It still fascinates me.

A couple of weeks ago we had all the little Pruett cousins together. From left to right: Georgia, Cole, Emie, Kate, Olivia, Carly and Bree.

They all enjoyed climbing on top of Zack.

We went to the beautiful wedding of Ben McPherson and Taryn Burch. Here is Zack and his Dad together.

Mom Mom and Dad Dad dancing together.

Jason Castro is good friends with Taryn, so we got to meet him at the wedding. He seems like a really nice guy. Lauren and I were embarrassed when we realized that Zack made him think we were stalking him all night long!

It was nice for Zack and I to feel like we were kind of on a date, since we had babysitting for the kids.

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. As always, the two weeks Zack had off went too fast! We tried to take full advantage of it though. Zack let me sleep in some mornings, and I let him sleep in some mornings. We got to stay up late, go on a date, have some walks to the park, enjoy family time with both the Tate Family and Pruett Family, and enjoy some quality time with the Coxs. I really enjoyed just us being, working, and playing together all day. I hated it that our Christmas break started out with Ryleigh being in the ICU, but luckily she became better fairly quickly and Kamara was able to spend Christmas with the Tate family. We were sad that their whole family could not be there due to them being cautious with Ryleigh or Aubrey getting sick. However, we understand they are going to have to be extra cautious now that Ryleigh has been hospitalized three times this year. It has been a hard 2011 but there have also been wonderful moments. I am going to treasure 2011 for those sweet moments as a family and also just witnessing God working in some really neat ways. I do hope 2012 brings on good health, peace and happiness.
Christmas was a lot of fun this year just watching it through our kid's eyes. They had the magic and excitement of opening presents in their eyes. It was priceless. The pictures are a little scattered between the Tate family and Pruett family, but that is ok.

Tami and Kam

Mom Mom had a tea party with Emie and Kate in Abilene that was so cute and fun for them.

The girls were ready with their necklaces and lipstick on.

Mom Mom was so sweet to let Kate paint her nails for her.

Aunt Lindsey, Kate and Aunt Lauren.

Checking to see how Santa is going to come down the chimney.

Carly sitting on one of her cousin's gifts.

Aunt Lauren and Uncle Jason.

Carly enjoying writing on her little doodle pad.

Dad Dad and Mom Mom

Carly giving Dad Dad five.

Kate enjoying her gifts.

Our family

Mom Mom picked out some sweet necklaces for Kate. She loved them of course!

The Tate sisters: Kamara, Keari, Lori, Sheri, and me.

I love this picture of the girls praying together.

My parents and all the grandchildren (minus Aubrey and Ryleigh)

Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas

I am so sorry for the lack of blogs the past couple of months. I am going to try to get back on top of things in 2012. Thank you for all of your prayers and support the past couple of months.
I look at how much our girls have grown this past year, and I feel a lump in my throat. Carly says all kinds of words and even sentences now. One of her favorite phrases is, "Can I have that?"
Some days, Kate is just holding her hand around the house to play with her. I just discovered the other day that Kate can use scissors perfectly! I had no idea! You gotta love preschool. She loves to practice cutting wrapping paper while I wrap presents. They both are in awe of Christmas lights and Santa. I think Christmas is going to be really fun this year!
Please continue to pray for good health and peace for our whole family. I think Kamara and Rod may finally be over this big mountain they have been climbing for some time now. So many of you have prayed for them and they have felt that. Thank you for the encouraging emails and notes you have all given us and them.

May the Lord Bless you all this Holiday Season and New Year. I just have not had the time or energy to do Christmas Cards this year with all that has been taking place; therefore, here is our Christmas Card picture. More pictures to come after Christmas.

Oh, how we love these two girls!

October Fun

I know that I don't have to let all of you know that this past month has been a difficult one. I also want you to know that that does not mean that my days are in despair. Kamara and I both have learned to not stop living. There is still so much to be grateful for. This time in my children's lives is short. Right now they have no idea what is happening in our family. Kate does pray for Baby Cox every night, but she doesn't really understand. My weeks are much more hectic now, but that is ok. My heart is always heavy with what is going on and what lies ahead, but there is also a joy and a peace attached to that. There is still so much joy when I look at my life and my kids. Yes, I am going to remember the pain that this year has brought on, but I also want to remember the good times that I had with my family. I want to remember how I felt God carrying me through this year. I am reminded yet again that we cannot get too carried away with our own plans. I also don't always feel like there is a reason for everything. I think we live in a fallen world and with that brings pain. God does not want Kamara to have to go through this with her baby, but I am completely trusting in him that he will work through this baby's life. She will have a purpose whether she is living or not. God will bring good out of bad things and work in our lives when we go to him. Those were Tami's deep thoughts.

On another note some little things I am enjoying is the cool crisp air right now, Christmas music (yes, I am already listening to it), and peppermint frappachinos at Starbucks. It also warms my heart to see Zack playing and loving on our kids or to see the girls playing lovingly together. It is then that I feel truly blessed.

The fall weather has brought on sickness in my children. Carly is on her second dose of antibiotics for a sinus infection and Kate started antibiotics today for a basically a really bad sinus infection that has her eyes all crusty. It is just that time of year though, right?

Here is a look at Kate's hand now that she has recovered from surgery and no cast.

Painting pumpkins for Kate's preschool.

Which one did Kate do?

They had a pumpkin patch and petting zoo at Kate's school. Carly enjoyed it from the outside of the cage.

We need to work a little more with Kate on how to hold the animals correctly.

It is so hard to get both of my kids looking and smiling.

Kate especially loved the guinea pigs.

Here Kate is with one of her teachers, Miss Lisa. This is during the Halloween parade. Kate is wearing the flower girl dress that my niece wore in our wedding. Now Kate gets to wear it for Halloween as a flower girl. She is holding a basket full of fake flowers.

Halloween party at school

Carly enjoyed sitting at Kate's table like a big girl.

Another picture of the Halloween parade. It was so cute to look at all the costumes and little kids!

Sheri and Chad, my sister and brother-in-law, have a Boo Bash for their church and community every year on Halloween weekend. Here are two of the cousins Aubrey and Isabelle. Notice they are all in pink. I did not put Kate in the flower girl dress for this because I did not want it to get dirty. She is a ballerina.

Here is an attempt at a cousin picture.

Carly was a ballerina too.

Last Sunday we celebrated Isabelle's 4th birthday at Jump Town. Carly surprisingly went down a really big slide after her cousin took her up there. A little shocking! You really pick up speed on those things.

Kate would get all the way up one and decide she was too scared. Sheri got the best Aunt award because she went up with Kate and down with her. They were both going so fast!

Making memories!

Carving a pumpkin with Daddy.

The finished jack o lantern and the girls ready to go trick or treating.

Carly stayed in my arms the whole time. Kate did a great job trick or treating, though. It was a fun family night. We missed our traditional Halloween night with the Hughes and Coxs, but Carly had a sinus infection so we couldn't risk other kids getting sick.

Despite everything we have managed to have some great fun family time in October. It is important to appreciate the great things that we have been given.

Prayer Request for Baby Cox

Good morning Everybody,

I come to you this morning with a heavy and broken heart. As most of you know my twin sister Kamara had her second child at 24 weeks and it was very hard for all of us. Ryleigh is now doing amazing which is a blessing. Kamara always knew she wanted a third child and we were all so happy when she got pregnant again. She is 16 weeks along her third pregnancy. It seemed like everything was going well. Just to be on the safe side they saw a high risk doctor yesterday and got a sonogram. This was suppose to be a wonderful day where they found out the gender of their baby. None of us had any fear or worry because everything was going so well. The Tate family was all planned to celebrate with a dinner tomorrow night as we found out whether she was having a boy or girl. I was babysitting her kids during their appt. and started to get a bad feeling when 2 hours passed by without a call. I was anxiously awaiting the good news before everybody would find out that night. During the sonogram the lady doing it was silent and would not say anything. Then the doctor came in and said the horrible news right away. Their baby has excessive fluid throughout it's body. He said it was one of the more severe cases he has seen and he is a high risk doctor. It either has Turner Syndrome, Downs Syndrome, Trisomy 13 or 18. It is another baby girl. Based on the fluid they feel like the fluid is getting worse not better and are surprised she has lived this long. She has now talked to a couple of nurses and doctors and it seems like it is just a given that the baby won't live much longer. She is going to have to go into the doctor every week just waiting for her heart to stop beating. She will then have to be induced and deliver the baby stillborn. She was already told they will dress it up and let her take pictures with it during this time. This is going to be a very difficult time for our whole family. I don't understand why God has allowed her to have another difficult pregnancy and to most likely lose a child. This seems too much to bare. However, I know that God is good and powerful. Our family has an amazing faith and we will not let Satan crush our spirits. It is going to be hard but God is going to make some amazing things come from this I just know it. Kamara had to endure an amniocentesis and will find the results out on Monday. She will then be told which of the top things her baby girl has. However, it will not change anything or the fact that the baby is not going to live much longer. I know it is hard to know what to pray. I think our prayer is that if her baby is going to die that it happen sooner than later. That way she is not tortured every week waiting and watching as her baby is growing inside of her. She would never terminate the pregnancy on her own. She wants the baby to live out her life the way she is suppose to. She already can feel her moving inside of her and can see her little hands moving in the sonogram. I know I don't have to let all of you know how painful this is for all of us but especially her and Rod. Some encouragement is that her baby's nervous system is not developed and their sweet girl feels no pain. Plus, my Aunt Sandra died about a month ago and will be happily waiting in heaven to greet this precious baby girl. Please lift them up in prayers continuously.

Tami