Already???

Seriously, do we ALREADY have a teenager??????? Maddie's door is closed and this "note" was posted...
Keep the prayers coming, please!!! :)


(Translation: Don't come in this rooom!)

P.S. I knocked before I went in.....

Thank you....

Today you turned 35! I kept thinking about you all day, about the man you have become before my eyes. We have grown up together and I smile thinking about it. And I want to say thank you, baby....

Thank you for....
being so in love with our Lord.
falling in love with me.
being my best friend.
being an amazing father to our little girls.
helping me to see the good in a bad situation.
praying for me and for our children.
working so hard.
surprising me with little and sometimes big things.
being silly with our children.
loving with all of your heart, all of the time.
overlooking my weaknesses and trying to make me stronger.
pushing me to my potential.
making me laugh.
your hugs and kisses.
making me some incredibly unique and creative dinners.
striving to be all that you can be.
being the best driver in the world. :-)
for calling me before you go to bed if you are out of town.
our always FUN date nights. (We need another one soon!)
keeping me up to date on politics, even when I am tired of hearing about it.
kissing me goodbye, every time you leave in the morning.
waking me up if I fall asleep in the chair in Hunter's room, in the middle of the night.
always being there when I need you.
giving me your heart!

I love you, Baby! Happy Birthday!

Love,
Q

In awe

Already, it seems that everything is moving at warp speed. Everyone is growing up and I watch in amazement and awe of it all.

Hunter is changing. She is such a smiley girl and it moves me to tears. She looks at me with such an adoration in her eyes as she "talks" and smiles. It makes me think of how much I would have missed if we had never had a third child, which was in "our plan." (Plans change, thank GOD!!)

Ally is incredible. She has become so silly and so thoughtful....She does these little thing that make me so in awe of the person she is becoming. The other day, she was taking a nap and I was doing "my thing" with Hunter. She comes out, awake, with an arm load of clothes that she is taking to the laundry room. "I have a surprise for you mommy, don't look!!!" She says. I wait as she goes back into our room, which is where she took her nap. After a while, I have to knock on the door. "Ally, it is almost time to go and get Maddie, can I see my surprise??" I yell through the door. She comes to the door with a HUGE smile on her face. She has made our bed, perfectly I might add, picked up the clothes on her Daddy's side of the bed (silly daddy!) picked up the towels in the bathroom AND organized ALL of the shoes in our closet, which was a lot of work. I couldn't believe that she had done it all on her OWN. She just wanted to do something nice and was so proud when she showed it to me. I couldn't believe all that she had done. She is amazing and she has come so far from those tantrum days, praise GOD!

Oh, and Maddie! Today she called a friend for the first time. And my heart ached. "Maddie, you are too young to be calling friends!" I say "But just this once, o.k?" I add. She was so excited that I just couldn't disappoint her. She made the call and talked to her friend's Dad, her friend was not there so she gave her phone number for a return call. She was so grown up as I listened to the conversation. My goodness, that can't be happening ALREADY, can it????? She handled herself well and her face told me how excited she was to have made the call.

Where has the time gone???? When did I miss my girls growing up so fast??? They are six and four and 2 mo. and I can't believe how big they are and how much they have changed. But what I do believe is knowing that they will all become these amazing women. And it will happen faster than I want.(Something I just need to accept!)

I am in awe and I LOVE you more than you know, Maddie, Ally and Hunter, my three beautiful girls!!