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!!

Hunter Elizabeth Cheek- The Story of Her Name

Hunter is here and the our world has changed again, for the better. The births of each of our girls has given me a chance to refocus myself on something more important than me. It helps me to realize how precious the life of another is and how amazing it is to have this gift of taking care of something that belongs to God. I find myself awestruck by the little things that are her....her breath is always sweet, you can get lost in her navy blue eyes, and those eyes...how she smiles with them already. She is patient (thank goodness!) and she studies you with a quiet contentment and she looks like both of her sisters depending on the day. She is amazing and unique. And I think her name fits her just right. I feel the need to tell the story of her name because it in itself is as unique as God made her.

It was graduation season and Brian had been gone all day working. I had just found out that morning that I was pregnant and was anxious to tell him and trying to think of just the right way to let him know. He came home late that night and in an exhausted heap fell asleep on the sofa. My chance to make this announcement memorable was gone. Off to bed we went and I continued to think about how I was going to tell him before he went to work another graduation the next morning. I tossed and turned all night. Morning couldn't come fast enough....but it arrived, the morning sun waking Brian. He saw that I was awake and said, "I just had the coolest dream that we were pregnant and had another girl and named her.....Hunter!" I turned over to him, stunned....."We are pregnant!" I announced. We both couldn't believe what the other had just said! It sent chills up my spine as Brian recounted his dream that morning. And yes, it did take me a while to warm up to the name but I couldn't have it any other way. It was like God had announced this pregnancy for me and I couldn't ignore that. It was truly an amazing God-moment.

The story of her name always gets to me. I still can't believe that it actually happened that way...it make me think of what incredible things that the Lord has in store for her, my sweet Hunter. Our family is complete and there is a peace in that. These three little girls will bring light, laughter and beauty into our world, as well as tears, drama and chaos. I know that God will be there as we raise them and I know that his hands will never let them go and THAT peace is what keeps me sane each day. He is in control, of their name, their arrival and their life. Amen!

Ready, Set.....GO!

Of course, I can't sleep....in just a few short hours we will welcome our third beautiful little girl into our family. The house is quiet and my brain is racing with random thoughts and unfocused feelings of what is to come.

I am excited and anxious to meet sweet baby Hunter and I can't wait to see Brian holding his tiny newborn daughter in his strong arms, for the third time. And I am even more excited to experience Maddie and Ally's reaction to her. They are already making plans for her, things to teach her and games to play with her. Ally has informed me that she will teach her to blow a bubble with her gum....but only when she turns two, she says. And Maddie is writing songs to sing to Hunter when she can't fall asleep and books to read to her. They are written on her notebook paper in her own words and silly spelling and tucked away in envelopes, that she has crammed into the baby bag that we are taking to the hospital. It is all so sweet and she isn't even born yet. I can't wait to see what more these two big sisters have up their sleeves.

The time is here and I am feeling SO blessed to be at this point in my life....to experience something soon that I never imagined, being the mom of THREE girls. And to be warmed by their hugs, smothered with their kisses, and being offered up in their sweet and innocent prayers is beyond anything that I could have ever hoped for in my life. I am beyond blessed and in the quiet of this house and in the quiet of my heart I thank God, who has given me the incredible gift of little girls.

It is 12:01 a.m. and I am getting up in three and a half hours to welcome Hunter into our lives......Ready, set......GO!

Trick or Treat

My little 50's girls were in their element last week with all the Trick or Treat festivities. Any excuse to dress up is their kind of fun!

I can't believe how fast Fall is zooming past us. In no time I will be putting up the Christmas decorations! I can't wait for Thanksgiving, Christmas and then the birth of Baby #3. There is SO much to look forward to!

Fair Day 2008

Last Monday was FAIR DAY! It was so fun to experience it through the eyes of a child....

F- Fun, fun, and more FUN!

A- A LOT of sugar.

I- "I want to stay here forever!" Maddie cried!

R- Rides that make you laugh AND cry!

D- "Do we get to come back next year?"
A- Amazing oohs and aaahs where ever we turned.
Y- "Yes, yes, YES! This is the best day EVER!" Ally exclaimed.


The excitement that they felt could not be contained. The energy and excitement they felt would bounce back and forth between them until you couldn't help but feel the child-like wonder yourself. They were on a natural high of cotton candy, games, prizes won, rides and face painting- tell me what more could a little one imagine!
This WAS the best day ever!

It is hard to describe the amount of fun the girls had at the fair. For Maddie, this was her 2nd time and she knew a little of what to expect but for Ally, it was ALL new for her and her eyes were huge the whole time, taking it all in. Including the rides. A few tears fell from her big eyes after she thought she really wanted to ride like Maddie and then when it actually happened....she had changed her mind....poor thing!

But then there were the rides that KEPT a smile on her face.....And it all ended with sopping wet feet that looked like really pale "old man" feet! They were the funniest looking feet that I have ever seen and when we saw them on the train ride home, it sent us all into uncontrollable giggles. Again, poor Ally!
It was a really fun day! I loved to be able to take both Maddie and Ally and spend this fun time with them before life gets busy with a new little one. And I am so glad that they both showed me how to experience it all through the eyes of a child.....what could be better!

In an Instant

Isn't it amazing how God can change our life in an instant....

One minute we are blessed with TWO beautiful girls and the next minute we find out that we are actually blessed with THREE!! Yes, THREE! Who knew that all of our three bedrooms upstairs would be filled with light pinks and dark pinks and hot pinks (and yes, Maddie, LIGHT GREEN too!)



As I checked on the girls tonight as they were sleeping, one of my favorite parts of the day, I couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to make my "rounds" to the three bedrooms instead of just the two....This is the time of night that my heart just swells with love and amazing contentment as I looked at their sleeping faces cuddled up under their blankets, stuffed poodles, raccoons and kitties, beautifully tranquil in their "warm spots." They are safe and calm and peaceful and they are the most beautiful that I have ever seen them. And to know that I will have one more incredible face to stare at is an unbelievable thought to me. I can't wait to experience my bed time routine with yet ANOTHER precious GIRL.

It is getting late and I am mentally running through my checklist before bed....lunches are packed, clothes are laid out, backpacks are accounted for and all THREE of our girls are tucked safe in their "warm spots"....check, check, check, and CHECK! In an instant, it went from two to three and I have never been happier!