Wesley's Birthday Party!

These are the pictures that were taken with our camera...before it bit the dust....GRRRR...more on that later....but thankfully I thought ahead and had family members also bring their cameras, and I know several pics were taken on our behalf...THANK YOU...but of course I forgot to snatch them off the cameras while they were here...so as soon as I can get my hands on them...we will post those too!

Daddy set the table for the celebration! I found all these decorations and party supplies at DOLLAR TREE! Woohoo!

at first I was going to go with a "jungle theme" to use some elephants in honor of papa john (like Rachel did for Eden's party) but I just didnt have the brain cells to come up with a cute idea for the cake/cupcakes....and when I remembered this sports theme was available at Dollar tree....this is what we came up with...I'm very pleased! Daddy was able to freehand the soccer balls and footballs and basketballs...and I'm impressed that we figured out how to tint white icing to be orange and BROWN...not chocolate...but brown...

Daddy even made a Birthday table runner...I accuse him all the time of being on pinterest....but he's not...he's just cute and creative!

bringing in the cakes and candles for the 2 birthday honorees...Wesley and his birthday buddy Auntie Rachel (the day before)....I know how special it made me feel to have a surprise birthday moment at Eden's party, so I wanted to be sure to make sure we did the same for her...

opening gifts

we got a family membership to the Nashville ZOO from Granny Franny and the Dudugjians! I am SO excited! What a great place to go with grandparents and friends....I know we have a lot of friends from Nashville who are members...playdate anyone? :)
maybe you can give me pointers about how not to freak out when my kid disappears in that awesome and amazing playground....

the Elmo card was a hit!

sweet girls!

sporty baseball themed stuff from Mommie and Daddy

he is so excited!

He got some other awesome gifts...but I guess our camera gave up the ghost before we could get pics of those...more to come, PROMISE!!!

I also just want to share....2 years ago on this day was probably the worst day of my life...it was the day that Wesley "crashed" in the Baptist Hospital NICU and had to be transported to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital....it was so sad, and so scary, so many tears and prayers and sleepless nights and scary medical terms and procedures surround our memories of his birth....so I am so SO thankful to be building happy joyful memories on top of the memories of those scary days...this day was one of those happy joyful days! 2 years is not a long time...at all...and it was so hard to hope back then that he would be so happy and healthy and strong and smart and energetic...I'm just amazed at all that has happened in the past 2 years, both good and bad....and most of all I'm thankful that he is here to share it all with us!  His body still carries some scars from his time in the NICU, and our hearts and minds still carry some scars too....but Thank you Jesus...Wesley Alexander (the great) is still here!

Wesley turned TWO!!!

Oh my goodness....really? REALLY?

My baby is TWO!

I caught myself referring to him as "The Baby" as in "Someone go get the baby up from his nap"...but I know that he's not an actual BABY anymore...good luck getting me to give up on calling him that...pretty sure I didnt stop referring to Jack as a BABY until he got a baby brother...and since there are NO current plans for that to happen, I'm not sure I can give up that term for Wesley anytime soon!

oh.my.goodness! So big and so gorgeous...and handsome...

I dont know WHY I always end up making carrot cake for their bday cakes....I just do...maybe it's because it's an awesome recipe...mostly I think it's just to make myself feel better...I figure it's got CARROTS....and PINEAPPLE....and RAISINS....that's practically a salad, right? My other fall back is Pineapple Upside down cake, or maybe fruit pizza...
anyway, here he is going in for a bite...

not sure WHY he chose to eat it this way....sure made us laugh!

and isn't he pleased with himself?

love this face!

as I mentioned in an earlier post, Jack has been working hard to earn and save his money, and he was super excited to get to pick out and purchase Wesley's birthday gift with his OWN MONEY...and still have some left over to get himself a transformer and some gummies.
He chose to get Wesley his VERY OWN Thomas playset! Woohoo! We love Thomas around here!

man, I love this picture...Wesley's face is just priceless....and how funny is it that their favorite gift of the night is the one I got from the $1 bins at walmart...I knew Wesley would love the microphone!!

playing with his Goofy monster truck....this child is 150% BOY!



allow me to brag for just a minute....Wesley has been learning letters...not sure where or how since I really havent had much of a chance to teach him...maybe from Sesame street or his Leapfrog toys...but the boy is learning them...its really cute to hear him in the car calling out letters he sees on signs or on our shirts (hes learning a lot of the letters in VANDERBILT), or on household appliances or even in the books he is looking at...I mean READING...my boys are so smart. These are the letters he knew the morning of his birthday...he's not 100% consistent with knowing his letters 100% of the time...sometimes he knows a few more than this...sometimes he doesnt remember all of these...the other day he got a few right, and then for the last letter he stopped, thought about it, and declared that the letters name was "ummm....PUPPY" ....oh my! That humbled this proud mommie just a little bit! Love this boy!



Birthday Messages

It was my birthday a few days ago and I got the cutest message from Julia and it inspired me to have the boys send birthday messages to our loved ones. I adore these crazy kids!

This is my birthday card from the boys. I am beginning to understand that these silly cards are just as much for the kids as  for the recipient. This card cracks me up and we have been singing this song over and over the past few days! I cant complain, the cards we picked out for Josh's birthday were just as silly!

Good bye, Papa John

Saturday, May 28 was a sad day for our family, Papa John, Mommie's Daddy, passed away from a heart attack. I can't even begin to tell you what a hole this has left in my heart, especially when I think about how young he was, how young I am, and how much I will miss him and how much my boys will miss out not knowing their Papa John.

He was such a loving Daddy, who made many sacrifices for those he loved. When he was transferred to DC for a while for his job, instead of uprooting his family, he traveled back and forth on the weekends so our lives could stay as normal as possible. It was with all this traveling that we believe started off his health issues that plagued him for the last 12 years or so. Healthwise, his life (and our lives) have been one roller coaster ride after another with heart attacks, mini strokes, heart surgeries, neuropathy, and a host of other things that we dont even fully understand. We often wondered why God kept "ping-ponging" him back to us....mostly we were just thankful for a little more time with him. He always bounced back and was eager to start caring for his family again. We will miss you so much Papa John. Rest assured we will continue to tell stories and share pictures of you with our boys so your memory will live on.

Papa John holding his first grandbaby for the first time!
I remember when we told him he was going to become a grandfather, he teared up from happiness. No matter how much he tried to play the tough guy, he also teared up more than his fair share!

Feeding Jack. It surprised me to see him so comfortable and good with babies, even though I know he did all this stuff for me and my siblings...I was just not old enough to remember it!

look at that pride!

eating out with Papa John!

Jack's first birthday party....the only one that Papa John or Ma Fisher were able to attend...makes it extra special!

we made a special trip in to see Papa John and Mimi at church to bring him some cheer!

I really love this picture....2 mothers and 2 sons!

out to eat at one of Papa John's favorite places, the Maxwell House buffet restaurant. The school I worked at was really close to Papa John's officed and he would come over often to visit with me and my class, he worked hard to get his office to participate as one of our "Pencil Partners" and on my inservice days I would often meet him for lunch at the Maxwell House.

tailgating at one of Papa John's favorite places....Vanderbilt Football Stadium!

inciting a love of reading in my little guy...just like he did with me...and our hard work came through...Jack LOVES LOVES LOVES to read (independently, I might add)! It's finally starting to rub off on Wesley too...he will grab a book and run over to a chair and pat it wanting me to sit down to read to him. It makes my heart happy.

Papa John made a special trip up to Cookeville to see us. He took us to eat at Ruby Tuesdays and kept Jack entertained while we waited for our table.

Pretty sure they were reading to each other here!

Papa John and Mimi with their favorite grandsons!

Wesley and his Papa John

and now full circle...Jack is reading to Papa John!

I know this isnt a GREAT picture of Papa John, but the pic makes me laugh! This was at Christmas time and the hosts announced "come and get it" and Wesley grabbed his plate and waited in line right next to Papa John...he was ready to EAT!

I know these pics are super out of order! This is Papa John with Jack, I believe it is thanksgiving just before Jack turned 1.

Wesley is a 6 or 7 months old. For various reasons we weren't able to get together for Christmas that year with the Fisher family, so we gathered with Ma and Papa John a month or so later.  I just love this picture!

this is almost exactly a year later from the above picture...the evening after Ma Fisher's funeral when almost all of the Fisher family were gathered for dinner. It was the first and last time that all the kids and all the grandkids were together...minus one son-in-law. It was a special time.

There were several pictures taken in the days around Papa John's passing and services, once I get them I'll post those too. I know that he enjoyed checking the blog, at one point when I got on his computer our blog was his "homepage" and the first thing he checked everytime he got online.
Please pray for our family as we process this loss, that we will work through our grief, grow closer to each other and to the Lord, and eventually heal and be able to remember the good times without feeling sad.

Beachside photo session

see, after sifting through a whole lotta silly pictures, we really got some great ones too! Enjoy!