Touchdown!

Jordan is playing flag football this year and he is having so much fun. His team is really good. They have only had 3 games so far, but they have won every one of them! At the last game Jordan actually scored a TOUCHDOWN and the extra point. Unfortunately, Julia and I couldn't go to that game so we missed it! I hope he has another chance to run the ball again so we can see it! Here are a few pictures of his team in action!

She's Walking!

BREAST CANCER 3-DAY

My mom and Jamie spent the last three days doing the 60-mile walk for breast cancer.  What an amazing journey they endured and we are so proud of them.  Despite blisters, fatigue and aching muscles, they walked the entire 60 miles in just three days.  They spent two very cold nights in tents and showered in large trucks with all the other women.  Amazing.  I took the kids to watch them walk the final stretch and it was very emotional.  My dad and Jon Jon were there to welcome them home too.  The crowd was amazing and you could see the pride in everyone's eyes as they watched their loved ones finish the walk.  

Here's Jordan relaxing before the ceremony started.

Julia was excited to show off her walking skills too.  Not quite ready for the 3-day, but maybe in a couple years.

Julia joined in with the cheering and excitement of the crowd.

Julia and Grandpa.

Jordan got on Jon Jon's shoulders so that he could see the walkers as they passed by.

We are so proud of you Grandma and Jamie.  What amazing women you both are.

Day with Aunt Jamie

We didn't want to send Julia to Mattie's yesterday because she was running a fever. Since Jamie was in town for the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk this weekend, she agreed to keep Julia for us. It is so hard to leave your baby while you go to work, especially when she doesn't feel good. But I knew she was in good hands. Jamie sent me pictures throughout the day to ease my worries and let me know that she was okay. It was so exciting to get a new picture because I knew exactly what my little girl was doing at that moment. Below is a recap of the day that Julia spent with Aunt Jamie:

10:08 am - "She's so sweet."

11:32 am

11:50 - "Playing with her boat."


12:33 pm - "I like my sghetti mom."

2:18 pm - "Sleeping Beauty."

3:42 pm - "Your new babysitter." (Jon-Jon)

5:53 pm - "All packed and ready to go."

Despite being sick, Julia had a great day with Aunt Jamie. I wish Jamie would be our full time nanny. Thank you for taking good care of my baby girl Jamie! We are thinking about you and mom on your walk today. Wish I could be there with you! Good Luck!

Gotcha Day!

Gotcha Day is a tradition we started to celebrate the day we got Jordan. It’s kind of like a birthday because it marks the day Jordan became a part of our family. When I flew to Ohio to pick him up I didn’t know what to expect. I had only seen him a handful of times and I didn’t expect that he would remember me. I bent down and looked into his eyes and introduced myself to him. He looked up at me with a great big smile like he had known me his whole life. From that moment, I knew everything was going to be okay. We had a couple hours to kill before our return flight home to Alabama so my friend, Mike Perkins graciously let us spend the afternoon at his home with his sweet family. On the way to Mike's house Jordan exclaimed that he needed to go to the bathroom. On instinct, Mike pulled in to the nearest McDonalds so Jordan could go to the bathroom, and to our surprise, Ronald McDonald was there. They snapped a polaroid picture of Jordan and Ronald McDonald together and it was our very first picture of little Jordan.

As I look at it again today, I am taken back by how happy he was despite all that he had been through and how unsure he must have been about his future with us. What a remarkable child he is. We are so proud to have Jordan as part of our family. This Gotcha Day is especially important to us because after years of emotional struggles, we finally have legal custody of Jordan. We are so thankful that we are able to give him the security of a stable family. The years of instability and drama that he experienced prior to joining our family are over. Now he has the comfort of knowing where he is going to lay his head each night and the security of knowing that we will be here when he wakes up in the morning.

I would like to personally thank everyone who helped us when we first learned that Jordan was going to join our family. We had only a week to prepare ourselves financially, emotionally and spirituality before we had to go pick him up. We could not have done it without the overwhelming generosity of family, friends and even complete strangers. When we first decided to do this, we did it to make the life of one little boy a little easier, but we had no idea of how he would change our lives. He has opened our eyes and our hearts to a love we had not known before we met him. What a blessing it is to have Jordan in our family.

The Birthday Princess

We had Julia's birthday party on Saturday and it was tons of fun. I dressed her up in a pretty little dress and big fluffy hair bow. Keith thought the bow was absolutely ridiculous, but I thought she looked like a little princess. I was surprised at how good she did at the party. I was expecting her to be overwhelmed by all the people, but it was like she knew it was all about her. She pranced around in her little dress and made sure everyone knew that she was the Birthday Girl! I haven't had a chance to go through all my pictures, but here are a few of my favorites so far.

One Year Ago Today . . .

It was a year ago today that our precious little Julia was born. The night before she was born, I remember laying on the couch (where I slept because I was too fat to be comfortable anywhere else!) and I remember holding my belly and talking to her and telling her how I couldn't wait to finally meet her. I remember falling asleep with the comfort that I only had a week left before she was here.  I woke up a few hours later with the worst stomach cramps I had ever experienced. Of course, I had no idea I was in labor because it felt nothing like I had heard about in the classes or read about in the books. I just thought I had eaten something that didn't settle well. I never went back to sleep that night - I just laid awake oblivious to the fact that I was in labor and would be holding my sweet little girl in just a few hours. When Keith woke up to get ready for work, I told him that I was having cramps, but I didn't think I was in labor or anything. I took a bath and helped Jordan get ready for school. I was hurting pretty bad when Keith left for work, but I told him to go ahead and go to work and I would call him if I thought I needed to go to the hospital. At this point I still wasn't certain that I was in labor. We had been told in the childbirth classes that labor lasted many hours, especially if it was your first born. They warned against going to the hospital too soon and being told to go home. Plus, they told us that first babies usually come late - not early and our due date was November 11th. With those "facts" combined, I didn't think this could possibly be the real thing. I wasn't even feeling 'contractions' as I had imagined them. So Keith went on to work, but before he even got to the office, I called and told him we needed to go to the hospital. By the time he got back home to pick me up, I was doubled over on the floor and in severe pain. I started counting the time between contractions and realized pretty quickly that maybe I should have started counting hours ago. By the time we got to the hospital, my contractions were less than a minute apart. We signed in at the hospital at 8:50.  I was shocked to learn that I was too far along to have an epidural. A sense of terror rushed through my body when I heard those words.  What?  No epidural? I remember thinking that I just wasn't going to do it if I couldn't have an epidural.  But Julia had other plans.  An hour after we walked into the hospital I was holding my precious little girl for the first time. 

The first time I saw Julia was from across the room. They laid her on the scale and I remember just staring at her while she was staring back at me, both of us completely silent. Despite all the confusion going on in the room around us, we were fixated on each other. We had both just gone through a tramatic experience and neither of us knew what quite to expect next.

This is my very first image of Julia.  I will never forget that moment when our eyes first met.

Within a matter of moments, they laid her on my chest and I held my daughter in my arms for the very first time. It was the most beautiful and unforgetable moment of my life. Feeling her warm tiny body next to mine was the most comfortable feeling.

Daddy finally got to hold his little girl for the first time. She looked so tiny in his big, strong, loving arms. He fell in love with his little girl the moment he laid eyes on her. You can see the love and pride on his face as he looks at her.

And then it was time for the grandmas to have their turn. When they arrived at the hospital, Keith met them in the hallway and proudly began showing them pictures on our camera. My mom was so confused and didn't understand why he had been taking pictures of me in labor, but as soon as they saw the pictures, they were shocked to discover that little Julia was already here.

I have never seen a more proud and loving big brother. Jordan hugged and kissed on his baby sister from the day he first met her and has been taking good care of her ever since. He loves her so much and is so proud to have her join our family.

November 2, 2007 is a day that changed our lives forever.  We are so blessed to have little Julia Madison Skeen in our family.  Happy Birthday my little angel.