our buddy walk...finally!

i know i said i would post some pics from our buddy walk about a month ago.....but better late than never, right? it was our magpie's first buddy walk here in nashville,tn and it was truly a beautiful day. not only was the weather amazing...like 75 degrees and sunny, but just celebrating the love we have for our girl and all the others blessed with that magic chromosome :) i did not try to get together a big team since this was her first year we really wanted to go and see really just what it was all about . it was really just a TON of people (they said this year was the biggest ever with over 2,000 people registered!) there to walk in celebration of all of these sweet souls. they did also have a few blow up jumpy things ...(that the big sisters liked of course) and a fun fifties kinda band. and everybody had huge picnics set up to feed their 'team'... luckily we carried a picnic for our smallish team of 9 because we thought there might be food there, but the only food was cotton candy and popcorn! but we had a great time and got to talk to other families and will definitely be doing it next year and taking along several more of miss maggie's adoring fans now that we know what it is all about :) so on with the pics....



miss maggie ready to 'walk'...or actually be pushed in her comfy stroller like the little princess that she is :)



our team there to show love and support for our girl



little miss limber...this is how she always rides in her stroller, sits in her highchair, sleeps...



mag's sign that me and the big sisters made



miss maggie getting her medal at the finish line from a member of the vanderbilt girl's basketball team



the beautiful centennial park where the walk was held



our girl signing 'eat' as soon as she saw the food coming out :)



the big sisters had to make a leaf pile to jump in before we left...and i wasn't sure how miss maggie would feel about the crinkly leaves, but she LOVED it!



miss emme grace observing the ducks that were also enjoying the beautiful day ...and all of the extra people there to feed them :)



rayley beth..the one who can ALWAYS make her baby sister laugh and laugh ...



our sweet and funny girl :)


the view out our den windows the morning of the walk...talk about a wonderful way to start a wonderful day :)

so it really was an amazing thing to be a part of...yet another thing to be grateful for that we may have never gotten to experience had it not been for our sweet maggie. you could literally feel all of the love that all of the parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters and friends have for all of these sweet angels that bless us with that little bit of magic ;)

thankful for...

my jeffrey.

i am thankful that 11 years ago due to the heavy persuasion of his cousins and my brother-in-law he went on that blind date. i remember my brother-in-law....
'you both love this and you have so much in common...you guys are perfect for each other'

and he was so right.

i am thankful i was able to change the mind of a 28 year old saying he did not want to get married till he was 40 into marrying me a mere 9 months later at the ripe old age of 29.

because i knew after just a few dates i had to marry this man. when i saw the way he still greeted his grandmama with a kiss on the cheek...the way he treated his mom and sister with such love and respect...the way he was with his nephews. it was so easy to see him as a father and a husband.

i am thankful he is the kind of man that asked my parents permission before we all went to charleston and he got down on one knee on a pier over the beautiful atlantic ocean and asked me to be his wife.



in charleston...when he asked me to marry him. i could not stop smiling... it was physically impossible! this pic was taken by my sister susie, thank you so much sweet su-su for capturing a little piece of this wonderful time with this great shot :)



i am thankful that he calls me baby doll and pretty girl and a handful of other names...none of which are patsy. i have probably heard him call me patsy maybe a dozen times in 11 years...and i love that.

i am thankful for our small wedding 10 years ago in my parents backyard. it was perfect with just our family and close friends. and i remember i was like crazy happy all day. i was so excited to be his wife, to wake up with him every morning, to start our forever together.

i am thankful for the poem he read to me at our wedding that micah and jana had framed for us that hangs in our bedroom ....that i try to read everyday to remind myself just how lucky i am.






i am thankful how he now makes so many sacrifices for me to be a stay at home mom...because even though it is the hardest job it is the BEST job and i feel so blessed to be with my girls and watch them grow...because it goes by too fast and i don't want to miss a thing.


i am thankful for how he loves our girls. he truly was meant to be the daddy of girls. i love to watch him love them. with all of his kisses and hugs and bedtime stories he makes up for rayley beth about 'beauty the great'...and all of the other girly things he has to do.

he is the only man in a house with 4 girls...
(well actually 5 if you count our golden retriever ellie who is also a girl)...
but instead of complaining about anything he just says he is the luckiest guy in the world to be living with 4 beautiful girls that love him so much.

i am thankful the morning after maggie was born he started talking about all of the positive and none of the negative...how lucky we were we may never have to be empty nesters. how she would bring our family even closer together. how he would take her on father-daughter dates if she saw her sisters going on dates and she felt left out....

that day i fell even more in love with him...which i honestly did not know was possible.

i am thankful he makes it so easy to still be as madly in love as i was when we married ten years ago. that there are still times i look at him and can't stop smiling. because he is that good. he is so good i thought men like him did not exist...but they do and he is and i feel truly blessed to be lucky enough to be his wife.

i am thankful that HE found jeffrey for me...because he truly is my answered prayer. and i cannot wait to spend forever with this wonderful man who has given me my three beautiful girls and so much more happiness and love and security than i ever knew possible...yes, i am so very thankful.