Happy 2nd Birthday, Andrew!!

We celebrated our sweet monkey's 2nd birthday on February 23rd.  He loved the cake balls that Aunt Kate made him while she was visiting!

We made a trip to the local Aquarium and to the Rainforest Cafe.  It was all fun and games until he got a bloody nose on the play place!

He had has 2 year check up yesterday and he is 35" tall and 27 pounds.  This sweet boy makes me laugh everyday!  He is so silly and loves to play with his brother and sister.  He is talking up a storm and will repeat anything.  He loves to eat 'dot dogs', pizza, goldfish, 'Chick-a-fla', 'gummy things', milk, and spaghetti.  He loves Buzz Lightyear, cars, Mickey Mouse, and trains.  He has to end his day sitting in his daddies lap watching a few minutes of tv.  He will melt your heart with his 'love eyes' and sweet kisses.

Happy Birthday, Andrew Thomas!

We love you more than words!

Sweet Bass

This is Bass, our sweet 8 year old yellow lab.

He had to have some surgery this week to remove a mast cell tumor.  He is recovering GREAT and we are praying for good results from the biopsy.  We have been loving on him lots!  He had to wear a cone for a few days after the surgery.  As sad as it is, it is also kind of funny. 

And... Andrew has had quite a fun time playing with it!

Lunch with Daddy!!

One of the reasons we chose the house we are living in here in Texas is because it is so close to Thad's office (6 miles!!).  In Marietta he had a 35+ mile commute around 285 to Stone Mountain.  Needless to say we never were able to just stop by his office for a visit... but now we can!!  Last Monday, the kids were out of school so we got to go see Daddy's office and he took us out to lunch!  Just another confirmation that we made the right choice for our family!

Exploring!

While my mom and dad were still here Thad and I took a quick trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards to go to Billy Bob's Texas.  It is the worlds largest honky tonk complete with an indoor rodeo!  It was very exciting to watch, but really scary!

Thad is a BIG Willie Nelson fan and he was playing, so a trip was necessary (especially with babysitters here!)  We have now seen Willie at a Country Club in Dublin, Ireland, at Red Rocks in Colorado, and at Billy Bob's... not to mention every time he was in Auburn!

We spent the day this past Saturday exploring our new town.  There was a lot to be seen!  Grapevine Lake is so close to us and there are hiking/biking trails and camping spots.  I am sure there will be some overnight campouts in the near future!

It's a good thing we had AG and her map or we might still be lost!!

The kids had a chance to run around the football field at Flower Mound High School.  They LOVED it!  The stadium is huge and we are already getting pumped for the fall!  I knew that football was big here, but I realized just how big when they kept announcing the score of the Greenbay/NY game over the loudspeaker at the grocery store!

We ended our day of exploration with some yummy Mexican food (we may all turn into tacos before too long so hurry up and come visit us!)

Texas Bound!

Well...  It has only been 19 months since my last blog post...  better late than never!  I figured that now is as good a time as any to get this thing back up and running again, especially since our family and friends are a few states away.

We've been here for almost 2 weeks now and things are going very well.  Mom and Dad made the ride across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and into Texas with us.  Having them here for the first week was awesome!  We were able to get so much stuff done around the house.  I am pretty sure that if they had not been here we would be sitting on boxes all over this place, but instead, everything is unpacked, put away in it's place, hung on the wall, and ready for us to enjoy!  I don't think they will every know how grateful we are for their help.

Thad is LOVING his job.  It has been so awesome to have him home every night.  Most nights he has been home by 5:15 (one day he was home at 3:45 and I almost had a heart attack because I was sure someone was breaking into our house!).  The 6 mile commute is making for one happy daddy/husband!  The work environment at this new job is so different (good different) than his old job and it really shows.

Will is enjoying his new school.  He is such an adaptable kid which is a great gift.  His mind does not stop though, which is exhausting (especially for those of us who are having to answer his 642 questions per day).  He stayed up until midnight Monday night to watch Alabama win the National Championship.  If you would like a play by play, just ask him...he will give it to you with crazy accuracy!

Annie Gray started at her new preschool yesterday and did great!  She walked right in and wasn't going to look back... her teacher had to ask her to come and give me a goodbye kiss.  This was such a relief... We were sure that she was going to have a very hard time with the changes.  I guess this was just another proof that God's hand is covering us every step of the way!

Stinker pants is just that... a stinker pants.  He is testing me constantly, which I love and drives me crazy at the same time  As I type this, he is smooshing Fruit Loops into the carpet and proclaiming, "a MESS!!" I am pretty sure if he would sleep through the night things would be a lot easier!  It is hard to believe that he will be 2 next month.  The last blog entry is about his time in the hospital.  Thankfully, God helps us to forget those moments that are so difficult while we are living them.

That is one thing that comforts me during this move.  God's conformations have been amazing and with us every step of the way.  As much as we will (and already do) miss our friends and family, we know that His plan is much greater than ours and that the things He has in store for us here are beyond our wildest dreams!  Thank you, to all of you who have encouraged us and prayed for us along the way (keep 'em coming!)

Now... my goal is to keep this blog updated in 2012 (and I don't mean just this once), but I need your help, encouragement and reminders!!

The first few weeks of Andrew's sweet life were a bit hectic! We came home from the hospital on Friday and Thad had to take Will and Annie Gray to the doctor... they both had pink eye. I had to take Andrew to the pediatrician Monday and Wednesday for weight and billy rubin checks (all ok). Then Friday, after a week of being up multiple times during the night with the baby, I was back at the pediatrician with Annie Gray, then a quick visit to the hospital for x-rays... pneumonia. She went and stayed with GiGi and GaGa so that the baby wouldn't get sick... well that didn't work as planned. Andrew started coughing and I was at the pediatrician's office with him on Wednesday. His blood oxygen levels were low (80%s)so they sent me to the Scottish Rite emergency room. Thank God my mom and dad were with me! I had to call Thad in Florida to have him come home. It was very scary having this precious 2 week old in the ER. After a few hours of x-rays, tests and observation they sent us home and said he had a cold. When Dr. Colon called that evening to check on him, she was not very happy. Needless to say, I was back at her office on Friday. He had a low fever and was coughing to the point that he was turning purple and having a hard time catching his breath and his blood oxygen was very low again (this time it was in the 70%s). This time she sent me to Kennestone ER since she knew that Aunt Manny worked there. They treated him so wonderfully. He had to have blood drawn, more x-rays, urine samples and a spinal. After 5 hours they determined that he had RSV and sent us (by ambulance) back to Scottish Rite. My sweet baby was on oxygen for 6 days. They did breathing treatments and suctioned him out a couple of times every day. Thanks to the power of Facebook we had lots of dear people praying for him. In God's time Andrew improved and was able to go through the night with out needing oxygen to keep his blood oxygen level in the 90s. It was so comforting and encouraging knowing how many people were praying for his healing. He is doing wonderfully now!! He never even needed to have breathing treatments outside of the hospital. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

At home before the sickness set in!

It was so hard (physically and emotionally) to hold him with the IV, oxygen tubes, and monitors. All I could do was just hold his sweet body and pray.

I stayed at the hospital with him every night. My parents were a huge help with Will and Annie Gray. They would come and see Andrew in the morning and then go get the kids so that Thad could spend time in the hospital with Andrew and me. Thad's mom came over and helped with the kids later in the week also. It is such a blessing to have such amazing family and friends that live so close.

Andrew Thomas Penuel

Born February 23, 2010 weighing 7 pounds 5 1/2 ounces and 18 inches long.

Very proud big brother and big sister!!