singing...

so i tried to get trace to sing... of course he didn't stay focused for very long. but here's what i got! it starts out as jesus loves me then he makes a smooth transistion to a few other songs :) he is quite the singer, let me tell you! i hope to capture a few more performances and let you hear more. but for now... give it up for trace carter whitt! (hope this link works... let me know if it doesn't!)

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=54733356

OH Happy Day!

THE WHOLE FAMILY!

well i made it thru my first week back at work- PTL! i actually only worked 4 days and took a vacation day on friday, and it was so nice to be off for 3 days with the family! we had a great weekend... friday we went to the zoo! it was trace's first trip there and he had a blast. lucas slept thru most of it, but that's ok! we went with mandy and bobby and their kids, jayzk and maddie-grace. the boys played great together and loved the animals. i was a little disappointed in the zoo but it's been a while since i've been. what i missed most were the elephants, what's a zoo without elephants? we still had fun though... the monkeys were def. my FAV! they were so cute and funny! after the zoo we ate at la paz, yummy!

saturday we had a semi lazy day which was nice to be able to just chill and rest a little! i got a pedicure while nate watched the boys- thanks baby! and then we watched a little basketball, GO DUKE! and of course what's a saturday without a trip to wally world? lol.

then sunday was a great day too. we went to church and then to meme's for lunch with the whole family! YES- all 6 grandbabies were finally together! i love the pic up top of everyone... we all have a baby in our lap :) and the one below with the kiddos- god has truly blessed our family! everyone is happy and healthy and we couldn't ask for anything else.

hope you enjoy the pics!

All 6 babies! (in order from L-R) Caden, Kenley, Lucas, Mason, Trace and Laura Grace

Lucas and Mason- Best Buddies!

(I LOVE Mason's outfit- his shirt says "I am a really BIG deal!" AND HE IS! God is so good and we are so thankful that Mason is home and healthy now! oh, and btw, Lucas has the same outfit and he's a big deal too :) Don't you think they kinda look alike??

Zoo Pics...

( LOVE this pic of me and nate!)

trace loved the carousel but cried so hard when we had to get off! :(

A few more of Lucas...

oh yeah... one more thing! has anyone heard the song "Happy Day" by Fee? it is a great praise and worship song and trace LOVES IT! every time we get in the van or the truck he says "happy day mama!" and we play the song over, and over, and over until we get to where we are going. i know trace is so young but it makes me so happy and just fills my heart with joy when i hear him praying and singing bible songs... when we say our prayers at nite he goes thru the list of who he is thankful for. i say thank you god for ______ and he almost always says ummmm "MAMA" first, and he usually repeats my name at least 10 more times. i love it! NOW that just melts my heart. oh yeah, back to him singing. he sings lots of church songs, like "i will be with you always" that he learned from caden and bible study, and of course "jesus loves me." those are kid songs. but happy day is a grown up song and he knows almost every word! i am gonna try and get him to sing it and record it... but we know kids don't always perform when or how we want them to! he esp. loves the chorus and it goes like this... "OH happy day, happy day, you wash my sin away. OH happy day, happy day, i'll never be the same. oh no, forever i am changed. " here is a link to the song by Fee, if you haven't heard it- go listen! http://www.ilike.com/artist/Fee/track/Happy+Day

just wanted to end with that lil story... and these pics of my sweet boys smiling. looks like they are having a happy day :)

whew

quick post...

first of all MASON IS HOME! praise god for healing my nephew. i am so excited for rach, d, and kenley to finally have their new lil man home with them! he will have to meet with a physical therapist and neurologist some but we believe they will see god has healed him 100%!

second of all... i started back to work this week. it has been ok, i'm def. staying busy! i miss my boys but know they are in good hands. i am EXHAUSTED though. i can barely keep my eyes open and find myself nodding off some thru out the day (let's hope noone else finds me doing this! ha.) nate says i will get used to the sleep deprivation and learn to work thru it. oh i hope it gets easier soon.

and last but so not least... don't you LOVE these pics of lucas? meme kept him one day last week and of course had the best time taking these pics of my sweet boy. look how much he has grown! he is getting cuter by the day!

PRAISING GOD!

my lil sweet cheeks lucas

Psalm 136:1 "give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever."

just wanted to let everyone know that mason's tests came back clear today... everything looks good and he is doing great! i just cried when i heard the news. it is the news we were wanting to hear, hoping to hear, PRAYING to hear, and it's what we heard. PRAISE GOD!!!!! the EEG and MRI both came back clear. we praise god for hearing our prayers and touching mason's little body. rach and d are able to hold him now and i know it's got to be the sweetest feeling in the world! mason is unhooked from everything except a new medicine they have started to help dry his lungs. so we continue to pray for his lungs to clear and for him to keep getting good reports. please keep praying for rach and d as well. they have stayed so strong and i know the lord has helped them thru the past week but they are so exhausted. we pray mason comes home soon and they can all go home as a family. thank you so much to everyone who has prayed for this sweet baby. we appreciate it more than you'll ever know. god has worked so many miracles in mason's life and we continue to ask for more blessings!

now an update on MY BOYS! both have been to the dr this week for well visits... trace went for his 2 yr check up and weighs 24 lbs 2 oz and is 34 1/2 in long. he is only in the 8th% for weight but 40th% for height. so yeah, he's tall and skinny :) but he got a great report! lucas went for his 4 week visit. even though he's almost 6 weeks, he had to wait til his cough and cold went away for his one month well visit. he weighs 10 lbs 5 oz and is 22 in long. growing like a weed! he's close to the 50th% all around and is also very healthy!

we are so thankful for our boys and their good health. god is so good to our family and we give him all praise and glory for the blessings he has given us!

page stopped by for a short visit yesterday and took these pics with her new camera... i think they are so cute!

anna in her tap shoes playing b-ball with trace :) so funny

mary and lucas... he smiled at her!

trace and mary... look at his baby blues!

my lil man!

birthday boy!

happy birthday my sweet trace carter!

i can not believe my baby boy is 2.

well first of all, thanks to everyone for the prayers the past few weeks for us. i am FINALLY well, THANK GOD!!!! i have felt so good the past few days. i am so glad to be well again, but at the same time, it makes me sad for the weeks i've been sick and the times i've missed with my boys. but we will not dwell on the past. again, i feel great and i could not be happier.

so back to trace's birthday... i think he had a great birthday weekend!! we had his party at chick-fil-a on saturday with a few family and friends. i was super stressed about planning his party the past few weeks and with me having been so sick, so we had it at chick-fil-a! it went great and i have to say i managed to keep it all together :) but truth is, it's hard being the birthday boy's mom! i was pulled in a million directions but tried to keep smiling. ha. trace had a blast, loved his cars cake that that he has been talking about for weeks, and got tons of great presents. we had birthday pancakes on sunday and let trace blow out his candles again. he has sung happy birthday to himself so many times this weekend, it's so cute! here are some pics from the party and a few from the past few weeks. they posted backwards for some reason but oh well... i'm too tired to try and fix them. i love my trace car, he is so special to us.

"thank you god for the blessing you have given us with our first son. his laughter and joy are contageous and his sweet spirit is like no other. i can not imagine life without him and we thank you father for trusting us to raise him. please help us be godly parents and we pray trace comes to know you at an early age and you watch over him and use him for your glory!"

trace and daddy

so silly

i love him!

i had to put this one of lucas! isn't he big? 5 weeks!

yay for basketballs, big wheels, and cars books!

trace loves playing with his old baby toys now that lucas is here...

could he be any happier?

More on Mason...

sorry i have not updated lately... the days have started to run together, and they have been full of ups and downs. the latest news is this: his heart looked GREAT from the test results a few days ago. PTL for that!! mason has been taken off of the cooling blanket and they have warmed him back up. they want to let his body temp stay normal for a little while before putting him under the therapy lights for the fluid on his lungs. please pray the fluid dries up, the lung x-ray today shows more fluid than yesterday... and he now weighs 8 lbs 11 oz. but that's not really good b/c it is b/c of the fluid. (he weighed 8 lb 6 oz at birth AND was 22 in! he's a big boy!!) they have had to give him 2 blood transfusions b/c his BP has dropped... he was taken off the oxygen one day but had to go back on it later that nite b/c he was having trouble breathing on his own. the IV that was in his poor little head collapsed, so they will put in a pick (sp?) line somewhere else. it kinda seems we will get some good news and feel he is moving forward, only then to be followed by a step back, but i know that is the way it will be for a little while. they say he will probably get worse before he gets better. he is supposed to have an EEG on monday and an MRI on tuesday. please pray for these tests to reveal NO brain damage! rach and d seem to be handling everthing well, all things considered. they are staying in the inn by the NICI for a few days so they don't have to drive back and forth from odenville several times a day to see mason. god is def answering prayers, even though there have been a few setbacks we praise him for the baby steps that are being made each day. there are sooo many ppl praying and we are so humbled by the churches and ppl that we don't even know that are praying for sweet mason. god is also moving in rach and d... i know that he is softening d's heart b/c we already see ways that he has changed thru this all. we don't know the purpose or reason that mason is sick, but if one life is changed thru it, we will praise him. he is already being glorified thru baby mason and his story. please please please continue to lift up mason and his parents, as well as the whole family. the grandparents are exhausted, from working everyday, taking kenley up to hospital at nite (visiting hours for them are 8-9 PM, how awful!), then doing it all over again. pray for strength, rest, and peace for everyone. thank you again for the prayers, we know god has a great plan for mason. romans 8:28 oh yeah, doesn't he look soooo good in the pic? sweet boy! god is so good!

Baby Mason

Praise God! Mason received a good report from the cardiologist yesterday. His heart
is great, and is not causing the cloudy lungs. They feel like he did breath
in amniotic fluid, and that it will dry up or be drained off.

He has been dropped to only 30% oxygen, and will meet with the neurologist
today sometime. Because of the lethargy he experienced after birth, they are
being very cautious regarding brain injury or damage. They are dropping his body
temp to 92 degrees for the next 3 days to prevent/reduce any damage.

God has already been so faithful. Please pray it continues!

Only parents and grandparents can visit lil Mason in the NICU so I haven't seen him yet, but here is a pic that Meme took. Look at this sweet boy! I can't wait to love on him!

Urgent Prayer Request

Please pray for Mason Bowling, my nephew (Nate's sister Rachel and Dalton's baby) who was born this morning. He has some health problems and is in the NICU at St. Vincents. Tests are being done right now to try and determine the extent of them. I know that his lungs are cloudy which could mean several different things. The doctors mentioned there could be possible heart and maybe even neurological damage. Rachel and Dalton, Mason's parents, will be meeting with the cardiologist and neurologist later today. The doctors plan to run several more tests, including an echocardiogram. This test needs to come back clear!!!!! Please pray right now for wisdom and guidance for the doctors that are treating Mason. We are asking God for a complete healing for baby Mason, that the Lord will touch his body and make him well. Also pray for peace and understanding for the whole family.
We appreciate your prayers... though we do not understand what is going on or why, we know that God has a great plan and is in control.
Please feel free to re-post or pass this prayer request on to anyone you know that will pray for Mason. I will update as soon as we know something. Thanks