Here's My Proof...

EVERYONE has always said that Noah (and now Collier) look JUST like their daddy. And people that know my dad say that Noah and Collier look like him, however, I have never gotten any credit for my boys and their looks. The only thing I can take credit for is Noah's curly hair and even my father-in-law tries to steal the credit on that one. We've even been told that they have "Brink earlobes!" What the heck?!? Jamie and I got a kick out that. The funny thing is that even Jamie doesn't think the boys look like him... and especially not like his baby pictures. I actually would love for my boys to grow up looking like their daddy because I obviously think he's one good-looking man! Anyways, I've always just gone along with it because I didn't think they looked like me either so I assumed they got their looks from Jamie... until my mom found a baby picture of me that looks SO MUCH like Noah! So you tell me, do you see the resemblence?

Please overlook the fact that I look like a boy in this picture. I promise I normally was dressed like a girl! :) And, no, my dad didn't wear his hat sitting on top of his head like that... I had been playing with him and taking it off and putting it back on him.


{Me at 3 years old with my dad}

Two Month Checkup

Collier had his 2 month check-up this past Friday, even though he is closer to 3 months old (we had to cancel his original appointment because of the cold he had and this appointment was the soonest they could reschedule). He checked out healthy as can be and was really charming Dr. Huffman-Parker with lots of smiles, giggles and cooing. He weighed 14lbs 8oz (75%) and was 25" long (90%). She told me that I could start rice cereal at 3 months (which I thought was odd because I've always heard 4 months); however I plan to wait until 4 months. Our little man is such a joy and is the happiest baby! He smiles and "talks" to anyone that gives him attention. Life with two kids has gotten much easier these days because Collier is sleeping 8 - 9 hours at night (10 - 6/7ish) and is finally taking better naps (some days). I finally feel like life is back to normal and we are out of the hard newborn stage. Last Monday evening, we were doing tummy time and he rolled over! Completely out of the blue, however, I think it was a fluke, especially since it's a 4 month skill and he hasn't done it since. But it still went down in the baby book! :) Another trick is that he has figured out how to wiggle his little body OUT of his bouncy seat! So looks like we will have to definitely begin buckling him in. Collier is beginning to figure out how to use his little hands too. The only paci he will take is the Soothie paci that they gave him in the hospital; well, I bought him a WubbaNub, which is a Soothie paci connected to a stuffed animal so he can hold on on to the stuffed animal while sucking on the paci. He will turn the WubbaNub around and chew on the stuffed animal! Ours is a puppy dog and he sucks on the puppy's ears. Hey, whatever keeps him happy! Looks like he will be a thumb-sucker too, because I find him sucking on his thumb and fist when ever he has lost his paci. He gets it honestly, as I sucked my thumb until (gasp!) kindergarten, at which point I was embarassed of my "babyish" habit and had a thumb-crib inserted in my mouth (a device the dentist uses to prevent one from being able to suck their thumb.)

Dad had his port inserted on Monday and his first chemo treatment on Tuesday. Everything went well and they are giving him a medicine to prevent nausea and so far, he hasn't gotten sick. They did a body scan on him last week to see if there were any lesions, tumors or areas of concern (weakened bones) and got the results on Tuesday. The only thing they found was a compression fracture in his lower back, which is a vertebrae that is basically crushed, however they aren't for sure if that's a result of the cancer or something he did a while back. So DEFINITELY no picking up Noah. Needless to say, he's having alot of back pain. But other than that, it's going as well as it can so we're thankful for that. And to be honest, things aren't gloom and doom. Sure cancer is apart of our lives for now, but it doesn't define us. Life does go on and it's best we act that way otherwise, we'd all send ourselves into a depression if all we talked about was cancer. One things for sure, through all of this, we have the boys to help raise our spirits. A sweet smile or a cute giggle out of Collier, rubbing noses with Noah (which he loves to do with all of us), or watching Noah play his new xylophone toy or to see him get excited as he plays with his remote control car... all of these things help put a smile on our faces. And to be honest, that's all anyone can ask for!


...happy baby talking with his daddy


...Collier's new trick of scooting out of his bouncy seat


...and here's a precious picture of Noah & Dad at Lindsay's wedding this past August

Simple Pleasures

After the rough week my family had, I knew the perfect remedy... so Friday afternoon, once Jamie got off work, we packed up our boys and headed to my parents house for a family slumber party. Yep, even though my parents live at the most, 12 minutes away from us, we'll spend the night with them from time to time and I knew that's exactly what my mom and dad needed to lift their spirits (and I needed to lift mine as well). Lindsay and Derrick joined us and after a delicious dinner of potato soup and cornbread (and buttermilk for me and my dad) we pulled out a board game and all played an intense few rounds of "Who, What, Where" Lindsay won.

We had a lazy Saturday of lounging around and watching movies at my parents house. That evening, we went to Cracker Barrel, Dad's favorite restaurant then ran to TJ Maxx for a little shopping. On Sunday morning, we got our kids up and ready and headed to church. We are so blessed to be apart of such an amazing church family as so many loved on my parents and let us know that they are praying for us and willing to help out whenever we need it. How comforting it is to know so many are praying for Dad! Mom, Dad, Jamie, the boys and I went to lunch at the new restaurant at Cypress Lakes Country Club, named Table 18 and it was delicious! After a Sunday afternoon nap, mom and I cooked dinner for everyone and we then enjoyed a delicious cheesecake from Stephano's (another favorite of my dad's). We ended our weekend with a "Who, What, Where" rematch and again, Lindsay won. I know we all hated to see the weekend come to an end, not just because we enjoyed each other's company, but also because of what the upcoming week had in store.

Quality time with my family all weekend long ... it may be boring to some, but it was perfect to me. And I have a feeling, we'll be spending many more weekends that same way.

A Bump in the Road

Life definitely throws some curve balls. I had hopes for 2011 being such a great year but it's definitely starting off far from that. On Tuesday, January 11, we were told that my dad has cancer. Cancer. That one word that has become so common these days and evokes so much heartache and fear when you hear it. I had always prayed that none of my loved ones would suffer from it. And now one of the people that I'm closest to and love the most has it. Dad has Multiple Myeloma which is an aggressive form of leukemia. The doctor told him that it was his guess that he's had it for about 6 months and it is now in 60% of his bone marrow.

A couple of months ago, dad broke his rib by coughing, which sparked him going to see his doctor. Him breaking his rib was a blessing in disguise because my dad never goes to the doctor. Little did we know that the break had to do with the cancer. After running several tests, his doctor referred him to an Oncologist. The oncologist extracted bone marrow, in addition to doing more blood work. One week later, they gave us the results. Since this type of leukemia is so aggressive, he is beginning treatment immediately. Starting next week, he will go through 4 - 6 months of chemotherapy and then will receive a stem cell transplant at UAB. The transplant will allow him to grow new healthy cells in his bone marrow. This cancer is incurable but there's a good chance he could live 10+ years in remission. My mom and dad are both being very optimistic and dad keeps saying it's just a bump in the road, and he'll be fine. However, I know we've got a long, hard road ahead of us.

Please keep my dad in your prayers. Not only will the chemo be hard on his body but this is all going to be an adjustment for him. My dad is very active, works full-time, plays lots of golf every weekend (and some during the week) and works out in the yard all the time. This kind of cancer causes weakness in the bones, as well as alot of back pain and carpal tunnel in the hands so he won't be able to do majority of the things he enjoys. It's become somewhat of a Saturday morning ritual for Dad, Jamie, and my brother-in-law, Derrick, to play golf together at Cypress Lakes, however he won't be able to do that for along time. For several years, Dad and Jamie have had their name on the list for Masters practice round tickets and found out in September that they would get to go this year. The 2 of them, along with Derrick, were so excited about their upcoming trip but now Dad won't be able to go. The chemo will deplete his immune system as well as make him very weak.

The thing that is the toughest for me to swallow is just how close my dad and Noah are. Dad is by far Noah's favorite person; his face lights up whenever he sees Dad and he can't get enough of him. They are truly best buddies. And Noah has my dad wrapped around his finger. It's going to be hard for dad not to pick up Noah and hold him and play like they normally do, especially since Noah doesn't understand WHY dad can't do these things anymore. It's definitely going to be an adjustment.

However, we are a tight-knit family and we are clinging to our faith. We know prayer is a powerful tool and that this is all apart of God's plan. We are going to remain optimistic and stay positive for Dad. My dad's a stubborn man (who do you think I get my stubborness from) and he won't let cancer take him down. He's got 2 grandsons he's got to hang around here for. So we have a change of plans... 2011 is going to be the year where the Powell family fights back and kicks cancer's butt.

And to end on a happy note, I'm including a few pictures of my boys from this past week's snow "blizzard." Well technically, it wasn't a blizzard, but 10" of snow in Alabama constitutes a blizzard in my book.

Goodbye, 2010....Welcome, 2011

It's hard for me to believe 2010 has come and gone. We had such a busy year that I feel like it literally flew by in an instant. I'm always a tad bit sad at the conclusion of each year, as I can't believe it's already over. Overall, 2010 was great to us and brought about several changes for my family. The events that stand out the most to me as I reflect on 2010 were the addition of our precious baby and Lindsay and Derrick's marriage... I gained another son and a brother-in-law. It honestly seems like just the other day that on February 23, I saw the word 'pregnant' pop up on that pregnancy test. And now, as I sit here, I'm watching my little baby napping (although, knowing Collier, it'll be a brief nap!) in his swing. Time really does fly... Of course, I already know that because my other little boy will be turning FOUR in a few short months.

2010 was a year of growth and renewal for me. I feel like I came to terms with a lot and have finally accepted Noah's disabilities. Getting pregnant and having Collier played a huge part in that. I don't stress or worry so much about Noah's future as I once did. He's going to be okay. WE'RE all going to be okay... and not just okay, but happy!

And that's why I look forward to 2011! I look forward to what this new year has in store for our family. I can't wait to see Noah learn more and get stronger and stronger as he goes through his therapies. I'm excited to watch Collier as he develops more and more each month, learning what his little hands can do, how to sit up, to crawl around, as he finds his voice and begins laughing more and babbling, and for him to eventually begin walking around. The thing I look forward to the most is as all this happens, to be able to watch him and his brother as they become friends, play together, and learn from eachother. I pray for a great 2011 filled with fun experiences, happiness, and contentment for my family... and I hope the same for yours!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas... we sure did! Since we open gifts with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Jamie likes for us to exchange our gifts to eachother on Christmas Eve Eve. His gift to me has been in a box so large that it didn't even fit under our tree and has been taunting me of its contents for the past few weeks. So when he brought up exchanging our gifts, I was all for it! I unwrapped the huge green box to discover a desktop computer box. I was excited about it because our laptop had recently bit the dust, however, I was confused as to why he got a desktop rather than a laptop. He informed me to look in the box and to my surprise there wasn't a computer, but 3 smaller boxes each numbered 1, 2, and 3. Inside the 1st box, I found a new purse that I had been eyeing for quite a while... #2 was a new pair of sunglasses, which I had been wanting... and #3 was a new laptop! He knows how disconnected I have felt without the Internet!

Christmas Eve morning we loaded up the boys and headed to my grandmother's house for a delicious breakfast with my dad's side of the family... all 38 of them. Yes, 38... that is the number of people in my immediate family on that side. My dad's 5 brothers and sister, each of their spouses, their kids (my 13 cousins), my cousins' spouses, and my cousins' kids. Following breakfast, the kids opened their gifts and we then feasted on lunch. Instead of the traditional Christmas lunch, we decided to change it up and have appetizers this year. 2010 brought 2 new members into the Powell family, Lynley and Collier. Lynley is my cousin's little girl that was born in April. The addition of these two babies brings the total to 7 great-grandchildren for my grandmother. This year, she wanted nothing more than to have a picture with all 7 of her great-grandbabies. So we attempted this feat and it wasn't easy! Noah had fallen asleep and his nap was interrupted for picture time so as you can imagine, he wasn't in a pleasant mood. In fact, he refused to have his picture made. My mom tried holding him and standing in the picture but that still made him mad. And Coller slept through the whole thing. Despite this, Mawmaw now has her picture!

That afternoon, we took the boys home for a much-needed nap and then later headed to Jamie's parents house to continue the Christmas celebrations. We had dinner and exchanged gifts with his family. Jamie's parents always do a big Christmas and our boys definitely racked up with plenty of toys and clothes. One of the gifts that Debbie got Noah and each of his two cousins were inflatable snow tubes from LL Bean. Little did we know that we would actually get to use ours the following day!

In the past, Jamie and I have alternated spending the night with each of our families on Christmas Eve. However last year, we decided that we wanted to spend Christmas Eve/Christmas morning at our house. So we headed home and once our boys were in bed, we set up the boys' gifts from Santa then settled in to watch Christmas Vacation.

That morning, we woke up to a beautiful blanket of white snow covering the ground! Noah woke up and looked from amazement out the window at our snow-covered yard. He checked out all of his presents from Santa, immediately pick out his favorite, which was Chuck the Truck. Collier sat happily in his bouncy seat taking it all in. My parents, Lindsay and Derrick came to our house early that morning so we could eat breakfast and exchange our gifts to eachother. After breakfast, we got bathed and dressed and headed to my parents' house for lunch. When we got to my parents house, we realized they had alot more snow than we received in Florence. My parents live on a golf course which has several big hills on it... perfect for testing out our new snow tube!

After we ate, Jamie and I went back to our house to get toboggans, gloves, extra layers of clothes and most importantly, the snow tube! We were really curious what Noah would think of it so we bundled him up and Jamie pulled him around the yard in the tube. He was sliding and slipping all over the place and LOVED it! Since he was enjoying himself so much, we took the tube on the golf course and found a couple of really good hills to sled down. Since we weren't sure what his reaction would be, Jamie and I took turns riding down the hill on the tube with him. He laughed the entire time and was having such a good time! After a few times going down the hill with us, we let him sit in the center of tube and go down one of the smaller hills by himself... HE LOVED IT!! After half an hour of so and sledding down the hills, I could tell by his red cheeks and runny nose that he needed to get inside to warm up. Noah began crying once he realized that we were going inside... despite the freezing cold weather, he wasn't ready to go inside! About an hour later, we took him back out and let him play some more since Linday and Derrick had joined us. And again, when it was time for him to go inside, he cried and cried.

I'm so glad I was able to convince Jamie that we needed to go home and get our snow tube because that was definitely a day that none of us will forget...spending our Christmas Day playing in the snow and tubing down the hills; but most importantly seeing that huge smile on Noah's face as he had the time of his life!


Noah & Collier in matching Christmas PJ's


Mawmaw and her great-grandbabies


Baby's First Christmas


I love these boys!


A White Christmas!


Noah and Poppa


Snow tube fun




Weee!!!