christmas 2015

 Christmas is still so easy and fun with my kids. They love looking at the lights and Titus gets SO excited when he spots them while driving down the road. "Yights! Momma! Dah-yee! Wow! Pitty!"

Josiah got a DS game, lots and lots of legos (his jam!) and an awesome BB-8 robot. Adalyn was thrilled with her Barbie and Chelsea dolls/clothes, make-a-face sticker book, and fake nails.

 Ella Kate really wanted a guinnea pig for Christmas and new that we would say no, so she wrote Santa a note at school to send to him and bypass us altogether. She ended up getting a toy talking bird and was thrilled. She also got from her Nana Nan's Christmas a polaroid camera (that she squealed and jumped up and down about!) a mermaid tail (more squealing!), and lots of other goodies and toys/dolls/clothes from Mimi.

 Pie Face is the cutest game. My kids love it and Nana Nan was a good sport and played it with them. Miley got some fake nails, an 18" doll, lots of Barbie and doll clothes, a mermaid tail, and a toy turtle.

 Levi got a LeapPad and tons and tons of bug things that he loves. He also got some Paw Patrols and other animal toys.

 Titus was thrilled with his new sippy cup and balls. He was fun to watch :)

 Christmas in our new mountain house was fun! God's creation is an amazing thing. We are thankful for this season that we are here, and even more thankful that He came to Earth to save us! It is sooo easy to get caught up in the hoopla that the world wants us to believe about Christmas, but it really is ALL about HIM!

 In true Davis Fashion, we put our tree up before Halloween and have thoroughly enjoyed it in our beautiful mountain house. The kids were praying for snow, but we managed to have record Highs for Christmas while it was FREEZING cold over Halloween.

 I LOVE handmade ornaments. my tree is covered in them! However, since Adalyn and Levi aren't in preschool anymore, we decided to make some at home. They loved it and asked to make "crafts" everyday. we were busy almost daily making things, but these are some of my favorites. The big kids brought some ornaments home from school and I will cherish these forever!

another year..

Well, today is my birthday. It has been hard for me to accept the fact that my twenties are gone. Im not sure why turning 30 was such a big deal for me, but now I want to fully embrace turning 32! To be honest, 31 was a hard year. There was a lot of growing, stretching, learning, trusting, faith building, character molding, trying and hard times. But looking back, it was also a year of God's faithfulness. He worked in ways this year that only He could, and He is good. So, so good. It is so easy to look at a circumstance and wonder where God is in that minute, but when you take a step back and look at what all you have gone through, it is so obvious that He was there and carried you through, so why would He stop now? I am such a slow learner. So thankful that He is patient with me, and loves me despite my worry and lack of faith.
With each passing day, I am realizing how fleeting life is. Just in this year, we have lost a handful of precious family members and friends. So I am thankful for another birthday and another day that was denied to so many. But I also want to be better.. be a better version of myself. I am not all that God has called me to be and while I know that our life is a race that wont end until we are called home, I want to endure and finish well. "Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last." -CT Studd
I am a blessed girl who is SO undeserving of all of my gifts! My husband, my children, my parents, my sisters, my mother in law, my family and friends.. they are precious to me and given to me for a short while. I am living the dream, and don't want to take a single day for granted!

Copy and paste update!

We have had several people checking in and asking for an update, and while we are trying to reply to each one, I figured it wouldn't hurt to make a blanket post so everyone could see. First off, we are so thankful for everyone who has prayed for us and stood along side of us during this journey. God has been so good and has taught us so much during these hard times and we are so thankful to have faithful friends who have shown love to us in ways we know only God could do. Last Christmas, I started passing out/blacking out. It came out of no where and with no explanation. I started seeing a neurologist and he thought I was having seizures. I had an MRI, eeg, tons of blood work and they were able to see that my brain was completely normal and no seizures were occurring. He said that I was probably massively fatigued and highly stressed. Months went by and the passing out/blacking out kept happening. Bill's company closed and he was jobless for months, then it got to where I was having these episodes 3-4 times a week. Still, thinking it was stress related, we paid no extra attention. He found an amazing job out of town and started immediately and was gone for a couple weeks before he came home and we packed up and moved to the mountains with him. We had car issues, house issues, he was working a lot and I was still having episodes. I remember waking up from one of my episodes one early morning on the hard kitchen floor in our new mountain house when I told God that I couldn't do this anymore. I never passed out while holding one of the kids and it never happened when I was sitting. Almost always when I had just stood up, bending over, squatting.. But that morning when I fell on the kitchen floor, I made up my mind that this wasn't stress anymore. It was not normal.. Almost dangerous and I was tired of doing it. I called my dr and he was shocked to hear that it was still happening. (I hadn't really been telling anyone that they were happening like they were. I had to be strong.. I didn't want to whine or complain. My husband had a lot going on at his new job and I couldn't worry him with this and my parents were missing us and worried about me already, so I couldn't tell them and have them worry anymore.) I saw my neurologist in Augusta one last time and he had no answers, however he noticed some buldging in my neck and said that I needed to get an ultrasound of my thyroid immediately and preferably that same day. I left his office, went and had the scan done, received a new car that would get me and my babies up our road to our mountain house (thanks to my amazing family!!) and then had to head back to Clayton. My family dr called me the next day and said that the scans didn't look good and I needed to have a biopsy pretty soon and set up appts with an endocrinologist in Augusta and my neurologist was referring me to see a cardiologist to see if my heart had anything to do with my episodes. I met with a cardiologist about an hour away from my mountain house and he ordered several more tests. I had an ekg and Echo which were both perfect, I wore a heart monitor for 2 weeks and also had a tilt table test and tons of more blood work. When I saw him a few weeks ago, he was dumbfounded that I was able to fully function based on my heart monitor results. I have really low blood pressure and a normal resting heart rate (60-70) but everytime I was having an episode, my heart rate would jump to the 170s. My blood pressure would remain super low which would basically confuse my brain and it would shut down for a few seconds and that is when and why I would pass out. He is somewhat diagnosing me with POTS syndrome, although he isn't fully convinced with my heat rate almost tripling in those moments. He also put me on a low dose of Beta blocker and told me to decrease my water in take and triple my salt intake. He also said that the beta blocker may make my blood pressure even lower (which we can't afford for that to happen) and if it does, then I will need to take something raise my blood pressure (but that may make my heart rate increase and increase the frequencies of my episodes.) however, I am a perfect candidate for a Pase maker and although that is the worst case scenario, it will not be the end of the world:) I have been on the beta blocker for a little over 2 weeks, so I'm not sure if we can tell a difference yet. (However, I have still blacked out in the mean time..) and back to the thyroid... I had surgery 10 days ago to remove the left side. It had the biggest, most alarming nodules and while I was open, they did a frozen biopsy on them to see if they were malignant and if so, they would remove the right side as well. The immediate results came back benign so they left the ride side in and sewed me back up. However the dr did notice some smaller fiberous places on the inner left lobe that he sent off to have further testing. He called me on Sunday and said that all of that came back as cancer. He thinks he got it all and we would just have to watch it and have lots of scans to look for change and if there is anything different at anytime, then he would go in and take the right side. Or he offered to go ahead and bypass all of that and take out the ride side now. Whether it has cancer or not. Bill and I have been praying about this decision and I have a strong desire and peace to go ahead and take the right side out now. I am scheduled for November 16, and although they have said that recovery will be much harder the second time seeing as though I was just cut open, I still feel like this is the right thing to do for me. I still have cardiologist appts coming up but overall, I feel good. God has stretched me more than I could have ever imagined this summer/fall. And at times it was unbearable and extremely hard. But He is faithful.. So very faithful! And he has blessed us with the most amazing families and friends. Yall have shown us love and generosity and truly been the hands and feet of Jesus. He has moved mountains for me.. Just in the past few weeks.. If you only knew what my God has done. I don't deserve His goodness. Nope, not one bit! But yet, he still loves me and blesses my socks off. Thank you all who have prayed for us.. Please continue to do so! And thank you for the notes, gift cards and meals! I know it's hard Because we are here, there and yonder... But thank you just the same. My surgery will be in Augusta and I think Bill will remain up here in Clayton so he won't have to miss work and the big kids won't have to miss school.. But all of those details can be worked out later:) 
If you made it this far, you deserve a pat on the back. I'm not even going to try and proof read it.. So forgive my misspells and wrong punctuation. Love yall! 

im a slow learner..

hi there ol' blog of mine! I feel like there are just not enough hours in the day to keep up with this blog, but it pains me to think of never writing on it again. I absolutely LOVE looking back over the years and how much my babies have grown, reading about all of the funny things they have said, and being reminded of how faithful God has been in my life.

we had an eventful yet amazing summer that I need to catch you up on-- levi turning 3, 2 beach trips, bill losing his job, our 10 year anniversary (thank you jesus for this marriage!), surprise cruise to the Bahamas, Disney world, bill getting another (even better!) job, a move 3 hours away from home, Josiah turning 8, putting my kids in public school, ella kate turning 9, titus walking, and so much more! God blessed us more this summer than we could have ever imagined.

I have heard this quote so much lately and it has proven to be true over and over. "God is never late, and seldom early, but he is always on time". when we moved to north ga, we searched high and low for a house to rent. we could only find 7 that were in our budget. 5 of them told us that we had "too many kids" and they didn't feel comfortable renting to us. 1 was a small 2 bedroom house but its price was our maximum budget and then there was this 1 house that was beyond perfect. it is 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, clean, updated, had the most spectacular and breathtaking views that I have ever seen and was on the low end of our budget. however, there was this one little problem-- it was pretty high up and smack dab on the side of a mountain. there are 2 warnings on the gravel road leading to the house that says, STOP 4 wheel drive only. and we have a mini van and a punch bug:)

we really felt that God was leading us to this house and it was confirmed through some family members. bill had been living away from us for a few weeks while he started his new job and we were desperately longing to be together. we took a HUGE leap of faith and signed the lease for the mountain house and moved in. after a week or 2, bills punch bug broke down and the borrowed 4WD suburban that our sweet friends so graciously let me borrow had also broken down. we were stuck with only our van which could seldom make it up the mountain to our home. several times we got stuck and the kids and I had to walk all of the way up the winding, steep gravel (in tears) to our home. other times, we had to get towed by friends. it was yet again, a time in my life (just like in us finding a house) where I doubted God's provision. I'm so ashamed to even type those words. I know God. I know He loves me. I know that He has a plan for me and for my family. He has never left me nor forsaken me. why on earth do I struggle with doubt?!

And right on time he blesses us again! my God-fearing, loving and extremely generous family felt led to help us out. they searched high and low for an 8 seater 4WD. they traveled miles upon miles looking for the perfect car for us to help us in our time of need. I was blown away by the faithfulness of God (yet again) and the thoughtfulness of my giving family when they showed me the new expedition they bought for us. at this point, I wouldn't have cared if it was a school bus! I just needed a vehicle that would hold all of my kids and that would get me up the mountain to our house. I am so grateful for them and grateful to God for using them to provide for us.

so here I am again, worrying and doubtful about another situation. it baffles me that I am such a slow learner. I have been dealing with a few minor health issues, that are now turning out to be more serious than I have been willing to accept. my passing out/blacking out episodes that I have been dealing with since Christmas have not gone away. they are accompanied by some pretty major headaches that I have almost daily. since the move, I tend to black out 3-4 times a week (main reason we aren't homeschooling right now). I saw my neurologist again last week and he isn't sure exactly what is causing this. he did however find some nodules on my thyroid that he wanted to have scanned, as well as refer me to a cardiologist to check my heart and see if that could be causing the black outs. after I had my sonogram of my thyroid they saw several solid masses which were a little worrisome (due to the fact that my mom had this exact thing happen to her at the age of 31 and her's was cancer). again, I find myself thinking the worst and wondering where God is in all of this. I cant listen to the enemies lies any more. he is out to kill, steal and destroy and my God is FOR ME, NOT AGAINST ME. he didn't bring me up to this mountain top to leave me hanging high and dry. he has a plan. he is so faithful.

so I am writing this down, so I can come back in a few weeks with an update of how yet again, he has rescued me. because I know that he will.

"they do not fear bad news. they confidently trust in The Lord to care for them." psalm 112:7

titus is one!

titus franklin.. friendly frank.. baby ty.. my last little baby... how in the world are you one?!?!

 I cannot even believe how fast this year has flown! I am so glad that God decided to bless me and daddy with your sweet little life! what a precious boy you are!!!

you have the bluest eyes (you got them from your poppa and nonny!), a set of sweet dimples like your big brother Josiah, some crazy curly blonde hair like big sister miley, which you LOVE to twirl like your big sister Adalyn, a sweet little nose like big sister ella kate, and a love for creepy crawly critters like big brother Levi.

ok.. maybe that last one is a stretch. you may grow up and realize that you detest those nasty things, but right now you love to squeeze them, pinch them and let them crawl over you. eek!

you are rough and tough.. strong and loud. you know what you want and you wont back down. you LOVE sucking both of your thumbs, twirling your hair or YANKING the hair of whoever is holding you.

 you could (and do!) eat veggie straws, hot dogs and strawberries every single day. you are crazy about mimi and have a sweet spot for yaya.. you love to wave bye-bye , say momma and no-no and you LOVE to play BOO! Josiah knows how to make you SO happy, and levi gets the best laughs out of you. your sisters are crazy about you and are always kissing you, singing to you, dressing you up with hair bows and calling you Heidi :)

you love to dance and do hand motions to the kids' songs in the car... and speaking of car, you hate, hate, hate car washes!! you just had your first experience with nana nan's pool and you loved it! splashing and giggling.. so much fun! you are a busy boy and you want to be down and in the action at all times.. although there are a few teeny tiny moments when you want to cuddle momma!

I am so thankful for your life and for your healthy and perfect first year! I know that God has big plans for you, and I am so excited to see them unfold! being your momma (and your brothers' and sisters') is one of the greatest joys this world has to offer. happy birthday my sunshine! we love you more than you will ever know!

 

these kids...

my husband has crazy strong genes.

 I feel like his genes are more dominant in my kids, than mine are.. and that is totally fine!

they look so much like him, they have his humor, his quick wit, his generous heart, his gift of flatulence and some may even have his sweet temperament ;) however.. this weekend, I saw a tiny glimpse of myself in them.

ella kate and Josiah were both in our children's choir musical (which was AMAZING by the way!). ek had a solo and jos was Fireball, one of the main characters. they both did a fabulous job and we could not have been more proud of them. after the program, we were loaded up in the car and pulled out of the parking lot when I notice that Josiah was crying and ella kate had the saddest look on her face. I asked them what was wrong, and they both started crying and became a blubbering mess. they were telling me how sad they were that the program was over and how it was just terrible that they would never do it again. :) how precious. that is totally me!! I am so emotional, so sentimental, so "cry about everything"..  it made me smile that I could see myself, but then I wanted to hug them and cry with them because I know exactly how they feel!!

so.. back to the kids being like bill. after church on wednesday, we all got home and unloaded when I realized that we left the baby's bottle in the van. I asked ek to run to the car and get it and after a few minutes, she ran back inside and said that she couldn't find it. bill laughs and says, "well, I'M going outside to van to get the bottle, because I know how you look!" (the kids usually cant see what is in front of them.. its ridiculous!) and as he is walking by, he accidentally drops the keys on the tile floor. so without skipping a beat, ella kate says to bill as she grabs the keys for him, "well, I'M gonna bend over and get these keys for you, because I know how you bend!" it was hilarious... quick wit, I tell ya! just like her daddy :)

Titus Frankin is growing like a weed.. he is 11 months old and still not our easiest baby. He has his super sweet and smiley moments, but he also is cutting teeth and is not afraid to fuss/holler/pitch a fit. He is his daddy's little clone :) he loves Josiah, mimi and yaya, he is a pro at waving bye bye and can down 2 hot dogs like nobodies business! ha! we sure do love our baby Ty!

my kids have been yanking out their teeth left and right!

Bible story time with adalyn (4 years old):

"When the bad guys killed Jesus, they made him a sign that said, King of the Judes. And Jesus cried and then he died. But he isn't on the cross anymore and he isn't in the tomb, He's ALIVE!!!!"

 Levi loves wearing his big boy "unna wears!" His favorite part is sticking his Chapstick in the front flap little "pocket".

Me to one of my daughters: "you are so pretty!"
My daughter: "thanks, I know! :) the only thing wrong with me is my hair."
Me: "oh yeah? What's wrong with your hair?"
My sweet confident daughter: "well.. Nothing really. I just couldn't think of anything else!"

 I have people who come up to me often and say, "your kids are so well behaved and you have so many of them.. How do you do it?" Well, this post is for you... ‪#‎LetsGetReal‬ We are renting our house for the Masters this weekend and the prep has been no joke. For instance: after I shampooed the carpets, I woke up yesterday morning to find my 2 year old peeing in the box fan while on full blast, then he pooped in the back yard and wiped off in the sandbox, I also am the proud owner of 3 new picture frames with no glass. This morning I woke to find ink pen on the leather couch, a beautiful blue crayon mural on his freshly scrubbed walls and a huge dead carpenter bee in his bed that he refuses to throw away because "he's cute!" Right now I am looking at he and his 4 year old wing man blow raspberries to me on our clean windows, while the big kids are rearranging logs and bricks in our (clean for once!) back yard to make fairy/troll houses. And everything needs to be spic and span before the guests arrive! So there you have it! My life isn't perfect! and is certainly never dull!

Adalyn and Levi were arguing when adalyn started whining to me, "mom, Levi is not letting me play with him!" To which Levi responded, "I NOT LEWI!!! I HIM!!" He has always said that his name is "him" or "Himmy" and today he is not answering to anything else!

I'm scrubbing my walls like a mad woman and sweating profusely when josiah walks by and says, "you know mom, you're really pretty for your age!"

Adalyn: "ella kate, you are not in charge. Momma and daddy are.. And God. He's the boss, and He's gonna get you!"

i went to put the clothes from the washer to the dryer and as I was pulling out pieces of clothes, I pulled out a full bottle of Hershey's syrup. I'm so glad it stayed shut.. ‪#‎howdothesethingshappen‬ ‪#‎anotherdayinthelife

I asked Levi (my brave bug lover) to get a dead roach for me. He walked up and said, "awww.. He's cute! Please, I put it in my pocket?"

Someone passed gas in the van today and everyone blamed adalyn (who is usually guilty!) but today she said, "Guys that wasn't me! This smells like rotten eggs and my toots smell like sneaky feet!"

 Yesterday josiah ran outside to the backyard to grab something. He slid his flip flops over his socks real quick when miley (who is 6) looks down at his feet and says, "uhhhh Siah?? Wearing socks and sandals is totes lame!" She walks off and leaves him looking at his feet completely confused!

I may or may not have just hid in the dark in one of my kids bedrooms to eat an icecream cone for breakfast.. My kids thought we were playing hide and seek. ‪#‎iwon‬ ‪#‎breakfastofchampions‬ ‪#‎theyneverknew‬

adalyn is 4!

Sweet Adalyn, you are 4 years old!!! You were so excited to wake up and be 4, but were also so bummed that you were still small. You kept saying, "hey... I thought I was 4! Why am I still tiny?" :) You love anything Barbie and princess.

You wear your blue sparkle stinky shoes or plastic Cinderella shoes every single day. Ellie and Clara are your bestest friends and Levi is your wing man. You are terrified of animals.. especially dogs. You like them from a distance, but as soon as they head your way you go into hysterics. "Boys like girls" (teen beach movie) is still your favorite movie and you would watch it everyday if we let you, and can pretty much quote the entire movie.

Levi still calls you Ina, and you never correct him. You love to draw and color. Your happy stick people are my favorite. You told me that you were going to quit twirling your hair when you turned 4, but you haven't.... and you love going to Mr. Don's class at church. You have an incredible amount of gas, and you are so proud of yourself when someone acknowledges it. Miley is your hero, and you are thrilled when she pays you any attention. You love Titus and want to be a helper, but sometimes you love him a little too much and a little too hard:) You are a joy and I am so glad that you are mine!! I love you to the moon and cant wait to see the little lady that God created you to be! Happy Birthday!

.. and just to remember.. when we asked you about your birthday date, you asked if both mom and dad could go. then, you asked if we could go somewhere inside.... then you asked if you could get sprite and the other kids get water... then without hesitation, you shouted "WAFFLE HOUSE!" :)

Funnies :)

Adalyn: "momma, are we gonna get to keep Titus forever? Cause he's SO cute! And can we keep you? Cause you're really sweet! But.... We don't really have to keep Miley.. Cause she's not really sweet to me...."

Ella kate was drawing a Christmas masterpiece when adalyn looked over and said, "oh, you did a great job ella kate! I love how you drawed that whistle-toe!" (Mistletoe) 🌲

Josiah isn't sure what he wants to be when he grows up. He just told me that it was a tie between being a taste tester or working at GameStop.. ‪#‎bigdreamer

I was snuggling Levi as he woke up from his nap. I kissed him and said, "oh, I love you!" He kissed me back, smiled at me and whispered, "I love daddy!"

Adalyn was on her 3rd wardrobe change for the day when Miley told her, "adalyn, that dress isn't going to look good with shorts on." Adalyn smiled and twirled around saying, "what? for real? I look AMAZING!!"

I'm clearly the greatest momma-chef ever. After trying a new Pinterest recipe, I serve all of my kids their perfect little dishes only to see them take a bite and turn their noses up. However, I look at my sweet firstborn who has gobbled up her entire bowl! I smile and ask her if she would like anymore, to which she replied, "ummmm no ma'am. I gagged the whole time I was eating it, but I didn't want to make you cry so I just kept swallowing it down."

Overheard a conversation tonight between a few of my kids...
One of my sweet daughters: "me and mom look just alike. we are both tall and skinny!"
Another one of my sweet daughters: "uhhhh.. Mom's not skinny."

I'm in the front yard with my kids when a lady parks her car at my driveway and walks up to me asking if she can apply at the daycare that I run at my house. I kid you not! The look on her face when I told her that these were all my kids and we homeschool, was priceless!

holidays

I have done an absolutely terrible job of keeping up with this blog. Life is busy and I need to make this more of an effort. The kids are growing at a rapid pace and they are saying and doing cute things by the minute and I try to share them on facebook or write them on a post-it, but then I need to transfer them to here so I can have them all in one place. phew... I am going to do my best to make 2015 a more productive blogging year.. fingers crossed. so lets start back with the holidays. the kids were asked to model some clothes for a friend of mine's precious boutique. they turned out so well, and I was so thankful to be given the images!

Christmas was great and busy, as usual. we spent time with both families and I think I took mostly video and not many pictures. This was Titus' first Christmas and the kids were more excited for him than he was :) I took video for all of Christmas eve and my video camera died during the middle of Christmas morning, so I switched to my camera. that's why I don't have pics from my inlaws on Christmas eve and no video of Christmas day with my parents. :(