Summer Walks

I just took a walk with my sweet boys. It amazes me how different they are. C rides his bike and zooms ahead 3 or 4 houses, then backtracks and does it again over and over. He is full of adventure, my tender tough guy! B takes my hand and walks right by my side. In the other hand is a peach and snuggled in our hands, intertwined, is his stick with a bead on the end (a sword, a wand, a crcket caller or whatever it needs to be at the time) He is my sweet song. Man I love those little guys!!

Thank you God for many blessings, three of which bear the names Janessa, Carson and Brayden.

Restart

Well, it has been a loooooong time since my last post...well, like and year and half long time ago!! A lot has happened since then. My last post was about Brayden turning 4 and he's now 5 1/2!!!

So this is my official restart of the "Momma on a Mission" blog!

Brayden officially turns 4!

My sweet baby boy turned 4 today. We celebrated with a joint a party for the boys a while back, but today is the official day.

Brayden completes our family. I'm sure that has been said about a lot of lasts babies, but Brayden really does. We found out I was pregnant when Carson was still a baby. We had worked so hard trying to have another baby after Janessa and following a miscarriage and fertility drugs, we had Carson. What a blessing he is and we thought we were done.

I went to the doctor to get an IUD, because we had decided that I would begin to stay home with Janessa and Carson. I was the insurance carrier, so I wanted to get the IUD (just in case!) before switching insurance companies. The doctor came in and told me I was too late. and it went something like this

Too late for what?
your already pregnant...
Pregnant with what?

We were shocked. Not only did I not think I could get pregnant again without the assistance of fertility drugs, but Carson was less than a year old! The next day we had an ultrasound and found out I was 16 weeks along and it was a boy! Wow, how we instantly fell in love with that little miracle baby on the screen!

I tell people that Janessa is my Honeymoon baby (born 41 weeks after we got married), Carson is my fertility drugs baby and Brayden is my "God reminding me he is in control, not me" baby!

So, my baby turned 4 today. He is officially a pre-schooler. For the first time in years, I don't have a toddler or baby in the house. In ways I am sadden and others I am looking forward to what life holds for our family without the addition of diaper bags. Although, Brayden will always be my baby, just ask him!

Brayden is 100% boy. He keeps me on my toes and entertained all at the same time. He is sweet, loving, adventurous, free-spirited and his laugh is soooo contagious. He has no fear and will try anything from doing something different to trying new foods, but he also loves tradition and routine. He is super sensitive and loves with his whole heart. He is smart and creative and has a great imagination. I love to play with make believe with him. We always go on new and exciting adventures. He is turning into a wonderful young guy whom we are so proud of. Wow, how my heart loves that little guy! The best thing about him though, is his love for Jesus. He loves church and Awana. I love listening to him memorize verses and songs. Well, I will post some pictures soon, but I'm going to go play Hungry Hungry Hippos with my sweet baby right now!

Thanksgiving and our Christmas Tree

I know I am so behind on this thing. I don't know how people find the time to do everything!!

But I wanted to say what a great Thanksgiving we had. Anthony flew into Fort Stewart on Wednesday night and Vernon went and picked him up. It was a 9 hour round trip and they drove all night, but it was a wonderful Thanksgiving having Anthony home for the first time in 9 months. We are sooooo thankful he is based in Georgia. (and we love Savannah!) We had lots to be thankful for this year.

Vernon took a short nap Thursday night and then we went shopping for Black Friday. We got some great deals and finished up ALL our shopping. I love this time of year. Everything about Christmas makes my heart flutter! We were going to make Anthony go shopping with us, but he went to sleep at 4 pm (he ended up sleeping 18 hours!) and didn't wake up with all the commotion going on all evening! My dad actually kept the kids, because my mom had to work. This is a miracle in itself!

My poor husband was exhausted! We both took naps then Anthony brought the kids home. Vernon stayed asleep while the kids and I did some baking. Then my awesome husband went to work a side job. We always put our Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving, but didn't get to this year. I absolutely wont do it without everyone there, so we waited until Saturday. I didn't make a big deal about it, because I knew how tired Vernon was with driving all night one night (after working 9 hours) and then only getting a few hours sleep before shopping with me the next night. Did I mention how awesome he is?

We spent all morning and early afternoon pulling out all the Christmas decorations. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! We have a small tree that we cover with ornaments that all have meaning. I love pulling each one out and telling the kids about it. We have ones that were gifts, given to the kids each year by us, bought for a special memory and of course ones the kids made over the years. A few years back, I decided to start collecting ornaments whenever we go somewhere out of town or just about anywhere that sales "souvenirs." We have ornaments from state parks we have camped at, cities we have been too and places we have visited such as Pigeon Forge, Fort Mountain State Park, Savannah, Stone Mountain and Baby Land General. We keep the ones collected for the year in the curio cabinet and talk about each one and where we got it as we add it to the tree. It is such a great way to reminisce about the year.

I did figure out that we have way too many for our little tree and we need a bigger one. Maybe we can find one on clearance after Christmas this year!

Vernon left for work around 4. He was mediating over a play the school was hosting, so he took Janessa with him. All the boys and I decided to brave the weather and head to Ashley Park for the lighting of the Christmas Tree. What a special night! We saw two reindeer, sang Christmas carrolls, drank apple cidar, ate dinner at Five Guys (awesome burgers!), saw Santa and witnessed the lighting of the tree!

After church tomorrow I have to drive Anthony back to Fort Stewart. I guess I need to go to bed! We have had such a great weekend with him home and we are really going to miss him. He is hoping to be able to visit quite a bit on weekends and have a week off at Christmas. We can't wait. But because of this, this goodbye is not going to be quite as hard as the rest have been.......

Carson and Brayden's Birthday

OK - I know it has been over a month, but I have to share.

Carson and Brayden's birthday was a hit. I don't know if we will ever combine them again, but it worked this year. I just don't know how Brayden is going to take it when his real birthday comes around.

Carson - 5

Brayden - almost 4

It was a really hot day, but everyone seemed to have a good time. We opted for cupcakes and popsicles and played well into the evening.

When it was time to pack it up, we didn't realize how heavy it was going to be and how hard it was going to be to get it back onto the trailer. Thank goodness for good friends willing to break a sweat. Thanks James and Joanie again for helping!!!!! We love you guys!

Great News!!!!

I know I am so far behind on this blog, it's not even funny. How do you guys find the time??

But, I have great news and just have to share.....

Anthony just got his orders and for the next 4 years (hopefully) he is stationed in.......wait for it........GEORGIA!!!!!!

It is almost in Savannah, but it is GEORGIA none the less. We are all very excited!

JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes

Dear family and friends,

Well, it is that time of year again. I can’t believe another year has passed since we took part in the JDRF Walk for a Cure for Diabetes and we are ready to be involved again.

Janessa is now 9 years old and in the 4th grade. She has now been battling diabetes for 5 years, more than half her life… She is still on the insulin pump and is upgrading to a new pump with lots of great features. Actually it is sitting on my counter right now waiting for us to get trained next week!! We are hoping this new pump will help to bring her A1C back down. It has all the newest technology and is our first step towards obtaining the new continuous blood glucose monitoring system which we desperately want. That device will tell us what her blood sugar is at every moment of every day without finger pricks constantly. We will be able to see her blood sugars rise or fall and be able to combat it before it gets out of hand. Please pray that insurances will soon start covering this for all children with diabetes.

Janessa is your average 9 year old and we are all still striving for diabetes not to control her. We just try to control it. She still loves Church, Basketball, Horse-back riding, Girl Scouts, bike riding, camping, hiking, boating and cooking! She is turning into quite a remarkable young lady and we are so proud of her! As you can see, she is still her silly ol’ self!

As in years past, we are participating in the Walk to Cure Diabetes through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) this October. We believe that a cure will be found and we want to be a part of it. Since its founding in 1970, JDRF has awarded more than $1.16 billion to diabetes research. More than 85 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research. JDRF is among the few charities to earn the 4-star rating for the second consecutive year by Charity Navigator Awards. However, this year Janessa’s Girl Scout Troop has scheduled their one and only camping trip on the same weekend as the walk. After much prayer and discussion, we have decided not to let Diabetes take something else away from her and let her (and I) go camping. However, this walk is of utmost importance to our family, so Vernon and the boys are walking for Janessa. They will present all money collected in her name and walk over 3 miles in her honor. What a powerful moving experience this is for all of us!

We would love for you to join our walk team or make donations online at http://www.walk.jdrf.org/ and search for Vernon Smith, team name “Cure – minators.” You can also mail checks made out to JDRF to our address listed below. Please don’t feel obligated to contribute. More than anything, we need prayers. Please pray for Janessa and the millions of kids like her that are dealing with this devastating disease.

Thank you so much for being a part of our lives and helping to find the cure! Remember, every dollar counts!

Sweet Smiles, lots of love and many blessings,
Vernon, Tina, Anthony, Janessa, Carson and Brayden Smith
134 Cranford Mill Drive
Newnan, GA 30265
770-463-2839

‘And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 KJV