Merry Christmas from The Greenhaws!

What an amazing Christmas! We've had a wonderful Christmas. The past three days have been really busy. We've gone back and forth, back and froth from Florence to Athens but we are blessed to be close enough to see all of our family.

Chad, Parker, and Ryan

Santa brought Parker a Thomas the Train Ball Pit!

Parker LOVES Broby!

Santa brought Parker so many things. (He did not bring Parker a TV though. Santa was too tired to move it to another room.)

The Greenhaw's on Christmas Eve

Rusty with his grandkids and greatgrandkids.

Oh dear. The baby bug will catch you quick. I got to hold sweet baby Addie on Christmas Eve. I love nothing more than holding a precious baby!

My mom, Aunt Debbie, Parker, and Kaden

My attempt to get a nice picture of Parker in front of the tree. It was pretty much a burnt run.

Chad got the movie The Hangover. Yes, we know that it's not very wholesome but it's pretty dang funny.

My mom gave Parker a Radio Flyer rocket.

And the best present of all, PARKER!

It's official, I'm 30!

The day that I have been dreading has finally come. I turned 30 today. I am not really sure where the fear of 30 comes from. It just seemed like yesterday that I was in college, staying up half the night, making midnight runs to Wal-Mart, and eating whatever and whenever I wanted. (wasn't that nice?) 30 always seemed so old to me. I remember thinking that once you're 30,your fun is over. It makes me laugh now to think about my old feelings about being 3o.

Thankfully that my life is full of so many blessings and answered prayers that it is hard to dwell for long. I have such a great husband who is supportive in everything I do. I have a precious miracle baby who is a blessing to our lives everyday.

Chad planned the absolute PERFECT birthday night for me last night and it was all a surprise which is a miracle because he is a HORRIBLE secret keeper. The plan all along was for us to drop Parker off at his parents house and we were going to go to Huntsville to finish off some Christmas shopping and eat at the Melting Pot because I had always wanted to go there. At the last minute before leaving we decided to make plans to spend the night because Chad had enough Marriott Rewards points for a free night. We packed everything up and headed off.

We dropped Parker off and headed to Huntsville. We did some shopping for unfortunately a migraine headache hit pretty quick in Target so we went back to the hotel and I took alot of Extra Strength Tylenol and took a nap. I was refreshed and ready to go!

We made the BRISK walk to the Melting Pot through Bridge Street. It was freezing! You go down a hallway to get to the restaurant and you can see the waiting area though the glass. As we walked up, I noticed Katy. I yelled out to Chad, "OH my Gosh, there's Katy and Luke!" At this point I am just thinking that is pure conconindence that they are there. Then I immediately notice Raycheal and Brian. And mind you this is all before we even enter the restaurant. My first thought was, "They are so mean. They have planned a night out and didn't invite me." I was still totally unaware of what was going on.

As Chad and I enter the doors they all stand up to greet me and I see gifts and it's then that I realize what is going on..I immediately start crying because I was so excited. We don't get together than often and it's very rare for everyone to be there. (Sara and Craig walk in during the hugging and crying!) I just kept smiling and crying for awhile. It was an amazing treat and surprise. We had an amazing dinner and ate TONS of food. The dessert part was my favorite, of course! We were there from 6:30-9:30. I didn't want the night to end.

If you don't know who these friends are, here's a little bit about them:

Katy: Katy was the first person that I met at UNA. We lived on the same floor and we did so much together. We both pledged Alpha Gam and we've both have alot of the same interests. After marriage, we both had difficulty conceiving a child so we endured IVF together. I am not sure that I would've made it some days without her. She was able to tell me what to expect, how things would feel, etc. She has a precious little girl, Harper. I plan for her and Parker to marry someday! :) Harper has profound hearing loss and wears hearing aids in both ears and both Katy and Luke have been so brave and strong throughout the whole ordeal. She is an amazing mother!I love them all with all of my heart! Katy and I talk quite often on the phone and I feel like something is wrong if we don't talk every few days. I love Katy with all my heart! One of my favorite things about katy is that I can trust her to be honest with me. I can ask her if my jeans make my butt look big and she will give me an honest answer. I love that about her!

Sara: Sara and I also met at UNA though Alpha Gam because we are pledge sisters. Sara has always been the one that makes us laugh. In college, she was the one with the disaster of a room, cereal bowls that were a week old laying around, dirty clothes all over the floor, but when she walked out of her room, she always looked amazing. She is beautiful. Fashion is her thing. She is always dressed perfectly and she is current with fashions. She married her college sweetheart and he is just as great. I actually took him to an alpha gam function and that is where she "fell for him." I love and cherish her friendship and advice.

Raycheal: Raych was my matron of honor at my wedding. I was also the Maid of Honor in her wedding. (I almost ruined the whole wedding. I'll have to blog about that another day!) We met a year after I met Sara and Katy because she pledged Alpha Gam a year later. Emily Murphy and I were looking for a place to live and we needed a third roomate. I found a house and to be able to afford it, we needed a third roomate. Lynna, who was discipling us, told us to ask Raycheal,and the rest is history. We became instant friends. We love the same things. We were pretty much together from the moment we moved in together. We would stay up late playing Ninentendo, we'd nap on the couch in the afternoon and we'd eat all of the time. But Raych pretty much only ate chocolate covered Krispy Kreme donuts. (Some things never change!) We were also SOAR counselors together and we lived in the dorms together for one summer. Raych is a dear friend and a wonderful mother to two precious children, Connor and Anna Grace. I love Raycheal and I know that she would do ANYTHING for me.

Raycheal, Me, Sara, and Katy

The Boys:

Luke (belongs to Katy) My Chaddy, Craig (belongs to Sara) and Brian (Belongs to Raych)

Me and Raycheal

My sweet hubby who planned the whole night

Sara and Katy

Me and Raycheal again

It was an amazing night. I will have fond memories of turning 30!

Parker at 12 months

Here are some of Parker's Favorite Things right now:

Food:

Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Raison Swirl Bread

Blueberry waffles

Whole Wheat Pancakes

yogurt

Yogurt Melts

Sweet Potato Casserole

Fruit and Cream Oatmeal

Tyson Chicken Nuggets

bananas

applesauce

*He used to love cheese toast but now he hated it. He won't touch cheese or any other kind of meat. The only meat he will eat right now is chicken nuggets.

He is totally off of a bottle which didn't even bother him. He's doing really well about drinking milk out of his sippy cup. He also loves Apple juice and Apple Banana juice.

TV Shows:

Mickey Mouse ClubHouse

Wonder Pets

Backyardigans

Yo Gabba Gabba!

Favorite Songs to "Sing":

Twinkle Twinkle-He will open and close his fingers to twinkle his star!

Itsy Bitsy Spider-He'll try to do the motions.

Five Little Monkeys

Favorite Toys:

He LOVES to "read" books and I love it!

He loves to play with balls but he wants them small enough so he can fit them in his hand.

Large Lego Blocks

Chuck Trucks

Words he can say:

meow: "eow"

mama

dada

ball

bye bye

all gone

Anytime someone sneezes, he will do his "sneeze." It cracks us up every time!

He is going to sleep between 7:00-7:30 and he gets up between 6-7. He doesn't nap very well at Mrs. Jackie's so most days he's ready to go to sleep around 6 or 6:30 but we keep him up.

He does NOT like for us to walk away and leave him. For example, if I am playing with him on the floor and I get up and walk into the kitchen to fix a drink, he will whine and cry until I come back. He does that to Mrs. Jackie too. I don't know how to get him to stop it though. He's very clingy.

He's at such a fun age and he's growing and doing new things every day! We keep thinking that he's going to take off any day now!

Parker's First Birthday!!

Today was Parker's first birthday! Chad and I woke up all smiles and as soon as he woke up this morning, we began singing "Happy Birthday!" His smiles were a mile wide. Of course I know that he had know idea what was going on but it was so sweet.

We had a party here at the house for him tonight. Chad's parents came over from Athens and the rest was my family. It was my mom and dad, my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Rich, my brother, Craig, and my granddad, Rusty. We ate BBQ, potato salad, and baked beans. It was lots of fun! I just enjoyed watching my sweet little boy. He has brought us so much joy over the past year!

Parker this morning before he went to Mrs. Jackie's.

Parker and Daddy

Parker and Mommy

It's hard to tell but his shirt has a number 1 and his name.

Parker LOVED getting to eat his cake!

We got Parker a wagon as his "big" present. He seemed to like it. We pulled him up and down the hall. He got lots of presents. (I want to remember what he got.)

Chad and I got him a wagon, a basketball goal for the bathtub, a sweater for church, and little Mickey Mouse books.

My mom and dad got him an activity cube and an Elmo Christmas movie.

Chad's parents got him two outfits and a See and Say.

My Aunt Debbie and Uncle Rich got him a set of Lego's with animals and a touch and feel book.

My granddad got him a toy that spins and plays music.

Aunt Shea couldn't come to the party because she had to go out of town for work but she got him two ADORABLE Christmas shirts and lots of books.

We had a blast and we are going to do it all over again on Sunday in Athens with Chad's family.

I took off work tomorrow because Parker has an appointment with his cardiologist in Huntsville. Dr. Isreal is his doctor. He was born with a VSD, or a hole in his heart. He has not had to receive any treatment since birth but it's always been in the back of my mind. We are going to get it checked tomorrow and we hope and PRAY that it's closed on it's own. I'll update after the appointment.

We have so much to be Thankful for!

This Thanksgiving has been extra special for our family. We got to enjoy our sweet baby Parker! Although he's not really a baby anymore! Last year at Thanksgiving I was VERY pregnant and starting to get miserable. I was feeling pretty bad and I didn't know at the time but it was because my blood pressure was very high. I probably would've had Parker over the Thanksgiving break had I gone on to the hospital.

We are so thankful to be Parker's parents. We love watching him grow and learn. He is becoming more brave and we expect him to start walking anytime now!

We are also praising the Lord that Chad received word on Wednesday that we do not have to move! It's all very confusing and I don't explain it very well but to sum it up and speciality position had to be approved by a committee at headquarters. It was approved for Chad to take the position. We were going to have to move to Huntsville so Chad could take a primary care position. He would've done it because that's the kind of husband and father Chad is but it was not an ideal position. He has already done primary care and he would prefer not to go back so this new position is PERFECT!! He will have many of the same doctors with a few new ones. He will add some doctors in Birmingham so he will have to be away more overnights now than before. :(

We are blessed and thankful! Happy Thanksgiving!

This just in...

We found out today that we do not have to move...More info to come!

4 years ago...

Four years ago Chad and I were living in Panama City Beach and loving our "newlywed" lifestyle! We moved down to PCB without knowing anyone but thankfully we quickly made it home. Chad was offered a job with Lilly in May 2004 and we got married the next month, June 5, 2004. We were so unprepared. We packed up our car a few weeks before we got married and we drove down to the coast to find somewhere to live. We didn't do any research before hand and we LITERALLY just drove around looking for apartments. We started in Destin but we could only find one apartment complex and it had a very long waiting list at it was $1,200 a MONTH, yes, my friends, a month! So we kept on driving to the spring break capital of the US..Panama City Beach. We drove around until we stumbled upon Harbor Green apartments. We loved them and signed a lease on the spot. Upon signing the lease, I noticed that there was an elementary school next door. How convenient, I thought, I should apply. I did and amazingly, the principal's children went to UNA so she was interested in me. I was hired over the phone!

It was four years ago this month, however; that we got the sad news that Chad was being reallocated with Lilly. We were totally blindsided by the news. He called me at work and I had to go home immediately after hearing the news. I was sobbing! We weren't sure where we would have to go next. (Unfortunately, we are in the middle of a reallocation again and still not sure if/or when we are going to have to move but that's another post.) We found out in November and we sold our house and moved home by January. It was quick.

I can't believe that we have been back in Florence for 4 years. The time has gone by really fast!

Here are the top 5 things that Chad and I miss the most about living in Panama City.

5. The Shopping-I LOVED driving over to Destin for the day to shop at the outlets. I would go with Chad or alone sometimes. I loved being so close to such great deals. Since we moved Panama City built the Pier park development and it's even better than what Destin has to offer. I would've gotten in lots of trouble there I am afraid!

4. Our first house! We bought our first house about 6 weeks before we found out that we were being reallocated. It was tiny. It was about 1,000 square feet but we LOVED it because it was ours! I can't find a picture of it on this computer but it looked beachy. It was stucco, had a one car garage. We were so proud. We put in new tiles and painted the entire house. We basically flipped it because we only owned it for like two months.

3. THE FOOD-We used to eat out all of the time! And not to Taco Bell, we went to eat the good stuff. We love seafood and we made the most of being so close to great restaurants. (Now wonder I was so "fluffy" when I lived there!) Some of our favorite restaurants were: Schooners, Big City Fish, Montego Bay, and The Boatyard. Sometimes we would go to the seafood market and get a huge cooler full of seasoned steamed shrimp and we would eat and eat! We probably spent way to much money of food, but who cares now. It was great!

2. The friends we made-I taught first grade at Patronis and LOVED every moment of it. I taught with amazing teachers. The school was developed and laid out in pods. I taught with Ana Hull, Alison Parker, and Brenda McGonagil. We all were great friends and planned our lessons together. The teachers play Bunco together, shopped together, and went out to eat often. Alison and I got to be good friends. Sandy was/is a dear friends and they both still live in Panama City. I also loved the fact that it was a shorter school day. The morning bell rang at 7:50 and school dismissed at 2! We started loading the buses at 1:45... :)) Why can't we do that in Alabama??

1. And of course, the number one reason we loved living in Panama City was the BEACH!! Our apartment was so close to the beach. It would just take a few minutes to get there. We could go at any time and we loved that! Now I hate that we didn't go walk on the beach every night! If I had known that we would have to move and leave so quickly, I feel that we would have enjoyed it even more. My school was so close the the airplanes with the banners would fly over the playground. You could smell the beach in the air. It was such a stressfree place to work and live. In the fall, Chad and I loved to take a picnic lunch to the beach and sit and eat.

There is a job opening in Destin and we did consider it for a few minutes but it is just so far from family.

Not many people get the opportunity to live at the beach so we count our blessings that we were able to experience life at the beach! I think of my Florida friends almost daily!