Where Has the Time Gone?

The snow has finally decided to melt and the roads are nice and dry so my dad can stop acting like Fred Flintstone. :) They are calling for it to snow here again this Friday but I don't think it will be anything like what we had here this past weekend. Luckily for me, I'll be heading out of town midday.

This weekend is my niece's fourth birthday. I cannot believe that Anna Grace will be four years old. Where does the time go?

Here's a picture of her when she was born:






And here she is on our family vacation this past August to Gulf Shores, AL:

And here's one of her and Chad since they both are celebrating a birthday this next week:

She has grown up so much. Now something that you either didn't know or might have forgotten was that when Anna was born she had to spend the first couple of weeks in the NICU. Her first night born she had acid reflux (which we didn't know she had obviously) and was getting choked and would stop breathing. She would turn blue. It was so scary and they had us all worried that she wasn't going to make it. They had us thinking she suffered a head trauma during the birth that was causing it. They finally realized that it was acid reflux and they just gave her medicine and she grew out of it after a year or so. Luke did the same thing although he wasn't in the NICU. He didn't have it as bad as Anna but he, too, grew out of it. Also, as little tidbit, Anna was born on my the third anniversary of my grandma's death. So now the date has a happier meaning to us than a sad one even though I miss my grandma terribly.

But anyway, every year at this time we head down to AL for a big birthday bash. It's not just her birthday but Chad's birthday is a few days after Anna's so we have started a tradition of celebrating both birthdays. We also have a big dinner on Friday for Chad and then we usually head to the park for Anna's birthday. So Friday at lunchtime, I'm headed to AL for that and to see my sweetheart.

It's been two weeks since I've seen him and it's killing me. We have tried to see each other every weekend with us taking turns driving but lately we've only been able to see each other every other week and it's just harder with each passing week to be apart. I'm telling you, long distance relationships are hard work but he's worth it. He's an amazing man and he's worth every bit of the hard work that goes into making this work. We text all during the day and then we talk every night so I feel as if we are doing very well. But it would be nice if we could see each other more often but at least we only live 4 hours away from each other and not longer or we wouldn't be able to see each other as much as we do. So to answer every one's question (which I get constantly from everyone at church and in my family), yes, we are doing great! We are still together and enjoying every minute of it. I'm so unbelievably happy and so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with a good, godly, hard working man. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Happy Birthday, Anna Grace and Chad! I love you!