About Me

We are a family of five (yes we count our dog) who are loving every minute that the Lord has blessed us with!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

When the hubby is away...

Yes, this picture is from 2002, but isn't he cute?!
Ryan left this morning to go to the Outer Banks with my dad. This will be the first time that he has left me since we have been married. I have gone to my parents a few times, but I was always the one leaving. So... here I am all alone with Lucy McLean. I haven't even been here alone with my daughter for 24 hours and, although I am loving every minute of being with her, I am coming to the realization that

1. I love my husband and he is fabulous and fun to have around. Even when he doesn't say anything, it is nice to have his presense surrounding me. Who has to say anything anyway when I am around?

2. My mother is amazing and I don't know how she did it by herself for so long. My mom was a single mom from the time I was 3-14. We were totally blessed to have Terry come in to our lives and be an amazing father to me. As I look back I can't fathom how my mother made it through those years. YOU ARE MY HERO!

So, Lucy McLean is teething/has horrid gas from something her mama ate :( oops! She did great this morning for church. When I walked in to pick her up, all three ladies in the nursery started to go crazy telling me how "she didn't puke that much at all this time" as they are all wearing their nice puke capes. Ahhh... to have a daughter known for her puke. Those ladies love on her regardless! I had finally gotten up the nerve to say, yet again, that I thought something was wrong with her at her checkup Friday (stats coming soon). I have had issues with the reality of whether or not the puke was an actual issue or was I doing the crazy 1st time mother thing. After LM being with her Aunt Lissa for over a month, she convinced me that most babies don't infact puke ALL DAY LONG like there is a permanent water spout coming out of their mouth. Our pediatrician is awesome (WE LOVE YOU DR. MYERS) and heard me out. She gave LM one more medicine to try before we go to another GI specialist. I am thinking (and praying) that this medicine may be reducing the puke. I only counted 3-4 times that she puked all day today. Trust me.. this is a record.

Our church had a cookout/baptism at http://www.campillahee.com/tour/ . It was a lot of fun and beautiful. LM did great at this too.

We got home this afternoon. On top of the gas/teeth/ a little stopped up.. she was pooped. She had a rough afternoon and we didn't make it to youth group tonight :(. After a long nap, a good walk, a hilarious time of "practicing crawling", a good bath and a bedtime feeding, she is zonked out and I am heading that way myself. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband. I know that he will have a blast with my dad and needs this vacation, but wheew... I am gonna miss him.

P.S. Mom/Grammy comes Thursday... and Lucy McLean can't wait!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Wake Forest and Chuck Taylor Lady




(only when it comes to ACC... she is a Tiger at heart)
Lucy McLean got this hilarious hat with an outfit from Natalie. She is just now able to wear it. We have so much fun putting it on her. I know that we are the only ones who find it as amusing as we do, but we think it is hilarious. She wore it last night for her Uncle Ste Ste (an N.C. State grad).

P.S. She LOVES her Chuck Taylor's Uncle Thomas!!! THANK YOU!!!

Henna's Shower


Lucy McLean and I went to my parents house last weekend to throw my friend Henna (Jenny) a shower. She is getting married in November and we are soo excited for her. It is always fun to get together with these ladies!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Trying to crawl

Lucy McLean is trying very hard to crawl these days. It is hilarious to see her stick her fanny in the air as high as she can and topple over on to her side. Her great coach... I mean Daddy... is trying very hard to teach her how! We will see how it goes!

P.S. Isn't my hubby a great photographer?

Grandma's B-day Party

Pics from the fun weekend...

LM and Grammy
LM eating Grandma's cake
Smooches!
Strong genes? What do you think?
Sweet time with Grandpa!

The weekend before last (I know... I am getting slack), we went to my Grandma's surprise B-day party. On Wednesday, she will officially be 70 years old. Don't tell her I told you!!! She is the greatest grandmother. I have loved growing up and having her to love on me. I still remember going over to my grandparents house as a child and getting Dominos pizza on Friday night. We would go rent movies and have a blast all night. If we were REALLY good, we got to go to Blue Bay on Saturdays. That was always an adventure, because between my two grandparents, they knew EVERYONE in our small town. I could go on and on about my wonderful memories of this lady growing up. It is amazing to see her with Lucy McLean. When I see her loving on LM, I think about how much she must have loved on me at that age. I am so glad that the Lord has blessed us with another year of laughter, great conversations and love. Grandma... we love you. Here is to 70 more!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

While Mama is Away...



Hey readers! This is Lucy McLean. I thought that I would take a second to let you know what I have been up to while my mama has been working. I stay with my wonderful Aunt Lissa. She is the mama of my three cousins; Skylar, Kyndall and Anslie. Skylar gets to go to big girl school during the day, so I only get to see her for a second in the morning and for a little bit in the afternoon. She is in 1st grade! I am so proud of her and how smart she is. During the day, Aunt Lissa lets Kyndall take over in "keeping" me. She is in charge! Kyndall and Anslie make me laugh a lot. Anslie doesn't realize that I am basically her size, as she tries to hold me and feed me all the time. Aunt Lissa has done a great job documenting my time at her house. I thought that I would share a few pictures of what we have been up to. Enjoy...
Last Thursday, I went the WNC State Fair for the 1st time. My mama was sad that she wasn't able to take me. She has class on Thursday nights. My daddy came and picked me up from the fair.This is a picture of me and my Aunt Lissa!
Anslie was REALLY excited about the fair!
When Skylar is at home, she loves on me. I love to take naps with her! Look how long I am!!!
Like I said, Anslie makes me laugh!!!


And sometimes she makes me upset. Notice that my mama and I had a little discussion about how NOT to make "hand gestures"!
She tries to help feed me!

Here I am with Kyndall. You can't tell by the picture, but she really does love me and play with me. Sometimes she gets worried though, because I have a reputation as "a spitter" and she has a reputation as a "gagger"!

As you can tell, I love spending time at my Aunt Lissa's house. My mama says it makes going to work easier, knowing that I am taken care of and loved on all day long. She doesn't have to worry about me a bit! I know she misses me and I miss her too, but this is all working out!!! Well, it is past my bedtime. I hope you enjoyed my a sneak peak at my adventures at the Harrison's!!!

Love,
Lucy McLean

Monday, September 15, 2008

Naked Girl

Thursday nights are father/daughter night at our house. I have a class at WCU ( 1 hour 45 minutes away) from 5-8. Ryan does a great job loving on Lucy McLean while I am away from the fam :(. This past Thursday, Ryan captured some beautiful pictures of LM eating her oh so sweet toes! ENJOY!!!



Tuesday, September 9, 2008

God's "Warrior Princess"

It is with great sadness that I tell our readers that Jessie Garren took her last breath last night at 9 pm. Yet, while I write that first sentence, I realize that I should not be sad about this. What an amazing God we serve. Jessie was such an awesome example. In church this week, Todd (our pastor) said that Jessie's prayer was to reach the halls of Brevard High School. Well... I can truly say.. WELL DONE JESSIE!!! While Ryan and I prayed so hard about whether or not I would be going back to work after the birth of Lucy McLean and while it was painfully hard to leave her, I had a HUGE blessing in my job today. As a school counselor, I was called for crisis response at the high school, after the passing of Jessie. As I drove over there, I prayed about how God would lead me to these young men and women and for Him to speak through me. As I walked in to the school, I realized, I didn't have to say a thing.. God had already taken care of everything, THROUGH JESSIE!!! Jessie, girlfriend, you have impacted the halls of BHS. Moreso, you have impacted the lives of more people than we can imagine. I can't begin to understand or explain why the Lord allows painful situations to open doors, but I know He does. Jessie's life, her smile, her positive attitude through extreme pain, all of it, impacted the lives of not only everyone she knew, but thousands of others. As I looked up the You Tube video that I had posted back in July, I noticed that it had been seen over 2,000 times. WOW!!! Please watch it if you have a chance. I have posted it below again. For those of you who have prayed for the Garren family, thank you and please continue to pray. I can't begin to tell you what an amazing family this is. Jessie, thank you for the impact you made. Your life was well crafted by our wonderful maker and I feel blessed to have experienced your smile. Lord, thank you for the opportunity to love on high school girls and be with them through this journey. Not that I deserved a reminder of why you wanted me back at work, nor did you have to give it to me, BUT THANK YOU!!!

I will leave you with a verse from Jessie's Caringbridge site...

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9


Monday, September 8, 2008

Lucy McLean and her big bro!



As you can tell, Lucy McLean is a HUGE fan of Snoop. She is hilarious with him. The poor dog will forever be tortured now.

Happy Grandparents Day... A little late

While I knew that yesterday was Grandparent's Day, I was very slack in actually posting. Lucy McLean is very blessed to have a whole slew of love from many "GRAND" people. Thank you to each of you for raising Ryan and me and for helping us in this new journey of parenthood. Here are a few pictures of LM with her "GRAND" parents!

Lucy McLean and her namesake- Lucille (Ryan's Mamaw)
Lucy McLean and her Papaw (Ryan's Dad)
Lucy McLean and her Nana (Ryan's Mom)Lucy McLean and her Grammy (My Mom)


Lucy McLean and her Grandpa (My Dad)
Lucy McLean and her Great Grandma (My Grandma "Claytie")
Lucy McLean and her Great Grandmother Pat (Ryan's Grandmother)
Lucy McLean and her "GRAND" Great Aunt Sue (My Great Aunt)

Again, we love you all so very much. Thank you for all you do!!!

Saturday, September 6, 2008