Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Celebration of Brad...

It was a warm and humid night.  My friend Rikki was pestering me to go out with her.  I really didn't want to, I was so tired of the bar scene and the types of the opposite sex that were always there.
But I eventually caved and off we went to The Golden Light.
We were there for about 2 hours and the atmosphere was stuffy and not appealing to us.
As we were about to leave, we were dragged onto the dance floor for several songs and things were starting to become fun.  And that was when I saw him.  Across the room, sitting at the bar was this man.
He was wearing a straw cowboy hat and a sparkling smile.  I winked.  I don't think he noticed, but I did.
 
 

Little did I know I would marry that man a little over a year later.
Yes, ladies, this is what I wake up to everyday.  Very handsome, huh? 

And on Friday, it will be his birthday.
Just think, 27 years and about 6-7 months ago God's great plan began.
It was then that He was designing my perfect mate.
How awesome that is to think about!
He, Brad, is of God's grand design and it was for myself and Emma
(and anyone else that comes around in the far future).
How perfect is God's plan.
Brad is
smart, loving, generous, loyal, dependable, stedfast, strong, handsome, wonderful, hard-working, kind, considerate, and above all else, a terrific dad.
And this week is his birthday.
So let us celebrate him!
 
Happy Birthday, Brad/Daddy!
 
 
 

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

No Title Needed...

My amazing husband. My wonderful, smart, and amazing husband.
My Lord designed him so perfectly.
My Lord designed him to tend to His people and His world.
Someone very dear to me once said, "Alison, we were sent here to earth to take care of the land, birds, animals, and people while Jesus is building our palace in heaven."
How wise that man was.
Little did he know that many years later I would meet such a wonderful man that had a desire in his heart to protect His land, His people, and their homes.
That is my husband.
Several blogs ago I told you about the interview of a lifetime for my husband.
Well, the decision is in....
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Are you tired of waiting?  WE WERE!


 


And you might just be jumping up and down in your seats because you know how fervently we have, and you have, prayed for His guidance in our decision.
And this decision did not come easily.  It has been weighing very heavy on our hearts.
We are so excited that God would put us in a place we have dreamed about for a long time.
But, we are also sad about leaving those we care the most about.
But thank God, His plan for us has been shown!
We see this new move as an adventure for our lives.  And what is the most exciting is that we (Brad, Emma, and I)
get to experience this newness together!
We ask for continued prayers as we begin this new chapter in our lives.  And we thank those of you who have been receiving blessed rug burns by praying for us all along!
And now on to the best part.......I can feel your excitement!
Our new destination....

 IS
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You do know I am having tons of fun with this, right? 
I apoligize.
It's the excitement.  It has gotten to me.
So without further interuptions...
We are moving to...







GIG 'EM AGS!



We will keep you posted on the next very scary couple of weeks.
However, Skype is our new best friend.
Please, find us on there so we can still stay in touch.
Until Then,

Thanks and GIG 'EM

 the rhinestones of a drama queen

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Emma's Birthday Bash!

On Sunday, we celebrated Emma's 1st Birthday with family!
How amazing it is that Emma has so many people love her so much!
Here are some pictures from her party!

Here is her table scape...


All of the yummy goodies Aunt Brookie and I made for her party...


Ah....her Princess thrown!  All Hail Princess Emma!


Here are the goodies that Emma's Aunt Ouisa made as party favors...


Emma's 11 month picture with mine an Brad's first year pictures beside hers...
Also, below the pictures were her door hanger and a scrub shirt with Emma's feet printed on it in a heart...


Thank you Aunt Tiffany for the next couple of pictures! 
It was such a relief to get to enjoy the party without having to take pictures as well.


As she sat upon her thrown with her crown perfectly in place...


Happy Birthday little girl!


More snipits from the party are sure to come...(i am still editing them right now)!
Until then...
the rhinstones of a drama queen

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Our Baby is 1 Today!!!

Emmaelynn Don Britten
Feb. 2, 2009
5 lbs. 3 oz.
17 and a half inches
10:53 pm

My sweet baby is 1 today. Last year, Brad and I were in the hospital waiting for her to arrive. Anxious to see her face and touch her little fingers and toes. I remember that day as if I experienced it yesterday. What I vividly remember was how Brad and I had eaten at Cracker Barrel the night before and at midnight I couldn’t eat anything else. So the whole day I was in labor I was so hungry. We were also watching the Food Network; it was torture. My parents, MiMi, and mother-in-law came up in the afternoon and waited. My dad kept watching all the monitors saying stuff like, “Man, your contractions aren’t strong at all!” (and yes they were, I could feel them) I had a hard time dialating, so I was given an epidural to relax. Even then, I was still having difficulty progressing. At 8:30ish a nurse came in to change my position; nothing had changed since 4:30pm. At 9:30, I told Brad I was ready to give up and ask for a c-section. I just was not progressing at all. And that, is when our miracle started to happen and our renewed faith set in. My wonderful, sensitive, and loving husband began to talk to my tummy. He explained to Emma that there were a lot of people waiting to see her and that our arms felt empty. He told her how much she was loved and how he wanted to see her face. He asked her to get ready and be welcomed into the world. And then that husband of mine grabbed my hand and put our hands on Emma and prayed. Then Nelson called. They talked for about 10 mins. And that is when I told Brad to go down and get a nurse. Things started happening at 10:10pm and (if we had not had to wait on the doctor) at 10:53pm; we met Emma.

So tiny, so frail, with barely any meat on her bones; we held that little girl. I listened to her cry and felt joy. I saw her face and I knew love. And then I watched as my husband held her; and my life became perfect. What a joy it is to have this little girl!


We got to bring her home and my wonderful mother came to help me out for that first week.  That week was a roller coaster in both our lives, so many things happened and the best thing that week was her.
How wonderful it was to have so much family around during this time!
That first month with her was hard and amazing! 



At 4 and a half weeks, our baby rolled over from her back to her tummy!  We were so proud.  She was still so little and here Brad and I thought that she would do things at a much slower rate than other babies born around this time.  Silly us!  Of course, she does have a whole lot of "Olson" in her!  Just Kidding!

And today is her FIRST birthday, these past twelve months have just flown by so fast!  And so, during this past year here is what we learned to do!

By month 3-4 we were rolling over with no problems!  She was our little rolly poley!





In July, we started to sit up all on our own!





In Sept. we started to crawl!



In Oct. we said, "Da Da" for the first time and she started to try and stand on her own!







In Dec. and Jan., she began to test her little feet by walking.  However, until a couple weeks ago we didn't start "running" around.  (I think she realized she could get there faster by crawling or she knew someone would carry her!)


This morning, my little girl was illusive.  No picture could be taken of her smiling face!  But what I did catch her doing was reading her book.  And that was better than nothing!


My baby is turning 1 today and how my baby talks!


To date, these are the words my baby knows:
Mama, Dada, Ditdee, Sadie, Nona(Memamaw, Brad's mom),
YaYa(JoJo, My mom), Hey, Yeah, and Bye Bye.
My baby is turning 1 today.  Oh my, how the months have flown by!