Our baby is 2!!

On December 11, 2008, Olivia Alene Sapien turned 2! We are still in a state of denial that our baby is now a little girl...heavy emphasis on the "little". Weighing in at 23 pounds, fully clothed, and just over 32 inches tall, she's still a tiny thing! It's so fun to hear her say new words every day and become a little person with her own personality. She's quickly showing the boys who's boss and has already mastered the art of tattle taling and manipulating Daddy!

I think that every year on her birthday I will be reminded of the fact that it is a complete miracle that she is with us and we serve such a loving God who answered so many prayers and gave us a beautiful, healthy girl, and kept His protective hands on me also, in the midst of a very scary, hard delivery and surgery.

I will forever remember being pushed in a wheelchair to the NICU about 30 hours after giving birth to meet my daughter for the first time. She was so tiny and had so many tubes and monitors hooked up to her and I was not in the best state myself after a c-section, a hysterectomy and a blood patch surgery, but she was the most beautiful baby in that hospital and I was the most blessed mother. The fact that after that traumatic birth, 2 years later she is in perfect health will never be taken for granted by us.

She is our last baby, so all of her firsts are the last firsts that Eric and I get to experience in one of our children. That makes them bittersweet and all the more precious.

Happy Birthday Sweet Livi!

Mike is Married!!!

I'm a little behind...it's been over a month! I can't believe how quickly time flies. On November 14, 2008, we were thrilled to welcome a new member to our family! Katie is now Aunt Katie to the kids and is officially a Buford (sorry Katie...you're stuck with the name!).

For a month before their big day I spent a lot of time on my knees praying that the kids wouldn't get sick since they were ring bearers and flower girl, and God was, as He always is, so faithful! The day of the wedding came and we were all in good health. Reece went to school for a few hours that morning and I was home with the 2 little ones getting ready for the wedding. Carson and Olivia were watching TV and Livi, being the little sister, was doing her very best to annoy Carson by standing in front of the TV so he couldn't see. He told her to move, she got mad and in retaliation she took the TV cabinet door and dropped it on Carson's face. He started crying and I walk into the living room to see BLOOD pouring from right below Carson's eye...only a few hours before we're supposed to be at the church for pictures!!! I am not good with blood...especially blood that is pouring down my child's face. I couldn't tell if the cut was deep enough for stitches or not and I couldn't get a hold of Eric to come home and check, so I called my Dad, who had nothing better to do...he was ONLY putting the finishing touches on his son's wedding vows and message. So he came and he too, couldn't decide if it was deep enough. So we decided to just hold off on going to the ER and do the next best thing...cover the thing with a bandaid and pray that it was good enough!!

So, as you can see, Carson is wearing a huge bandaid in the wedding pics...oh well...he's a boy! And by the way, my cousin Adam reassured us that night that he did not need stitches, so our gamble paid off!! The wedding was BEAUTIFUL and my little brother is now a married man! Congrats Mike & Katie! We love you!