Happy Birthday Joel!

Joel turned 6 on Saturday (9-6) so most of this post is about him! I am sure most of you remember that finding out I was pregnant with Joel was a HUGE surprise to Craig and I. Craig had just decided to go back to school, our house was without flooring because of a water problem and Caleb was still a baby. I remember thinking God what am I going to do and maybe it will be a girl!! From the get go he was our easiest baby; sleeping through the night at 3 days old, very content, and just not an added burden. Plus out of all of the boys Joel is a true "momma's boy" which I love. He WON't go anywhere or let me go anywhere without a hug and a kiss from mom! He is so intelligent and an "out of the box" thinker who can ask the craziest and most thought provoking questions!! God knew exactly what he was doing (as always)! We are so thankful for him and very thankful he was not a girl! Ha. ha.
We began the celebration on Friday when I took cupcakes up to his kindergarten class. The kids all sang Happy Birthday to him and REALLY enjoyed the cupcakes. Saturday morning when he got up we told him he could have WHATEVER he wanted for breakfast. He first said donuts and then the other kids were like donuts Joel lets go to IHOP so then he changed his mind. I finally said Joel you think about where you want to go while we get ready and then tell us when it is time to go. You pick where you would like to go....which means we had DONUTS! For those of you who don't know Joel is a true donut expert. He LOVES donuts!! So I decided let's got to Krispy Kreme. There is one near our apartment and we didn't have one near us in Sugar Land or Longview. This Krispy Kreme was open where you could see the donuts being fried and glazed on a conveyor belt. This was true heaven for Joel! However when we sat down to eat our donuts he took one bite and said these are gross. I don't like these donuts, I like the donuts we had near our house in Sugar Land...oh boy! We left the donut shop and met up with Randy & Sherrie and Craig's sisters and their family. We all attended David's (Shannon's son) tennis match. We then went back to ee Craig's grandmother and visit with their family. It was a great day. Of course he couldn't quite figure out why he had to wait until his party (on the 20th)to open presents but I said this way you get another great day!!

Side Note - My brother and Leanna made a quick trip to Canton (where her family lives) on Thursday/Friday. Kyle called me on Friday afternoon and said they were going to come to Frisco and see where we were building and let my boys see Nicole. (They had never seen her because they of course weren't allowed in the NICU.) I was so excited and so appreciated. First, Frisco is certainly not "on the way" home to Austin PLUS they are traveling with 2 kids under the age of 2 - NOT EASY! My kids were SO excited to get to meet Nicole and I had a great time showing them where we are building. We ate dinner before they headed home to Austin. *Thanks Uncle Kyle & Aunt Leanna we LOVE our new niece/cousin and can't get enough of our nephew!! (Pics - me holding Nicole; Joel holding Nicole and doesn't she look SCARED!; Caleb holding Nicole; the last picture Nicole was really asleep with her arms behind her head so the boys had to lay down beside her!)

Prayer Request - for those of you who are aware please continue to pray for my grandmother. She is back in the hospital and we thought she may have been headed to heaven on Saturday morning but she has since rallied and is coherent and doing well. My mom is back in Houston and is staying with her for now. Also please pray that the permit on our house would come through. They can not start building until the permit goes through and we are "knocking" already on the door for them to hit the projected completion date of November. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to be in the home by Christmas.