Trans Siberian Orchestra

On December 9, Jason and I took a chance to go see Trans Siberian Orchestra while they were here in Little Rock. I have always wanted to go and it always seems to fall on a night that we are busy and/or I'm on call. Not so much this year, so Jason got us some tickets and we took the opportunity to go. It was a super cool experience and I loved seeing all of the lights! I did, however, wish that we had gotten better seats instead of pretty much hanging from the rafters of Verizon Arena, but oh well! Better luck next time! And so glad that I got to experience the music and light show! Those people are extremely talented and I was definitely impressed!

Happy 5th Birthday Brady!!!

5 years ago...

5 years ago today we were waiting. Waiting on our lives to change, waiting to welcome a brand new baby into our family for the first time ever, waiting to see our family shift and find out just what it would be like to love this little thing more than we could imagine. I was waiting to become an aunt, my mother waiting to become a grandmother for the first time, my sister waiting to be a mother in the flesh. In a nutshell, we were waiting on Brady. And at 5:12 on 12-12-06, he made his arrival! He was more precious than I could have imagined! I couldn't believe that my sister got to take him home to keep and that we were going to get to watch him grow and change from a baby to a toddler to a little boy more full of life than a baby bird just learning to fly...or a better analogy, more full of life than me walking into any Juicy Couture store in the country!

This little man has changed my life in so many ways for the better and I can not imagine what life would be like without him. When Brady was just a baby, my sister kept a baby book for him and of course, me being the nosy little sister I am, couldn't resist thumbing through and it catching up on her latest posts whenever I was lucky enough to find it sitting out. One day I found a letter she had written to Brady, maybe when she was pregnant, maybe right after he was born. Anyway, the most significant part to me was a portion where she explained everything she hoped for Brady and everything she hoped his life would be. A very popular song that year was "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts and my sister dedicated this song to Brady and told him it was her song to him because everything she wanted for him could be described in that song. Talk about MOVING!! Geeez I think my heart skipped a little beat. Of course I had heard the song PLENTY of times, belted it out in horrible tones in my car, even had it downloaded to my ipod, but I had never really paid attention to the words before. The next time I heard that song play I was in tears. Thinking of all that it meant and thinking of that sweet little face and what all he would see in his life good and bad. There was no doubt that that would be the song I would put on his DVD of his first year slideshow and nothing could have been more perfect. That song is FOREVER in my heart as "Brady's Song" and I am being 100% honest in saying that even now, 5 years later, there is not one time I have heard that song at any place, any time of the day, that I wasn't moved to tears. Sometimes it's just a solo tear or two and there have been times I have had to really pat at my eyes trying to keep my eye makeup in tact before strolling into work in the morning.

I don't know why but I felt like the 5th birthday was the most appropriate time to resurface this dusty old memory. The first milestone birthday counts for something right?! I totally think 5 is a milestone. This year I realize he's no longer a baby, he's no longer a toddler, he's a little boy who is going to morph into a big boy in what I'm sure will feel like lightening speed! At any rate, this was an important post for me to share and I hope someday, maybe 15 years from now, he still wants to sit on the couch with his Aunt Nay and let me share this with him.

"I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow
And each road leads you where you want to go
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile

"I hope you never look back, but ya never forget
All the ones who love you, in the place you left
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret
And you help somebody every chance you get
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake
And always give more than you take."

"My wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to, your dreams stay big, your worries stay small. You never need to carry more than you can hold. And while your out there getting where your getting to, I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too. Yeah this, is my wish"


Brady 2 years old-since all my early pics got wiped on my old crashed hard drive



Best pic I could ask for of me and the busy body at his 5th bday party!

Happy 5th birthday sweet boy! We pray this life becomes all that you want it to!

Love,
Aunt Nay

Baby Cam is on the way!

Recently I helped host a shower for my dear little bestie Ms. Jessie Winn Copeland. Ok, ok her name is Jessica Copeland but I call her Jessie because she hates it more than anything and Winn is her maiden name which has been IMPOSSIBLE for me to drop every since she got married...in 2008! haha Anyhow, Jess is expecting her second little bundle of joy, another baby boy Cam August Copeland! We are all very excited for him to make his debut!

Here is a sampling of the super cute shower we gave her. The colors are representative of Cash and Cam's room which also has accents of little baby owls! Too cute!

Cash's gift from Nan

Cash helping mommy open a gift from Ashley

One of the outfits for Cam from me!

Baby bathtub from Megan!

We all had a great afternoon at the shower and Cam got lots of great little things to get him started!  Can't wait for the little sweetie to arrive and relieve his mommy from her discomfort!