I'm Here! I"m Here! I'm HERE!

If you know me at all you know that this blog is VERY important to me! I LOVE reading the posts years later. It is such a good keepsake for my children when they grow up. I keep saying I am going to make it a book. The longer I wait, the more expensive that book gets! So, shame on me, for not posting in FOREVER. Forgive me, my readers, I promise to be better! What's been happening at the Olliff house? Well, LOTS of course!!!

Drewbie turned 4. I can't believe that baby is 4. He was the first kid on the "compound." My how we have grown in 4 short years!! I remember trying to hold him when they brought him home from the hospital. If you have ever tried to hold a newborn while being huge pregnant you know how difficult that is. I love the memory of holding him and still waiting on Kennedy. I like to think they were friends even back then. When they were born they truly were destined to be best friends. Their relationship has grown and changed and I adore it. I hope they will always be close. Kennedy was dying to see him today. It has been a whole day since she has seen him. She says, "I can't wait to see my best friend Drew." Then she says to Whit, "I bet you can't wait to see your best friend Lorelei." I cracked up. Whit and Lorelei are not currently best friends. They are more like a couple going through a break up. ;)

What's Whit up to? Well, first and foremost, he is getting WAY too big!!! He is all boy. He loves his daddy and everything he loves. I find this quite humorous because he looks 100% like a Sartin but has all the loves of an Olliff. For example, he is obsessed with bow hunting because that is Greg's current hobby. He is also loving football season. He'll sit down in front of the tv and say, " I wanna watch football mommy!" He woke up the other morning and saw that Greg was not sleeping in a shirt and insisited on sleeping in just his pajama pants. Like father, like son....it is just so sweet! He's a sweetheart this baby. He does love his mommy. My absolute favorite thing on earth is when he snuggles me close and takes my hair and plays with it. A little boy really does melt your heart. He went for his 2 year check up last week. I know, I know, I was a little late. He weighed in at 28.6 pounds and was 36 inches tall. That puts him in the 75th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. They can guess your adult height at 2 and that would make him 5'11. Who knows??? He'll be a tall Olliff that is for sure. It will quite amusing for the tall lanky Olliff to tower over Brucie and Greg. He's growing fast, but we are enjoying every minute of it.

How's Kennedy? She can make you laugh and laugh and laugh. She is enjoying school so much! She is making new friends everyday. The other day she came home talking about a new friend she met on the playground. She loves her teacher and I cannot get over the fact that she is going to pre-k next year!!! She is LOVING dance. Her teachers say she is very coordinated. They have nothing but sweet things to say about Kennedy. I think it is her favorite thing to do every week. I love that she loves it. That was something that was such a big part of my childhood. It also is what kept me in such good shape. I cannot wait for a recitial!!


That's it for now. I'll try to be a better blogger. October brings lots of good picture taking opportunities!! :)

The Power of Prayer

I love our new Sunday School class. We are studying Acts. Today, we were talking about all the miracles and healing that happened. We see miracles everyday. We just don't give all the credit to God. We think, wow, the doctors did such a great job. One of the ladies in our class has a gift of prayer. You can't listen to her pray without being touched in some way. She said today she felt called to pray for healing. That if people in the times of the Bible could pray and people were miraculously healed that we should be committed to doing that as well. I think about so many times when I say I will pray for someone and I do, yet days and weeks pass and they leave my memory. I guess I am writing this to say I am committing to prayer. If I say I will pray for you, I am writing it down. And I am praying for you until you are healed or until you tell me I don't need to anymore. I believe in God's miracles. I believe in prayer. I believe that if the chemo or any other medicines cannot heal Tonya, that GOD can heal her. I'll pray that until He does. It really is simple. So that is my commitment, out loud on my blog. I will commit to prayer. I encourage you to join me. In honor of my miracle talk, I thought I would put some pictures of my own miracles. These sweet babies are growing up fast!

Raising a Girl

Right at 3 and a half we considered giving Kennedy away to the highest bidder. I woke up one morning to a child I did not recognize. We wondered if we should call the Super Nanny. We wondered if maybe our child was abducted by aliens in the night. After about three weeks or so of our unrecognizable child, suddenly she reappears. Those dimples came back, the light her in eyes sparkled once again, and we decided we would keep her. ;) Raising a little girl with Sartin genes is not for the faint of heart. You have to be strong. You have to remain in control. You cannot be angry (this is the hardest part for me). You have to be patient, calm, and committed. You have to have back up at times. And yet, through struggles, I would not change my life for one minute. She's a handful. She's extremely stubborn. She's right about everything. She's not afraid to test her limits. She's me with Greg's face. She's also so talented. She's creative. She's got a wonderful imagination. She has such a sweet personality. She's a little mother in a three year old body. She's full of life and joy. My mom laughs at my stories. She says I am now getting what I dished out. :) She's made me a better person, my Kennedy Susan. She makes sure it is never a dull moment around here that is for sure. Good or bad days, I think we'll keep her. I love you sweet girl!

A Best Friend

You have lots of people in life that you meet and they become your friends. Some of them last forever. Some, are just there for a time and you lose touch. A friend is someone you can tell just about anything. They are there when you need them. Do 3 year olds really know that type of friendship? When I think of their relationship, I totally answer yes to that one. These two are truly the best of friends. Kennedy worries about Drew when he is sick. She can't stand it when they go a few days without seeing each other. She loves him to the moon and back. Moments like these look posed, but they are genuine. When you ask them to hug, they embrace like they are sending each other off to war. :) I love these two. Kennedy and Drew, may you always love each other this much. I know in life you'll grow up and change, but always, always know how special you are to each other. You've know each other your ENTIRE lives so far. You can't say that about everyone. You truly are the definition of the BEST of friends. I love you guys!!!

P.S. Don't expect a post on Whit and Lolly like this. They are not the best of friends currently. They actually never have been. We shall see if that relationship blossoms....if they don't kill each other first. :)

Smokin Hot Hubs

Now, don't drool ladies. I know he is smokin hot. You can't have him. He's all mine. :)

I love you dear.

Fairy Feet???

This is for documentations sake only. I know this will interest no one but me in the scheme of life. I was looking for Kennedy's shoes to wear with her cheerleading uniform. All she has worn this summer is flip flops and sandals. She doesn't even own a pair of real tennis shoes. They just don't go with cute dresses! All this to say, I find the keds from last year, try them on and they fit! PERFECTLY!! Wow. Her feet have not grown in a year. Not one bit!! We might actually get some wear out of church shoes this year. Jen named them fairy feet. Let's hope they grow eventually! :) hahahaha!

GO EAGLES!

Well, we decided to be Eagles fans again, people! Yes, that's right, there are no babies in the house anymore so maybe, just maybe we can make it to some games!!! We started the season out right with the first home game. We enjoyed tailgating with friends. The kids had so much fun! There were even fireworks after the game. They were in heaven. :) Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

K and Lil

GO EAGLES!

The Olliffs are back, Eagles. Now you can have a winning season. Sorry, but I have NO idea how you did last year!