He's excited

Here is Justice reading a map of The Magic Kingdom. He is already planning it out....truth be told so is mommy and daddy.

Back to School

Justice is now a 1st grader!!! He has had a great first week. He is also going to a martial arts academy for after school care where he is a "little ninja". He is excited about his new school and can't wait to go to the library (which he didn't have at his last school). We have all prayed that he has a good school experience and so far so good. I have received a few calls from the school. Apparently, Justice has been experimenting with scissors...and his clothes. He has cut 2 of his shirts out of the past 5 that he has worn....whew.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my MawMaw who just turned 99 a few weeks ago.....AND a very special Happy Birthday to our Justice who just turned 6!!!! We love you both very much!!!

Our Graduate

Here are a few pictures from Kindergarden Graduation. We are so very proud of him!!!!!

Tarheel T-Ballin

Justice has started T-ball again this year. He has only had one game so far, but he is really enjoying it! Last year he was on the Dragons team (red). This year he plays for Tarheel Drug (carolina blue). GO HEELS!!!

Update

So, it's been a while since I have posted a blog so I am making myself enter one to get back in the habit. Hmmm...what's going on?



David is enjoying his new job. He is getting used to shaving everyday and wearing khakis to work :-) He is especially liking his daytime hours!!!!



I went on a business trip at the beginning of the month. I went to a conference held in Las Vegas. Beth, my sister, went with me and did some exploring while I was in sessions all day. Although most of my time was scheduled, I went out to explore every chance I got. We were able to catch a couple of late shows. We went to see the Cirque show "Ka" and we also were able to see David Copperfield. They were both awesome!!!!! A couple of the conference mixers were held in some cool places. One night we were at the "Moon Bar" at The Palms and another night we were at TOA at The Venetian. We watched the Belagio water show from the top of The Eiffel Tower at Paris and we watched the sun set from the top of The Stratosphere. I will have to get some pictures up here.

Family braggin...

The second gentleman from the left is my Uncle Arnold. This picture was taken after he won The Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour in January. Part of his prize is that he gets an entry to the 2008 Carolina Open. We wish him all the luck!!!!

If you would like to know more of the details of the tournament you can check it out at http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.cfm?storynum=5046

Such a big shot....

Gee, I wish I had my own office.....with my name on the door.

Dreamin' of Disney

These are a few pictures from our January 07 Disney trip. Our (then) 97 year old grandmother was able to go with us and experience Disney for the first time. It's about the only place we go on vacation and we are far from tired of it. We are now contemplating a vacation next year and weighing our options between a Disney Cruise or a good ol' trip to Disney World. I wish we were there right now!!!

Justice's Story

We tried to have a baby for 2 1/2 years. Then the day come that we found out that we were pregnant. Not too long after that we found out that it was twins. It was a girl and a boy. At 22 weeks my water broke and I went into labor. Elizabeth Ann Barrett was born July 12th at Duke Hospital weighing 13 oz. We were blessed with her for an hour before she passed. After she was born my labor stoped, I un-dialated, and few other things happened (I will spare you the details) to help keep me from going into labor with Justice. We fought for him for as long as we could. After 10 days we couldn't fight any longer and it was time for him to be born. Justice was born at 24 weeks 1 hour and 15 min. He weighed 1 lb and 5 oz. His fight had begun. He was rushed to the NICU where they were able to put him on a ventilator.

Like most babies he lost weight. He got down to 14 oz. It was at this weight that he had to have heart surgery to close his PDA valve. He was on the ventilator for almost 9 weeks. He struggled to keep any weight on. He had infections, fluid on his lungs, battles with blood sugar, stomach scares, head scares, blood tranfusions, skin "break down", ROP (eye) concerns, etc. It was the scariest roller coaster ride you could imagine. Even with all that was going on; miracles happened, prayers were answered, and Justice was getting better.

He had excellent doctors and nurses, but most importantly he had prayer. There were congregations all over the East Coast that were praying for him. He was visited by Brother Boyd at least once a week as well as other ministers and chaplains. He fought with God beside him every step of the way and started getting better and better.

He was able to come home after 4 months. He came home with oxygen and a heart monitor which he was able to get rid of 5 months later. His eyes had corrected themselves and it looked like that he wouldn't need glasses. He had hernia surgery which healed nicely. Basically the only way that you can tell he was a preemie is his size and his scars, which he now calls "tattoos". He is truely our miracle.

He is now 5 years old! He is a handful and a blessing. He's been a fighter since birth and his stubborness has perservered. He loves Disney, movies, music, dancing, and games.

We used to share his story with everyone, but as most parents of preemies we stopped telling it as often as time went on. However, this is our testimony and I just couldn't have a blog and not share it.

PS. The picture above was taken soon after he had his heart surgery. That is David's wedding band on his leg.

For starters....

One of the big things that is going on in our lives right now is David's promotion. David works at Ligget and Myers and he just accepted a job as the Manufacturing Electronics Supervisor. He starts Feb 1st and he is very excited about it. Things are definitely going to be different each day for him at work and he is looking forward to this new opportunity.



I (Amanda) am still working at Sports Endeavors Inc. I am about to celebrate my 10 year Anniversary with the company. I work in the AVS/AOC department. This is our credit card/internet orders department for the 99.9% of you who don't know what it means. My main job is to screen orders for fraud and to come up with new ways to catch fraud. It's different from anything that I have done with the company before and I really love it.



Justice is doing great. He goes to school at Andrews Memorial Readiness Center. He is in Kindergarten there. He is learning how to read and he is doing really good at it (my opinion). He is obsessed with movies and music. He has inherited his mother's love for broadway musicals and his fathers love for tv and computers. It's something that we have to constantly monitor, but I think that he is going to be quite a Renaissance man. I will post Justice's story in another blog on this page for those of you who don't already know it.



We moved to Graham September 06 where we bought our first house. I am from Hillsborough but David grew up here. I really like the area and the town. It seems like everything is just down the street.



Well, this was my first blog attempt. I hope there will be many blogs to come!