Thanksgiving Fun

Brooks had his Thanksgiving program this past Wednesday and it was so good.  I know most of the words to the songs, as this program is very dear to my heart.  We were so proud of Brooks, but I was pretty sad too.  This will be our last Thanksgiving program at His House.  I really can't believe that we have been here almost 7 years, and next year there will be no Fitzgerald's in attendance. 

This was the first program that Pawpaw has ever been able to come to.  Brooks requested his presence about 5x a day within the week leading up to the program.  You better bet his Pawpaw was on the front row and so excited to cheer him on. 

Reese had her Thanksgiving feast at her school the following Thursday.  Matt and I were both able to be there to eat with her.  We had a great time sitting with Claire and Jeff and spending time with our girl!

I am so excited for Thanksgiving break.  We have a lot of fun planned.  This time of year is my absolute favorite.  

Meeting Our Jude

On November 1st, our family welcomed Jude Jameson aka Ning Ning to the United States, specifically to NWA.  This was the day that I was diagnosed with pneumonia and had spent the day having all sorts of tests run at the hospital, but I couldn't bring myself to miss it.  I stood towards the back and took a video and watched as Jude met all his siblings.  He truly is the sweetest little guy in the world.  He is so full of love and we were in awe of him. You can see from the pictures below that he had quite the fan club.  

I am so thankful for safe travels for my brother and Brandi.  Many prayers were lifted on their behalf every day.  God is faithful and we are so glad they're home with Jude.  As Reese said in her letter that she wrote you, Ning Ning... We will love YOU always and forever!  Welcome to our big family sweet boy!!!

Hey Jude❤️

My brother and sister-in-law flew to China on October 17, Brandi's 42nd birthday.  They were gone for 16 days while adopting their precious, beautiful 4 year old son.  He is called Ning Ning (after the village he came from), and will be named Jude Jameson Garner. They faced timed us twice and did so great to send us emails and pictures regularly, as we were all anxiously awaiting this sweet new addition to our family.  

These are all pictures they sent while they were in China.  We LOVED getting daily updates and will love you forever sweet Jude!!

Real Life

I love that I have kept up with this blog.  For the most part, it is me capturing lots of pictures of the memories that my sweet family makes.  But I would be doing myself a disfavor if I didn't also include some of the tough days.  The end of October has been a little challenging this year. On Sunday night, October 20, our area was hit by a F2 tornado.  While our neighborhood and town (Cave Springs) had a lot of damage, our house did not.  We lost our gate and our outdoor light fixtures, but the house next to us lost half of their roof; which quickly puts things into perspective.  We were so thankful that all of our neighbors were safe.  What's so crazy about this tornado is that it was on the ground for over 30 miles.  It hit our neighborhood, but also hit my brother's neighborhood out by the lake.  While they lost a huge tree that smashed their playhouse, it thankfully did no damage to Landon's or Mamaw's house.  

 Landon and Brandi have been in China adopting sweet Jude and have been gone for 16 days.  The tough part is not that they have been gone.  Their kiddos are precious and Grammy/Grumpy and Mimi/Pawpaw have done a fantastic job keeping up with their schedules and taking care of everybody.  Dad had to take care of the tree out at their house because the road was impassable.  

Again, I am feeling so blessed that everyone was safe and damage was minimal. 

This brings me to yesterday.  I got home after trick-or-treating on Halloween night and was having crazy chills and horrible body aches.  I was determined that I had the flu.  I was planning to work yesterday but truly had no energy to even get up and get ready.  I made an appointment to see an APN at Mercy and my flu test came back negative.  I had told her that I felt a lot of tightness in my chest and was having trouble taking deep breaths, even though she said my lungs sounded good.  She was very proactive and ordered at D-dimer blood test.  She said if it came back elevated, I could have blood clots in my lungs.  

Hearing that scared me to death!  I know of two people who have died instantly because of pulmonary embolisms that have dislodged.  Well...my blood work came back elevated.  She immediately ordered a CT Angio scan.  Matt had picked both kids up early and had them to my mom so that he could be with me.  We did the Cat Scan and praise the Lord that I had no blood clots, but a severe case of pneumonia.  

In the midst of all this going on, my precious sister was on the road and had gotten all the way to Ft. Smith before I received the news that there were no blood clots.  My sweet Mom was just trying to hold it together with 5 grands in tow, and I couldn't quit crying.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude when the APN gave me the news.  

I was able to leave the hospital about 2 hours before Landon and Brandi landed at the airport with Jude.  Emotions were very high yesterday, but when I hugged my babies necks and snuggled them extra last night, I felt so very grateful.


God is FAITHFUL, all the time!

Pumpkin Patch

Last Sunday, it was a beautiful day.  We went to church that morning, ate a quick lunch at Taziki's, and headed to the Ozark Corn Maze (with the rest of the NWA population).  Surprisingly, we were able to do everything we wanted to do; pumpkin slingshots, corn cannons, hayrides, barrel train rides and MORE.  We had an awesome time.  It was a gorgeous Fall day and we soaked it up, making lots of fun memories.  

We came home that night and carved pumpkins.  Reese chose a cat and Brooks chose a ghost.  It was the perfect ending to a great day.