The Newest Lindsey

It's a girl!!!! No, John and I are not expecting. Our NEICE was born on Tuesday! Kara Lynn Lindsey was born to Susan and Travis on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 12:39 p.m. She weighed 11 pounds...yes, you read that right! She is 11 pounds even and she is 22 inches long. She is beautiful and already very alert. Michael and Malachi are already in love with their new baby sister. Susan and Travis opted to not find out the sex of the baby until the birth, so it was quite an exciting time when Travis and the baby came through the hospital room door and he announced it was a girl. (Susan was still in the OR). Mommy and baby are doing just great. Aunt Allison is so very happy not only to have a new baby neice to spoil, but there is hope for me to have a girl some day...the Lindsey boys do make girls!



Malachi, John David and Michael, playing at our house the day before Kara was born.

Catching Up

We hosted a small Super Bowl get-together this year and had some friends from church over after the evening church service. Our friend, Kristi, made this very clever cake and brought it to share with us. Isn't it just too cute?!? It was quite tasty too!

Christmas Continues in January

Since the holidays get so busy, Kimberly, Meredith and I decided that this year we would get together in January, long after the hustle and bustle of Christmas was gone. So the weekend of January 26 - 28 was our time to visit and exchange Christmas presents with one another. We had fun hanging out together with our babes - Meredith and baby Nolan (12 weeks old at the time), Kimberly and Harrison (9 months old) and me with John David (16 months old). We took them to Walmart to have their pictures made together and they turned out really cute. I'll try to scan and post one of the pictures soon. Cole is missing from our pictures. He's Meredith's 4 year old who stayed at home with daddy for the weekend. John David was facinated with the "babies" and said the word for the first time Thursday night before their arrival. He is still asking about them, now 4 weeks after they were here. I guess they made quite an impression on him! We all hope that our boys grow up to know each other so I'm sure we'll have many more weekend visits with them. In addition to the "professional" pictures we had made (I have to laugh since we had them made at Walmart and it was hardly a professional experience!), we took several other snapshots that I'll share two here.

Sumo Baby Nolan weighing in at 16 pounds at his 12 week Dr.'s visit! Such a sweet and happy baby!

The Swimmy Heads - John David and Harrison had fun posing in their swim diaper hats! They will probably hate us for this one in a couple of years!

It was a fun weekend and great to be with my two dear friends!

Happy Valentine's Day!

John David and I made valentine cards for his little friends at school (Mother's Morning Out) and he was so proud of them! Just like all of the other holidays, he has loved learning about Valentine's Day. He squeals with delight every time he looks at the valentines he received from his friends and grandparents. And we must've read "Biscuit's Valentine's Day" a hundred times. It's a book he received last year from Nana (John's step-mom, Jackie) and while he enjoyed turning the pages last year when I read it to him, he has loved it this year, being able to ask what everything is on the pages and pointing out the cat, the dog, the girl's hat, her coat, etc. He is such an observant little boy.

John was at home last night with John David while I went to my "Ladies' Night Out" group. I left the art supplies John David and I had used for his Valentines on the table and when I woke up this morning, John suprised me with the cutest little hand-made valentine card that he had made for me. It was precious and I was really impressed with his creativity. Earlier this afternoon I was working on this post and the doorbell rang...it was the UPS man with a package for me. It was a PajamaGram from John! I just love the idea and it came in the cutest package.



I'm really not a huge fan of Valentine's Day because of all the commercial hype and social pressure put on people, making them feel out of place if they don't have someone with whom they can spend Valentine's Day. We should be telling people we care about how much we love/care for them every other day of the year and not just on a day that has been determined by someone else as THE day to do that. If you don't have a honey to share Valentine's Day with then I hope you celebrated yourself today. YOU are a special person with or without a partner, made unique by your creator just to be YOU. Psalms 139:13-14 says "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." God's works are wonderful and you are one of His wonderful works. Happy Valentine's Day!

The Woods of No Return

When I was little we had some woods behind our house. One day I was playing outside with my brother and the neighborhood kids and we saw a girl walk into those woods...but we never saw her come back out. From that time on, those woods were known as "The Woods of No Return". Truth is, the girl was probably just passing through and we either didn't see her come back out of the woods or she was using our yard as a cut-through to the neighborhood behind ours. I've stayed in touch with the neighborhood kids and we get a good chuckle as adults out of our fear of those woods.

Last April, we moved into our new house and one of the things I particularly loved about this house was the private backyard that backs up to 60 acres of undeveloped land, mostly trees and some pastures. We checked on the plans for that land before we bought the house and were told that an elementary school would be built on the land but that construction wouldn't start for another 5 years. Well, that construction started last week, 4 years early according to our understanding! It was so sad for me to sit and watch as the workers cut down tree, after tree, after tree. John David loved watching the men use the big machinery and constantly waved and said hi to them out the window. But I sat and tortured myself by watching them cut down probably close to 200 trees I would guess - huge tall pines and even some hard woods. Those were the hardest to watch. I imagined how long it had taken them to grow so big and they were gone with one grab of this machine. The machine was kind of neat - it grabbed the tree, sawed it and then laid it neatly in a pile.

Before

After
So instead of having our own "Woods of No Return" for John David to play in when he gets older, we now have "Woods that Won't Return". I'm trying to look on the bright side - maybe it will be a great school and John David will be able to walk to school through our backyard. And at least they aren't building a neighboorhood or a shopping center. And maybe, just maybe, they will plant some new trees when they are finished with the building. But for now, I'm grieving the loss of our our privacy and the loss of so many of God's beautiful works of art.

In the Pantry

Oops...I left the pantry door open and look who managed to get inside! I realize I'm exposing my unorganized pantry to anyone reading this, but the picture of John David was too cute not to share.

Happy 60th Dad!

Tuesday is a very special day in our family...my Dad will turn 60! Saturday night we had a surprise birthday party for him and I think he really was surprised! My dad is a very sharp man and you don't get much past him. But this time I think we had him going until he walked in to the room where 65 of his friends and family members were waiting to yell SURPRISE!!!! We held the party at his golf club and it all worked out just perfectly. The music was great, the dancing was fun, the food was delicious and we all had a ball!


My dad has always played a very special role in my life. I am grateful to God for blessing me with such a great family and for choosing my dad to be my dad. I would be a very different person today if it weren't for his love, leadership, discipline, and commitment to our family. It makes me so proud to meet so many people who have so much respect for him. I love you Dad!

Christmas 2006

Our Christmas season was so much fun! We had a few parties in early December and then our family Christmas celebration lasted the whole week of Christmas. My mom and I both have birthdays right around Christmas, so that adds to the season of celebration. John's dad, Jack, came into town on Wednesday, December 20th and Jackie (John's step-mom) came on the 21st. That night we celebrated the twins' 4th birthday. I forgot to take my camera that night, so unfortunately there are no pictures of that event. The next day, the 22nd, was my birthday. We had lunch with John's family and then dinner with my family to celebrate. After dinner everyone came to our house for cake and ice cream. In the middle of all that busyness I was able to enjoy one of my birthday gifts - an hour long massage which was wonderful.


On Saturday morning we had Christmas with Jack and Jackie. John's brother, Travis, and his family came over as well and we enjoyed "Christmas breakfast" and a time of opening gifts.


Sunday was Christmas Eve and we started the day by going to our church. After church we headed straight to my parents house for Christmas with my brother. My mom played a neat game with the kids called "What God wants for Christmas". That evening we all went to church together at my parents' church.

Christmas morning we woke up and went down stairs and low-and-behold Santa Claus had been to our house!! John David was so excited to see all of the toys Santa had left for him. About 3:00 that afternoon my parents and John's mom (Karen) and step-dad (Jim) came over to our house. We opened gifts with them and then Travis and his family came at 5:00. We had a nice Christmas dinner and then opened more presents after dinner. John David really got the hang of opening presents by the time Christmas night rolled around!



Friday, December 29th was my mom's birthday. We all got together to celebrate her birthday Friday night. Saturday morning we drove to Columbus to have Christmas with my Grandmother and aunt on my dad's side of the family and to see all of my mom's side of the family. She is one of 13 children, 11 of whom are still living. So you can imagine how much fun it is to get together with all of my cousins (36 total) and aunts and uncles. It was great to see everyone.



Jason, Karla and Jacob (our friends from church) and Travis and his family joined us at our house to ring in the New Year. The kids had a blast all being together. We count it a blessing to have so many people to celebrate the season with!

Merry Christmas!!

A long time ago I heard it said that you are most like the 10 people you are closest to. I decided then to try to surround myself with people who had qualities I admired, people who inspire me, encourage me, love me and challenge me to be the best person I can be. I met Mark Pace about 7 years ago and he is one of those people. He is an incredible person and I am blessed to know him. I received this letter from Mark today and I asked him if I could share it with you. May you surround yourself with people who love you, inspire you, encourage you and challenge you to be the best you can be in the year 2007. And as we celebrate the Christmas holiday, may you ponder and appreciate the significance of Christ's birth, death and resurrection. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Allison, John and John David


Hello to all my wonderful friends and family:

First, I would like to say I hope everyone is having a great holiday as we bring 2006 to a close. The reason for this letter is to say thank you for being a part of my life, past and present. I'll speak to you first from the 17 year, 4 month, and 20 day old Mark Ashley Pace's life. During this part of my life, I woke up everyday with perfect sight, perfect hearing and a whole lot of things going on in my life. I was driving my jeep, a vehicle I had always dreamed of having since a kid starts thinking about stuff like that, I have a great family, I was a pretty accomplished athlete, a ton of friends, believed in Jesus as my savior, and felt like a pretty good caring person. This Mark had a lot of dreams that were all changed on December 20, 1986.

Next, I will let everyone know that today marks the 20 year anniversary of my accident where I flipped my jeep and sustained some pretty severe damage to my noggin. Consequently, I was left with low vision, hearing, and some pretty drastic life altering injuries. One thing that was not altered is my positive optimistic attitude. I have been told that I'm supposed to feel sorry for myself, be depressed, angry, but I think God must have removed that part of my brain in the accident. Mark Ashley Pace is celebrating my 20th birthday of my new life. It's hard to believe that it's already been 20 years, but I have a lot of you to thank for being there for me through thick and thin. As many of you know a part of my brain that God did not remove was my stubborn independence. Its pretty interesting that I need more help then I will ask for, because I would much rather help someone else out physically, spiritually, emotionally, or just lend somebody a shoulder to cry on. Bottom line, I would much rather help someone then ask for help.

Finally, I will continue to celebrate each day of my new life, and I hope that all of your dreams for the New Year come true. We all need to remember that God has given each one of us a story to tell about our time on earth. Each one of you will be remembered as a big part of shaping the person I, Mark Ashley Pace, is today. Please do me a favor this holiday season and say a little prayer to thank God for everything you have and for protecting you each day, protecting your family, and allowing you to live a comfortable life. I'll be the first to tell you that I never thanked God for my sight, my hearing, and other senses that so many of us take for granted. Please be very careful and have a wonderful holiday season. Thanks again for being a part of my life and remember that I love all of you very much.

Sincerely,



Mark Ashley Pace

Thanksgiving 2006

Thanksgiving is a holiday that for us, lasts a whole weekend. We start by having lunch at either my mom's house or John's mom's house, go to the other one's house for dinner and then leave for Tallahassee to visit John's dad and his step-mom on Friday. It's always a fun time but I get tired just thinking about it. I'm a person who can get myself very worked up in anticipation of an event, or in this case, a series of events, but this year I was determined not to. I was going to enjoy the time we had with each part of our families and not get too worried about logistics, naps, etc. And I did! We had a very enjoyable lunch with my family and then headed over to John's mom's house for dinner/leftovers. John's brother and his family had been at her house for lunch and then Jim's (John's step-dad) son and his family stopped by, so we were the third set of guests to grace their house that day. Even though we only saw Anna and Lee and the kids for a brief moment, it was great to see them. Anna is the one who set John and me up on our first date so we are forever indebited to her! She and Lee have two beautiful boys and John and I really enjoy being with their whole family. They live in Augusta so we don't get to see them very often.

Our trip to Tallahassee on Friday went smoothly and we had an enjoyable visit with everyone. There was a house full! John's brother and his family drove down as well and Jackie (John's step-mom) was babysitting her son's children for the weekend. So there were 7 kids ages 6 and under. John David loved being with all the big kids and the big kids really took to him as well. We kept up with the tradition of having brunch at "Another Broken Egg Cafe" Saturday morning and getting pictures made with Santa at the cafe which is on a lake. This was John David's second time to visit Santa but the first time he was only 3 months old and didn't really know the difference of who was holding him. Well this year he did!!!! He was okay with seeing Santa from a distance, but once we tried to get him to sit in Santa's lap, it was a different story. We were aiming for a picture of all the grandkids together with Santa and what we ended up with was a classic picture of a terrified 14 month old and 6 kids looking at him to see what the big deal was.


All in all it was a great Thanksgiving and we are grateful to have so many people who love us and want to be with us to celebrate God's goodness and bountiful blessings.

John David is Walking!

It's official, John David can walk by himself! It has been fun to watch his balance and coordination improve over the past few weeks as he has gone from taking a few steps ever so often to just letting go and taking off. The first day he decided to let go he kept making himself fall down because he got so excited that he was actually walking that it threw off his balance. Other times he fell because he was clapping for himself so much that he couldn't keep his coordination up. He's still a bit wobbly but I'm sure that will improve over the next few days as he continues to practice his new skill. Now if I can just teach him that he still has to back down the steps to our sunken den, we'll hopefully avoid a few busted lips.

John David's First Trip to the Beach

Weekend before last, we took John David to the beach for the first time. My parents have a condo on Panama City Beach and they were nice enough to plan a trip and invite us to join them. I always love the beach this time of year but it was especially interesting this trip. A huge storm came in on our first day there. I've never seen waves that high and the wind made it almost unbearable to be on the beach. Nevertheless, I was determined to let John David experience the sand. So we dressed him warmly in a cute little "cabana" outfit and headed for the beach. He thought it was great! He liked the feel of the sand between his toes and headed straight for the water. It was too cold to go in that first day but the storm passed and the temperature started to rise and he was able to jump a few waves on Saturday and Sunday. We were able to have dinner on Saturday night with my good friends, Cassie and Benjy and their son, Ben. It was so nice to see them, just too short of a visit.

He has been doing better at walking on his own and I thought that weekend would be the time that he just took off and really started walking. We got a few good video clips of him taking some steps, but it's just been this week that he has been interested in letting go of whatever he is holding on to. His friends at church are younger than he is and are walking so I think he is experiencing some positive peer pressure for the first time in his life.


My mom and dad with John David the first time he saw the ocean.

A day after the storm passed, we were able to enjoy beautiful sunsets again.

Our Little Bumble Bee

John David was a bumble bee for Halloween this year. I couldn't believe how quickly he caught on to the idea of trick-or-treating. We took him to a few of our neighbors' houses and he was so cute holding his pumpkin bucket out to get the candy. And if I started chatting too much he let me know quickly that he was ready to move on to the next house. Such a difference from last year. He was only 2 months old on Halloween and he slept through the whole thing. Here's a picture of him in his "sweet pea" costume from last year, taken the day after Halloween.

A Picture You Have to See

There is a picture you just have to see! It was taken by Bobbi Jo Brooks, a former co-worker of mine from Mission to the World (www.mtw.org) and it's on her blog. I just can't get the picture off of my mind. It is so beautiful and unique. All of her pictures are great, but the one I'm referring to is the first one - the orange leaf. Check it out: www.bobbijobrooks.blogspot.com or you can just click on the link to her blog that is on the left of this page. Hope you are having a great week!

Grateful Friday

Nolan Glenn Holloway was born on Wednesday, October 18th, just a day shy of his due date. He ended up being born via emergency c-section because his heart rate started dropping drastically with each contraction. I'm happy to report that mommy and baby are doing just fine, except of course for the painful recovery that comes with having a baby, and especially a c-section delivery. He is absolutely gorgeous! He has a beautiful head covered with fine dark hair and precious long fingers with fingernails that already need clipping! Isn't it amazing what all goes on in the womb? God even thought about fingernails! He weighed 8 lbs., 7 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. I'm grateful for this new life and for a safe delivery.

And I'm also grateful for:

- A night out with John
- John's mom offering to babysit before we even asked her
- Mother's Morning Out which usually allows me to get out of the house and work at John's office but this week allowed me to spend some time with Meredith and to meet baby Nolan
- A caring, loving family
- John David's jibber-jabber - makes me smile throughout the day. This week he said umbrella, stroller and ball... I have witnesses!
- John David's friendly spirit - he loves to say hi to everyone he sees, especially in the grocery store or Wal-Mart type places. It totally makes people's day and keeps a smile on my face while I respond to their compliments on what a sweet baby he is
- A day out of the house with Karla and Jacob
- A trip to the beach with my parents planned for next weekend. It will be John David's first time to see the ocean and the sand (other than what's in his sandbox!)
- Good lessons and reminders from the book of Ecclesiastes

Grateful Friday

Can't believe it's Friday already! Here is my list of things for which I am grateful:

1. Time I spent with my Mom today.
2. Opportunities to help some people and a renewed interest in seeking out those opportunities.
3. A good time at a Sunday School Fellowship last Friday night with new friends.
4. John David's relationship with his grandparents.
5. New life - Aaron and Kate were both born this week.
6. A thoughtful husband and the sweet gifts he brought home from a run to the drugstore to get medicine for my aching back (a crossword puzzle book and a magazine on digital photography tips).
7. Crossword puzzles.
8. My brother's sense of humor.

Car, Eat and Brushing Teeth

"Car" and "eat" are John David's words of the week. I'm sure about his mastery of the word car, but I'm not sure that he is really saying "eat" when the sound comes out of his mouth. But it is usually after I ask him if he is ready for breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc., that he responds with a nod and the sound that resembles "eat". He jibber-jabbers all day long and sometimes I get so tickled at what comes out. Sometimes it sounds like very complicated words that I'm pretty sure he can't really say...like elephant...and zebra. But it's usually when we are looking at pictures of these animals that the sounds come out! So either I'm hearing things or I have a child prodigy on my hands. I like to think the latter is the case! (I don't really think he's a prodigy, but I do think he can communicate well for being only 13 months old...hope I'm not being an annoyingly proud mama!)

Other words he says throughout the day include but are not limited to: hi, dog, mama, dada, out, what's that, thank you, door, bye-bye, and night-night. He enunciates some more than others, but he definitely knows what he is trying to say. For example, he doesn't exactly say "what's that", but the inflection and cadence of his voice communicates exactly what he is asking. And sometimes when you answer he says "oh". It's the cutest thing!

John David loves to brush his teeth. He cut his first tooth a week before he turned 5 months old and now has 8 teeth that fill his smile. So we've been brushing his teeth for quite a while and now he loves to do it by himself. Everytime we are at the sink and religiously after bath time he wants to brush his teeth. And of course we let him! Even if it is more for the taste of the toothpaste than his quest for good dental hygeine, we encourage it.

He still hasn't taken his first step but I know it's just about to happen. Everyone seems very eager for him to walk. The way I see it, Lord willing, he will walk the rest of his life so what's the rush? He's hard enough to catch on his all fours.

Grateful Friday

There is a blog that I love to read and I don't even know the author personally. But I love the way she writes and what she writes about. Every Friday she posts a blog entry entitled "Grateful Friday". (There is a link to her blog on the left of this page - Four Sweet Peas.)I think it's a great idea to list the things for which you are grateful. So I'm going to attempt to post a "Grateful Friday" blog on Fridays. Here are the things for which I am especially grateful...

1. John and his unconditional goodness.
2. John David's health, growing cuirosity and budding personality.
3. My Mother-in-law for offering to keep John David overnight for us.
4. My Mother for offering to keep John David while John and I attend a couple's Bible study.
5. Old friends.
6. New friends.
7. Good things happening to former co-workers (one got married, several are dating seriously, and one is pregnant after a long wait).
8. Cooler weather.
9. Going for walks in cooler weather.
10. Tennis.
11. Bloggers whose posts challenge me to be more positive and challenge me to be a better person.
12. Jesus' unconditional love for me.

John's Birthday

John's birthday was September 24th. Karen, Travis, Susan, Michael and Malachi came over after church to celebrate with John. I played in a tennis match and missed most of the afternoon, but John enjoyed being with everyone. And of course John David loved having his cousins over to play!

First Haircut

Last Saturday John David got his first haricut. We took him to a place called "Just Kids Kuts" and it was the perfect place for a first haricut. They had cute seats for the kids to sit in, a train in the back for them to watch, and videos playing at every station to keep them occupied. He did really well. He wasn't too sure about the whole ordeal and wasn't thrilled about it, but he didn't scream either. He looks so handsome with his new "do"!


John and John David at home in our back yard after his haircut.