Allison's 2nd Birthday!

Hard to believe but Allison will be two on April 8th.  The past two years have gone by so fast.  We love this sweet, EXTREMELY STRONG WILLED little girl more than words can express.

 Allison got an early start to her gifts before everyone arrived for her birthday party.

Love Allison's cake.  It was very good.

 

She was one week and two days old in this picture.  I was sad because I did not get to be at her newborn photo session.  I was just getting home from the hospital and was ordered to bed.  I had an emergency return to the hospital when Allison was a week old.  I had post partum preeclapsia.  Never heard of it until I was in the hospital being treated for it.  A very scary time.

This is Allison at one year old.  Such a cutie!

Allison is such a big girl now.

 

She so wanted to get her hands on the cake!

This sweet girl is talking so good and her sweet, little voice is making my heart melt.

Today was bittersweet.  Dad was here for her first birthday but not her second.  There was a time that we thought, he might not see her born.  She has grown so much since daddy died in December.  Some of the last words he said at my house, was that, she was growing up on him.  Little did I know that would be the last time, he was in our house.  It was the last McAlister's lunch we had together.

She fell asleep during her party but woke up in time to eat, do cake and open presents.

Daddy's girl!

Present time!

Fun time with the balloons!

Outside playing on her new slide.

Playing with chalk is another favorite.

 

Love our sweet girl and feel so blessed that God gave her to us to raise.



November - 22 Days of Thanksgiving - 2012

When November rolled around, I noticed people putting something that they were thankful for on Facebook.  This was to be posted each day, up to Thanksgiving.  There has been a lot going on in my life and thought this would be a good exercise for me to do.  At first, I thought, how can I come up with 22 things I am thankful for.  I was not exactly in my positive mode at the time but trying.  Now, that I have completed these days, I found that 22 days were not enough.  The following are the 22 days of posts I put on Facebook.

Day 1: Thankful for my Lord and Savior. He is always with me when I feel alone in this world and loves me unconditionally. He is with me in times of need, gives me grace and is forgiving when others are not. I have needed a lot of this the past 20+ months, especially recently. I have received it only from Him when I am often misunderstood and feel anything but positive.

Day 2: Thankful for my parents and that they are still with us today. They have had some bad times with their health and most days are struggles for them but grateful for each day they are with us. Love you, both!

Day 3: Thankful for my husband. I love my engineer. He might not be a neat freak or get it done now kinda guy, which does not always go over well with me, lol:). But, he loves his Lord and Savior and family. I love that when I moved to the Mt. Pleasant area, he would go to Wal-Mart and walk around to see if I was there:).

 

Day 4: Thankful for an extra hour of sleep.

Day 5: Thankful for pretty Fall days.

Day 6: Thankful for the right to vote. No matter the results, God will still be in charge. Even so, we are always to pray for our country. God bless this country.

Day 7: Thankful that God is still King of kings. He is in control. His ways are beyond my understanding but I trust in Him.

Day 8:  Thankful that my husband has a job that he enjoys.
 

Day 9:  Thankful for sweet nighttime rituals. Daddy and Allison watching Cedarmont Kids.

 

Day 10:  Thankful for weekends.

Day 11:  Thankful to be able to worship in a free country without fear of persecution.

Day 12:  Thankful for the men and women of the military. They bravely serve and protect our country.

Day 13:  Thankful for modern day appliances like the washer and dryer. May sound silly but I spend a lot of time in this area. Can't imagine how much more time I would spend without them.

Day 14:  Thankful for the children's ministry at our church (FBC Lindale).

Day 15:  Thankful for my sister. This summer I thought we were going to lose her to a brain tumor. I did not think at her young age, I would be faced with telling my big sister, my goodbyes from this earth. But grateful to have been given the opportunity, as life does not always afford us that opportunity. Thankful and amazed that everything turned out as it did. Even though we knew we would be together in Heaven again some day, I am joyful we have her with us today.

 

 

Day 16:  Thankful that I can drive a few minutes from my house and buy groceries and necessities. There are places in the world that do not come close to such conveniences.

 

Day 17:  Thankful for my son's teachers, staff, administrators and school district. Glad we live in an area and school district that is not afraid to speak God's name. I remember Aaron's first day of Kindergarten. I went to the Parent's meeting after dropping him off. I was managing to keep it together. The principal then started reading us a story. I lost it and so did most of the other parents. I said I would not go to another one. Not because I did not care but because I could not handle it. I have not gone to another one because it has been as hard or harder than the first day of Kindergarten. The point is, my son's school has caring people taking care of him. Not all school districts are this way.

 

 

Day 18:  Thankful for my husband's family and for them raising him in a christian home.

 

Day 19:  Thankful for my nieces, nephews, brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws. They help make holiday gatherings and other family get togethers more fun.

 

Day 20:  Thankful for my son, Aaron. We were blessed with a fun loving, sweet boy. He kept us on our toes in his toddler/preschool years. God knew we needed an energetic little boy to shake up our quiet lives. He loved dinosaurs and would have loved to be a rock star. Now, he enjoys playing video games and Star Wars. He is growing into a special young man. Can't wait to see the things God has in store for him. My heart is always with him. I am grateful we got to spend so much time with him, as an only child for almost 8 years.

 

 

 

 

Day 21:  Thankful for my daughter, Allison Grace Roden. Little did we know when we picked out baby names in 2002 that we would be blessed with a precious, little girl in 2011. She was 4 1/2 years past our timeline but not in God's timing. I had just about made peace that there would not be another baby in our lives then came along our EXTREMELY STRONG WILLED little girl. She puts a colorful spark in our family. Even though, we have not seen all of her personality, we know we are in for a ride:) We are joyful and blessed that Allison Grace has completed our family and all the heartache and longing for another child has been fulfilled. As a sign in her room reads, "All of God's grace in one little face."

 

 

Day 22:  Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all the blessings in my life. Some of those blessings are no longer with us. I have such fond memories with them. My grandparents would have gotten a kick out of my children. Miss them and love them. One day we will be back together.

 

Some days were simple posts then others I wrote through tears.  Thankful and blessed this Thanksgiving and always.

Dallas Arboretum Fall 2012

The first Saturday in November was going to be a pretty day.  So, we decided to make a family trip to the Dallas Arboretum.  The following pictures are some scenes from our day.

 

 

 

Aaron's first trip on a "real" bus.  The parking at the Arboretum was full.  So, we had to park at another location and ride a shuttle into the Arboretum.

 

 

Isn't he handsome.

 

 

A sweet sight.

 

 

Aaron helping us keep up with our 18 month old.

 

 

Some of the Chihuly sculptures.

 

The glass sculptures were beautiful.

 



 

Our sweet kiddos.  It is hard getting a picture with an energetic little girl.

 

 

This picture was her idea.  She has quite the personality.  It has to be her idea or it may not happen.

 

 

These crepe myrtles make a good picture.

 

 

Glad we went to the Dallas Arboretum.  It ended up being warmer than anticipated but we had a great time seeing the beautiful gardens.  Most of the day went well.  However, Allison had not taken a nap.  This girl did not sleep in the car at all.  So, by late afternoon, she started to melt down.  After her long melt down, she finally fell asleep just in time to catch the shuttle back to our car.  Perfect timing.

 

 

 

We then decided to head over to the Cheesecake Factory.  Yes, one of my all time favorite restaurants.  We thought we would try their Oreo Cheesecake.  This one slice feeds the four of us.

 

A great time was had by all and we had a wonderful Fall day as a family.