Monday, April 27, 2009

March for Babies - April 26, 2009

Abraham, my sister Kari and I spent Sunday remembering Moses' life and thanking the Father for the blessing of both boys lives. We particpated in the annual March for Babies walk, raising money for the March of Dimes. This is one of the causes that our family supports fullly because of the personal connection we have with it. It is because of the research and studies that MOD has done that we were able to be informed NICU parents. We are grateful for the MOD and the work that they do to help lower the number of preemies born in the USA.


God gave us a BEAUTIFUL day to walk -- in the 80's and sunny! Abraham contentedly rode in his "limo" stroller, so graciously provided by his KK, for the 4+ miles that we walked. This is something that the 3 of us do together every year - making memories as we walk. It is a sweet time for me to spend with my Bubba and my best friend!
**KK took better pictures and I will post them later...
Abraham with our poster this year.
To honor Moses and To celebrate Abraham




Celebrating Abraham's life


TONS of walkers



Enjoying time with KK

Rock State Park - river time

This is MY rock! and it was.. he carried it out of the river to the bank - all 5 lbs of it!

I'm wet!

Walking with Daddy

Stop splashing Daddy!


Me and my sweet hubby!

Weekend at the Beach

Last weekend we had some gorgeous weather so we took off on a Ragan family road trip. We headed to Assateague Island off of Ocean City,MD. We haven't really been down there, at least it has been quite some time. Abraham LOVES and I mean LOVES the beach! We spent a good portion of the day just relaxing and soaking up the sun. Michael bought a pirate kite for us to fly and after a while of trying to figure it out, finally got it up in the air. Abraham loved flying it himself -- although we were a bit fearful that he'd either let go and we'd lose the kite or the wind would pick him up and carry him off! :) It broke on our way off the beach -- guess that is what you get for a cheap kite!

We did walk the Boardwalk and grabbed some dinner in Ocean City. Got us a new kite that will fly and not break! Abraham played on some pretty cool wooden "toys" that are on the beach. We ran our little man all day with no nap so he crashed hard on the way home.



It was a GREAT weekend spent with family!


Surfin' USA!

Collecting Shells


Soakin' up some rays! I love me some beach too!

Abraham wanted to be buried in the sand...

but did NOT want Daddy to put the bucket on his head! Note the frown.


Flying the kite with Daddy

I got it all by myself Momma!


Noah's Ark washed ashore!


Jeep on the beach


In front of The Kite Loft

End of the day ride home






Ahhh! Now THIS is the life! I would live here if I could!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Keep Praying

I am here tonight to ask you to keep praying with me for a number of things. First of all is sweet little Stellan. He had his very risky heart surgery today and came through it okay. I read McKMomma's post and there is a lot of medical terminology in it -- if you want to know the nitty gritty you can go to her blog yourself -- but the pictures of Stellan afterwards say it all. He is still with us and fighting as hard as ever. Take a moment tonight and thank God for the blessing He has given us in our children -- may we never take it for granted if they are healthy and happy.




Next, Tricia has been admitted to Duke with pneumonia. She had not been feeling quite right and got checked out in the ER. They admitted her and are taking care of her. this of course is not the best thing for someone a year out of a double lung transplant and having CF. Any type of sickness really is dangerous for her and takes a toll on her body. Please pray for Tricia and her health.



These two families are ones that I have "met" in the blogging community, but a bit closer to home is a family from school whose son is in my class. The mom a while back had breast cancer and was treated for it and healed. However the chemo, from what I understand, that treated the cancer, then caused her to get leukemia. She was super sick 2 years ago and then went into remission. They found out about 2 months ago that it is back. It has been a real struggle, as you can imagine, on the family specifically on Dad and the 2 boys (3rd grade and 1st grade).

Yesterday I was blessed to have a 15 minute conversation with the dad as I was coming out of school. I asked him "How are you holding up?" and waited for an answer. Bless his heart, he just wore his heart on his sleeve. This dear brother in Christ is clinging desperately to the truth of God's Word and claiming that for himself and his family -- but the struggle it is to watch the one you love be sick you can't do anything about it, is just heart wrenching. Please keep the Uebersax family in your prayers.

Thinking about all that is going on around me with others lives, makes me think back to a time where I lived off of the prayers of God's children. There was a time, not so long ago, where it was all I could do was put one foot in front of the other. Where my mind just couldn't think straight. Where my heart ached like it had been stabbed a million times. BUT GOD -- in His grace and mercy met me in the middle of that heartache and touched me like no one else could. And because others continually kept us before the Throne of Grace, I will do the same for others who are hurting, scared, and lonely. What you have been given, give back to others.

Thank you in advance for remembering these families with me.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Stellan's heart


Please join me in prayer for this sweet boy Stellan. He has been having some very severe heart issues recently, He has been transferred to Boston to a top notch hospital and is scheduled for a very risky heart surgery in a few days. I know that his family is trusting the Father with their little one but having the prayers of others would mean the world to them too.
This sweet boy and his family has been through some incredible ups and downs in his short life. Yet even through these times they have clung to the truth that HE knows it all and is in control of it all. We havent't been in the same situation but I know what it feels like to be helpless when it comes to your child's health. Praying for peace in the storm for them.

Monday, April 13, 2009

My Favorite kids...

Two of my most favorite kids in the whole wide world...
Chloe and ReRe
Always ready for a picture!


Alex and ReRe
(I'm truly surprised he let me take this.. he HATES pictures... but must LOVE me!)


Easter 2009

Happy Easter from the Ragans!
He is RISEN -- He is RISEN INDEED!




Flowers outside my kitchen window


One of the prettiest things about living here is these trees in the spring! I love how they look! When they start blooming I know that spring is coming!



We took a ride down to the river and walked on the trail for a bit on Easter before heading to my mom's house for dinner. Hit the playground of course and we kicked around Abraham's new soccer ball too. He's pretty good kicking! That should make all his aunts happy!



Personally,, I like the hat over the eyes!! Usually the hat ends up on the ground!

Look guys, I found a ... STICK!!

Learning about ants...

On one of the nice days we had last week, Abraham and I went outside the apartment and were playing. He was completely taken by an ant that he found on the sidewalk. He tried calling it like he would a dog saying "Here little ant, crawl on my finger!" (course it was a red ant so that probably wasn't the best idea!) I could see the wheels in his head turning as he asked questions about the ants legs and his color and how slow he seemed to be moving. We talked about how God had made ants special and very strong. I just loved watching him watch the ant. Such an inquisitive little boy!



Here ant-y, ant-y!


Look Momma! He's RED!








More playground pictures

I don't usually take Abraham to Annie's playground because it is SO big and it makes me nervous that I'll lose him! We hit Annie's Playground this day because Daddy was with us. With two sets of eyes, we can keep a better eye on him!

Banging the "drums"

Ride 'em cowboy!



He kept throwing his truck down the slide and then going down after it.


Banging the Alligator "drum"




A few random playground pictures from the past few weeks. We really DO take the kid outside for "walks"!! This is the proof! :)