family reunion

we had a great time at the nixon family reunion in marietta on sunday. it is such a blessing to have such a big family! my bigma was a "nixon" before she became a "muse"...it's always neat to see bigma with her siblings. this is a pic of nat in her great-grandmother charlene's lap...

cheerio

meet virginia

Every morning when we walk into work, Miss Virginia is there to greet us. Ever since I first started working at Emory, Virginia has been a source encouragement to me. She always knows if I'm having a bad day or even a good one! And she always has some amazing wisdom and advice to share. She is a woman of God and a woman of strength and faith. She speaks her mind with grace and dignity. She was so helpful to me when I was pregnant with Natalie, and now she obliges me as I share my Natalie stories every day. Virginia is the protector of our little social services department in the basement of the hospital, and she is amazing. Thank you, Virginia, for all that you do for us. And thanks for the cute little dress that you gave to Natalie. I love it, and it fits her perfectly now! Finally, a picture for you, Virginia!

bible study girls

i am so grateful for this group of girls. they are such an encouragement and support to me and it is such a blessing to have these precious friends here in atlanta.

i loved seeing y'all last night and i am so grateful to each of you for your friendship.



"i thank my god every time i remember you." philippians 1:3

more crawling

I'm not the best videographer, especially when I turn the camera sideways like I am taking a vertical picture...but hope you enjoy anyway!

sic' em, sickness

For the third weekend in a row, our little family has been homebound dealing with sickness. The first weekend, Dave and I were sick, last weekend Natalie was sick, and when I went to pick her up from daycare on Friday, yes mam, she was running a 102 temp--sick again. My little punkin' has felt so yucky this weekend, and it has been so hard to watch her hurt...alligator tears streaming down her face. But today was a little better for her and I pray that she feels even better when she wakes up tomorrow morning.

This reminds me of the respect and appreciation I have for the patients and caregivers I meet in my work each week. They confront life-threatening illness on a day-to-day basis. When they tell their stories, it seems like one bad blow after another, as they lose jobs, homes, quality of life, and the ability to care for themselves. But truly, so many of them inspire me a great deal because they have such amazingly positive attitudes in spite of their situations. They face their challenges one day at a time, and there is a lot to be learned from their stories of courage. Many of them have an unwavering faith in God, and this is an unbelievable blessing to witness. I walk away from Emory most days with a heavy heart for their struggles.

I am not trying to say that our little bouts with colds and fevers are in any way comparable to what my patients deal with, but it does give me perspective on what their everyday lives must entail. When you feel 100% healthy most of the time, like I usually do, you realize how horrible it feels to be sick, and I can't imagine feeling like that every day. It makes you especially grateful for your health. May God bless my sweet patients and families for their strength and hope.

And hopefully...next weekend...when the times comes to yell "Go Dawgs, Sic' em"...there will be no sickness, no dimetapp, kleenex, motrin or tylenol at our home! Just some good 'ole football, fun and fisher price toys. And maybe we can get out of the house and go somewhere, too. That would be good!

sic 'em

game days are a little different this year...

bottles of similac advance versus bottles of corona light!

fast food pick-up and relaxing on the couch is actually quite nice versus sitting out in the hot sun all day!

these days are different, but i think they are even more fun and wonderful with little miss natalie as our cheerleader!

we miss you, our faithful athens tailgating friends, but we will all be together for the alabama game in a few weeks!

until then,

go dawgs!

honk, honk

pink buggy at consignment sale...

$8.00

natalie's smiles as sadie chases us up the driveway...

priceless

ha! i am so cheesy...

times they are a changin'...

natalie started daycare this past month, and i took this picture after her first day...not the best pic, but it was an important day! dave and i feel really great about ms. venus' house, and natalie seems to really love it too! of course, we wish gam could have come to keep her forever, and we miss her tons! it was a difficult transition [for me]; most certainly more of my own adjustment than natalie's. but it's going really well, and we are so grateful that this worked out for us.
also this month, i was offered a permanent part-time position (with benefits, which is key!) with the Emory Transplant Center. this was an amazing answer to our prayers, and i am so grateful for this opportunity...i will continue my work with transplant patients, but will eventually change from liver back to kidney...

natalie and her puppy sadie...note that sadie still feels a little dejected, we are working on this

natalie is into everything now...before you know it, she's across the room, out the door, and you're crawling after her! it started really slowly, as kind of an army-crawl, she was dragging herself across the room, but recently, this has progressed and she is finally full-fledged crawling! i've also caught her a few times standing up in her crib too, this girl is on the move!

she got her first two teeth this month! they are so cute, and have grown in a lot more since this picture where you can hardly see them!

Below is a (short) video of the beginning stages of her crawling...for all those who don't get a chance to see her as often! thanks for checking in on us, sorry for the lack of updates lately!