something i read yesterday ...

"the more specific praise gets, the more it encourages, and the more it reveals about a relationship.  have you praised jesus like that?"

me and my little brother

found this picture today of me and my bother a long time ago.  so cute.  i can't believe he's getting married in a few months!  i'm lucky to have such a great relationship with andrew.  just wanted to share some nostalgia :)

happy birthday mom

today is my mom's birthday.  i know i've said it before, but i'll say it again.  she is the best mom in the world.  i'd like nothing better than to be like her one day.  she's beautiful; inside and out.  i love you mom!

the past week ...

after 5 days keeping 3 kids, i worked at children's 3 nights in a row.  i went to church sunday morning after getting off work, and kept the 3's class.  i finally got to bed around 1 pm and woke up around 7 pm with a fever of 101.2, an achy body, and nausea.  my sweet hubby brought me some gatorade, tylenol, and a hot pack.  i went back to sleep and ended up sleeping until 11 am!  22 hours!  it felt so good and i feel much better.  it really does stink being sick, even for such a short time.  makes me feel so bad for all my babies at work that are sick for so long!

hoping this week is better ... :)

i now know i can do the following ...

• bathe and put 3 kids to bed on time (although technically 1 of them i didn't have to help)
• get up early and wake up 3 kids and get them ready for school
• drink 3 cups of black coffee to wake myself up after getting up early
• make breakfast, lunch, dinner for those 3 kids
• find things to occupy their time
• stand firm with what i say
• help with homework
• organize play dates
• break up sister/sister arguments

and the best part is i know my husband can do all those things too!

(on a side note - we also now know what it is like to wake up in the middle of the night with a preschooler in between us ... um yeah lol)

having some fun

eli, brandon and maya at the doggy park :)

give them credit

i will post later with updates of everything we've been doing, but i just wanted to take a minute to say that i give moms (and dads!) props for all they do everyday. taking care of 3 kids (or even just 1 for that matter) is no joke. it's fun and rewarding, but also tiring. baths, bedtime, mornings, homework, playtime, etc. takes lots of effort and time. i am relieved that we can do it though! i think we've done a pretty darn good job! so i just wanted to say thanks to my own mom and dad for all they did for us every day of our entire lives. i have always known you were the best parents and worked really hard for us, but now i have a new appreciation for it :)

2.5 hours

from 9-11:30 am eli has preschool 2 days a week. that means all 3 kids are at school right now. i'm enjoying a cup of coffee, a book and total silence :)

brandon is at work and we're playing with photo booth ...

this week

brandon and i are keeping paul and farrah's 3 kids this week; day and night. it should be a fun and exciting 4 days, so check back here and to my hubby's blog this week for pics, videos and updates :)

why today was a good day

1. brandon and i slept in today
2. i didn't have to work
3. we went to target (always a good day!)
4. i sold 8 of my nursing books on craigslist all by myself (brandon is the craigslist guy)
5. brandon played at an event tonight, so kristina came over.  we rented a movie, made brownies w/ ice cream, and spent the whole evening talking and laughing.  it was a much needed girls night!

i'd say that was a pretty good day indeed!

say a prayer today

i am exhausted and ready to go to sleep, but i wanted to write about this.  you may remember this post i wrote less than 1 month ago.  last night at work, her dad came to our unit and told some of us that if we wanted to go see her, we should go soon.  4 of us went to see her around midnight.  we held her hand, talked and prayed with her, and hugged her family.  they had her favorite cd of encouraging worship songs playing for her to hear in the background.  she was not responsive, but she was comfortable and looked very peaceful.  3 hours later she passed away and went to be with Jesus.

it is very hard to describe how you feel in a situation like this.  i've been there many times before at my old job with adults, but never with a child.  it's different, and so very sad.  i know without a shadow of a doubt she is so much happier now.  she can move and dance and run and play.  all in zero pain.  something she hasn't been without for a long time.  so if you would, please please pray for her parents and her little brother.  i can't imagine how they must be feeling. 

tour of our new house

so this weekend brandon and i finally got around to taking some video of our new house. now this is mainly for our families and extended families who live in north and south carolina. they haven't had the opportunity to come see it and have been asking. so if you're not family you don't have to watch as it may bore you :) so mom, dad, brian and cathy - finally here it is! they are in 3 separate videos all courtesy of our new flip hd video camera that brandon got on craigslist for $80. of course :) to watch in hd, click on the hd button when playing the video.

Outside from Brandon Gilliam on Vimeo.

Downstairs Tour from Megan Gilliam on Vimeo.

Upstairs Tour from Brandon Gilliam on Vimeo.

baby liam

i got to keep mike and annie's baby boy liam today.  it was so much fun; and yes, he is just as sweet as he looks!

family . friends . snow

sorry for not blogging this week.  i've been working nights (work/eat/sleep x 3 days).  last week we got to visit our families in north and south carolina.  i already blogged last weekend about our weekend with my family in north carolina.  it was great seeing some great friends (rachel and amanda) and spend lots of quality time with our families.  sunday morning we got up and drove to south carolina for church and to see brandon's family.  go figure those 12 hrs after we got there, greenville, south carolina received the most now they have had in years.  it was pretty though (huge flakes).  brandon and his mom made us snow cream too!  it was so good!  we also had dinner with his extended family which was nice.  so anyway, these are just some photos of the snow and our families.  i didn't get a camera until right before we went to south carolina, so i'm sorry to my family for not having more pictures of you guys!  

our day today ...

i'll blog more later w/ some pics, but for a summary of our day, go check out my awesome hot hubby's blog.