Brad's First Post!

Out of nowhere, Brad told me that the other night that he wanted to start doing an annual post on the blog. I said, "great" and thought no more about it. Tonight however, he told me that it was done if I wanted to proof-read it. I think it is wonderful and I hope you enjoy it as well!...

Time Flies!!!!!!!
Who would have ever thought that time could really fly by when you have an infant? Heidi recently shared with me a little piece of wisdom she picked up from a friend, “the days are long but the time flies by”. That would hold true in our case as well. I will never forget the experiences that we have been blessed with over the last year. From the look on Heidi’s face after she discovered that we were expecting to the day that Lillian refused to enjoy birthday cake. There were times that Heidi and I would have to sing “Old McDonald Had a Farm” for 30 minutes straight to keep Lillian content as we drove from Alex City or the long trip to Pensacola. You should have heard some of the things that Old McDonald had on his farm. Just like our pets, Lillian has acquired variations on her name as well as nicknames (my favorite is Squirt). She has some of the funniest quirks that only a parent can appreciate such as shaking her head while you try to feed her, crazy sleeping positions, her mother’s laugh and the ability to hide pacifiers. She has been able to scare the living daylights out of both her parents with some of the stunts she performs. There were many text messages and phone calls to friends and relatives with a slight panic in our voices asking “what do we do”? I remember thinking several times that Lillian would be lucky to survive us much less any ailments. A big THANK YOU to all our family for reassuring us that we would be fine and make great parents.
Everyone said that your life would change when you have children but I had no idea how much better it would be. Sure, there are times when you consider that you might"accidentally" get lost going to the grocery store and not return for several days. But those times are far outweighed by the joy you receive from the look on Lillian’s face when I walk in the door from work. I could never relate to the happiness talked about until seeing her crawl for the first time and to see the excitement on Heidi’s face as well. There isn’t anything that can prepare you for the joy I felt when I heard Lillian laugh for the first time. You have to believe that something this special can only be created by God. As our family has grown so has our relationship with God and our commitment to make him the center of our lives.
I wouldn’t have guessed that I would be where I am just a few years ago. Heidi will argue that it took some serious convincing on her part but I have to argue that it was my plan all along. Although we don’t know what lies ahead, we can rest assure that the days may be long but the time will fly.