Happy New Year!!!!
Over the past year we've had a whirlwind of excitement come to the Ward Family.
In January we welcomed Liam into our family. We didn't quite expect him to com
e into this world the way that he did, but with the power of prayer, and the many, many doctors, nurses and medical staff we are proud to know now, he has made a full recovery and is a happy (almost) ONE YEAR OLD!! From his 30 day stay in the Johnson City, NICU to the bouncing, happy baby he is now, is more proof needed to show how amazing our God is. Liam is approximately 17lbs and 27" long. A long way from the 4lb 2oz he was born at. He has five teeth, is crawling, standing up to any and everything, cruising around table tops, eats EVERYTHING put in front of him and LOVES antagonizing his big brother. In just 31 days, he will turn one, and what an occasion that will be. He is such a sweet baby, and although a little more maintenance than Jax was at the same age, there are no words to describe what he has brought to our family. He has come such a long way from birth to now and he's more determined than any 11 month old I know!
Jaxon had a big year as well. In the fall he started preschool and quickly became a class favorite as well as a teachers pet. He made several new friends and although we had to pull him out of school due to illness and Liam's health, he has forever made an impression on his classmates and the teachers at his school. We are hoping
to re-enroll him after the threat of cold/flu season passes, but in the meantime, we continue to teach him at home, and every day I become more proud to be his Mommy! He is starting to read and right before his birthday, he started writing his name, alphabet and drawing beautiful pictures! In November, Jax turned THREE!!! He is 38" tall and in just one year went from wearing 18 month clothing to a size 8 shoe and 4T clothing. He is a huge fan of Disney's Cars, and is still every bit into Letters, Numbers, Shapes and Colors as he ever was. My wish for Jaxon as he starts this new year, is that he continues to love learning and discovering new things. He is definitely my little buddy, and although he knows how to push my limits, he makes me smile and love deeper than I ever thought I'd be able to.
Dean just finished up almost two years working for the company MECO, and with that comes the excitement and stress of a NEW job!!! Dean is going back into the wind industry. In December he accepted an offer for a company called Gamesa. They are the 3rd largest manufacturer of wind turbines in the world. Gamesa is based out of Spain with their American headquarters being in Langhorne, PA. He will be working as a representative of the company on various erection sites. His position will be that of a Technical Advisor. It will be his job to be present on the job site as the turbines are erected, answer any questions that the sub-contractors have, and rectify any issues that are deemed to be the fault of the manufacturer. This is a great job with a fantastic company. It will take some adapting as a family but will provide many opportunities for us. He will start January 2nd at the corporate headquarters for orientation and training and hopefully soon we'll find out which project he will initially be assigned to. We will definitely keep you posted on the details. I am thankful to have such a wonderful husband who continues to provide for our family. He truly is the greatest thing that has every happened to me. How I ever wound up with someone so smart, funny, and good looking is beyond me. I thank my lucky stars every day that I get to wake up next to such a hunk of a man. :)
I myself, have had the best year ever! Whoever told me that more than one child is a pain, is wrong!! I've had so much fun watching Jax become a big boy and such a loving
brother! Liam has inspired me every day with each new thing he discovers and just in general how happy and healthy he is. While being a stay at home mom to two might be stressful and at times overwhelming, I'm am so blessed to have this be my job and all the time it allows me to be around my boys! It is the most rewarding job I'll ever have! In September I picked up a new hobby and learned to sew!! I don't know everything yet, but when I get an idea, I'm pretty quick to figure it out! In the upcoming months, my job as a wife and mom will be a little harder as we will be going with Dean to the wind projects he's assigned to. Thankfully I have a wonderful support system and know I will have lots of help!!
Our furbabies, Nash and Argo are doing great as well! Nash will be 7 years old in March, and Argo will be 2 years old in August! It will be fun to see how the next few months go with them, when it's time to travel!! They are definitely a part of our family, so no matter where we end up, we will have to make sure there is a place for them! We also FINALLY found Lily (our temporarily adopted feline) a FOREVER home! It was important, no matter what I say, that we placed her in a home with someone who would spoil and love her (Yes. I just said that. Didn't love her, but I do have a heart!) I can't believe my Nashman is a senior dog... That also means I've been in TN for seven whole years!!! My, my where has the time gone!???!
We are certainly excited about the year ahead of us and can't wait to share it all with you!
We have been so fortunate to have such a fantastic year, and are thankful for the countless blessings we have been given! Time for another bowl of black-eyed peas!!! ;)
Wishing you a year of love, happiness and health!!
Shylah, Dean, Jaxon and Liam
Over the past year we've had a whirlwind of excitement come to the Ward Family.
In January we welcomed Liam into our family. We didn't quite expect him to com
e into this world the way that he did, but with the power of prayer, and the many, many doctors, nurses and medical staff we are proud to know now, he has made a full recovery and is a happy (almost) ONE YEAR OLD!! From his 30 day stay in the Johnson City, NICU to the bouncing, happy baby he is now, is more proof needed to show how amazing our God is. Liam is approximately 17lbs and 27" long. A long way from the 4lb 2oz he was born at. He has five teeth, is crawling, standing up to any and everything, cruising around table tops, eats EVERYTHING put in front of him and LOVES antagonizing his big brother. In just 31 days, he will turn one, and what an occasion that will be. He is such a sweet baby, and although a little more maintenance than Jax was at the same age, there are no words to describe what he has brought to our family. He has come such a long way from birth to now and he's more determined than any 11 month old I know!Jaxon had a big year as well. In the fall he started preschool and quickly became a class favorite as well as a teachers pet. He made several new friends and although we had to pull him out of school due to illness and Liam's health, he has forever made an impression on his classmates and the teachers at his school. We are hoping
to re-enroll him after the threat of cold/flu season passes, but in the meantime, we continue to teach him at home, and every day I become more proud to be his Mommy! He is starting to read and right before his birthday, he started writing his name, alphabet and drawing beautiful pictures! In November, Jax turned THREE!!! He is 38" tall and in just one year went from wearing 18 month clothing to a size 8 shoe and 4T clothing. He is a huge fan of Disney's Cars, and is still every bit into Letters, Numbers, Shapes and Colors as he ever was. My wish for Jaxon as he starts this new year, is that he continues to love learning and discovering new things. He is definitely my little buddy, and although he knows how to push my limits, he makes me smile and love deeper than I ever thought I'd be able to.Dean just finished up almost two years working for the company MECO, and with that comes the excitement and stress of a NEW job!!! Dean is going back into the wind industry. In December he accepted an offer for a company called Gamesa. They are the 3rd largest manufacturer of wind turbines in the world. Gamesa is based out of Spain with their American headquarters being in Langhorne, PA. He will be working as a representative of the company on various erection sites. His position will be that of a Technical Advisor. It will be his job to be present on the job site as the turbines are erected, answer any questions that the sub-contractors have, and rectify any issues that are deemed to be the fault of the manufacturer. This is a great job with a fantastic company. It will take some adapting as a family but will provide many opportunities for us. He will start January 2nd at the corporate headquarters for orientation and training and hopefully soon we'll find out which project he will initially be assigned to. We will definitely keep you posted on the details. I am thankful to have such a wonderful husband who continues to provide for our family. He truly is the greatest thing that has every happened to me. How I ever wound up with someone so smart, funny, and good looking is beyond me. I thank my lucky stars every day that I get to wake up next to such a hunk of a man. :)I myself, have had the best year ever! Whoever told me that more than one child is a pain, is wrong!! I've had so much fun watching Jax become a big boy and such a loving
brother! Liam has inspired me every day with each new thing he discovers and just in general how happy and healthy he is. While being a stay at home mom to two might be stressful and at times overwhelming, I'm am so blessed to have this be my job and all the time it allows me to be around my boys! It is the most rewarding job I'll ever have! In September I picked up a new hobby and learned to sew!! I don't know everything yet, but when I get an idea, I'm pretty quick to figure it out! In the upcoming months, my job as a wife and mom will be a little harder as we will be going with Dean to the wind projects he's assigned to. Thankfully I have a wonderful support system and know I will have lots of help!!Our furbabies, Nash and Argo are doing great as well! Nash will be 7 years old in March, and Argo will be 2 years old in August! It will be fun to see how the next few months go with them, when it's time to travel!! They are definitely a part of our family, so no matter where we end up, we will have to make sure there is a place for them! We also FINALLY found Lily (our temporarily adopted feline) a FOREVER home! It was important, no matter what I say, that we placed her in a home with someone who would spoil and love her (Yes. I just said that. Didn't love her, but I do have a heart!) I can't believe my Nashman is a senior dog... That also means I've been in TN for seven whole years!!! My, my where has the time gone!???!
We are certainly excited about the year ahead of us and can't wait to share it all with you!
We have been so fortunate to have such a fantastic year, and are thankful for the countless blessings we have been given! Time for another bowl of black-eyed peas!!! ;)
Wishing you a year of love, happiness and health!!
Shylah, Dean, Jaxon and Liam
So, a few weeks ago I heard about a little 
Here are some pictures of the boys on Halloween! It was such a fun night. Early in October, we asked Jax what he thought he might want to dress up as or what he wanted to pretend to be for Halloween. He immediately said that he wanted to be a pirate, and that Baby Liam should be his parrot. Of course we had to go with that 
Jax had some issues with Mommy making his face a mess, but after he saw himself in the mirror and the reactions people were giving him, he was okay with it. Liam did pretty good too! We went to Nana and Pop's house first to show off the boys. Lol... when Harrell opened the door and exclaimed there was a scary pirate at his door, Jax gave him the most confused look responding with, "I not Scarrrry. I am Jaxon! I not scary". He then decided to "trade" candy with Pop's rather than just accept a new piece. Apparently Jaxon works on a barter system as well...
After we left Nana and Pop's, we decided to hit one neighborhood that had close houses for Jax to actually trick or treat at. He was very hesitant at first, and didn't quite know what to do, but I'd say by the third house, and the happy faces and that he was getting HANDFULS of candy, that he figured it out very quickly. Then he was running up driveways and to the doors, knocking, then turning his body away until someone opened the door. THEN he thought he got to go in EVERYONE'S house lol... It was fun night indeed!
This morning Liam and I had the opportunity to meet with our local March of Dimes Community Director and discuss being the 2011-2012 Ambassador Family for the Greene County (Appalachian Division) Chapter.
The March of Dimes has been our charity of choice since 
After that, I loaded the boys up, and we started making our rounds to visit with some friends. We spent lunch with my old co-workers. It was so good to see them all, and have everyone see what a big boy Jaxon is now, and finally get to meet Mr. Liam. Both were good, and thankfully Jax remembered the conference room doors were all glass. Usually he runs full force into them, and then we spend the entire time with tears and a red goose egged forehead. We had a good visit there, and while I miss all the people, I really don't miss the work place. 
That evening we met up with Nana, so she could take the boys so that Dean and I could have date night and celebrate our anniversary. We went to our favorite restaurant, the Old Hickory Steak House at Opry Land Hotel. LOVE that place. We had a balcony table, an amazing waiter, and best of all, Dean had arranged before hand to have a rose waiting on the table. Of course, I didn't catch on until he pointed out that none of the other tables had a rose... :) After dinner we walked around to check out what changes had been done to the hotel. This is the first time I had been back after the flooding, most of the areas looked the same, but you could definitely tell everything was new!
The best day of the weekend was going to the Titans game, a tradition Dean and I started for our anniversary. When we had purchased tickets a few months ago, we decided not to splurge and just try to get the best upper level seats we could... well that didn't last long. As we were walking over to the stadium, we just happened to see a man selling FRONT ROW tickets... Dean and I just looked at each other, debated a little, then decided that since it was for our anniversary and that we usually only go one time a year, that it was worth the splurge. We ended up paying a little bit more, but he reduced them with the trade for our tickets... so we ended up on the front row, on the 10 yd line on the visitors side. Thankfully we were sitting by Titans fans for the most part. There were a few Bronco's fans, but they weren't that bad. It was a gorgeous day, still wamer than I wanted, but not too awfully hot. I ended up pretty pink by the end of the game! Funny thing though, since the Titans got Hasselbeck, apparently they have started "the 12th Titan" initiative... Not sure how I feel about that knowing that for the NFL at least, it started in Seattle and has been a pretty special tradition for Seahawks to raise the "12th Man" Flag and be as loud as any stadium (Qwest Field has broken several records now). Oh well, maybe TN is just trying to make Hasselbeck feel welcomed? It was a fun game though! Most of the action sadly happened on the opposite side of the field, but we did get to see the winning TD right in front of us, our side and all, and after that, the Broc's fans got up and walked our REAL fast! 
We had a great time, got to visit with lots of our family friends, and celebrate four wonderful years together! Now back to real life, and getting the kiddo's back on a schedule!
Today is Dean and I's FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!
