If you ever want to make Madeline happy...give her a slide!



The most beautiful little girl!



The box is always more fun!





The face of "wonder"...

Busy, busy, busy!

Wow, it has been a while! Lets see...since we last blogged a lot has happened. Eli was potty trained in about a week!! Much to the delight of his parents. It was one loooooong week...or was it two weeks? Who knows? He has never had an accident at school so we count that a victory!

December is a very busy month in the Warden house. Both kids have birthday's in December. Eli turned 3 on the first of the month. Three years! We can't believe it! What a gentlman he is turning out to be. Well, a gentleman who likes to wrestle. Eli loves to wrestle daddy, mommy, basically anyone. If you sit on the floor you had better be prepared for a head lock. He will eventake off Evan's glasses and bring them to me. Daddy knows what is about to happen!

Madeline celebrated her FIRST birthday on the eleventh. Her real birthday is on the 12th but Evan's parents were in town only until the eleventh. What a great celebration it was! We had a Disney Princess theme...for our princess! Complete with a pink cake which she happily devoured. Maddie has taken her first steps over a month ago and happily pushes her walkers...or mommy's laundry baskets all around the house. She has become very interested in dolls and making sure they get hugs. She is also showing an early love for books. They often cover the floor in our home and Maddie will find her favorites and bring them to one of us, crawl into our lap and wait to be read to. Maddie has many friends at church who are excited to see her every week. They are all our age or older but no matter. She loves being in the nursery. I am told that she teaches her sign language to the workers every week. They are happy to see her come. We are thankful for so many people who take a loving interst in both of our children. Evan and I are reminded of our blessings every time we celebrate another year of being parents.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Evan and I are thankful for all we have been given this year...and for another year with our children. God shows Himself in every smile we recieve from our precious little ones. God Bless you all.

It's a flood!!!

Most of you have probably heard about the rain and flooding in Georgia over this past week! I think we had a total of 19 inches in about 3 days!

Our first contact with flood waters came on Sunday. We were sitting in small group. Someone burst into the room asking for a wet vac. The preschool rooms (where they have nursery on Sundays) was flooding!! They had moved the children to a room at the other end of the hall. All I could think about was how unfortunate that the preschool kids might miss school the next day. It was raining HARD when we left the church. Evan had to go get the car and I had to shield Maddie from the rain. We had decided it was a good day to buy lunch out. When we pulled up to the restaurant they told us all they had was sweet tea to drink. We didn't mind and got our food to go. We got home and soon realized there was NO WATER! All the sudden we realized that this rain and flooding might be more serious than we had thought. I thought it a good idea to run out to Wal-mart to buy gallons of water before it was all gone. All I could think about was not knowing how I would feed Maddie her bottles!! I got to the store and literally had to stand in line to get into the isle with the water. All the sudden two fire men came into the isle and started loading up boxes of three gallon jugs of water. The water all over town had been shut off and they were there to bring water to the hospital. I remembered how thirsty I was after giving birth and my heart went out to women just wanting to enjoy their new babies. I hoped that things would be resolved soon. I purchased 12 gallons of water, half of it nursery water for Maddie and some for friends and family. I thought it a good idea to get some soup, bread, and milk!


On my drive home I was horrified to see that only 1/4 mile down from our house a family had a huge pool of dirty water covering their back yard. The water was about a foot from their back door...and it was still raining. I suddenly became very thankful that we lived on a hill. The rain continued all of Sunday and Monday. I decided to be brave and check under the house to see about the water heater. We didn't have water but neither did anyone else. This is what I found when I opened the door! Evan had gone down a few minutes before and all I heard was "Whoa!" when he opened the door...that couldn't be good!

You are looking at three feet of water...covering our crawl space and water heater!! Oy, what a mess. At least our home was more than livable! Some people had to evacuate and some even lost their homes or their possessions in the lower floors of their homes. School was canceled three days in a row! Water was back by Monday night but there was no water pressure. We were still flushing toilets with rain water...thankfully all we had to do was take a bucket to the basement! A good friend took the kids and I to her parents house where I was able to bathe them and fill three empty jugs with drinking water! I felt so filthy that I had taken a cold...very cold shower the night before. It isn't so bad if you lean your head forward and wash your hair upside down!! Finally, on Wednesday everything seemed to be back to normal. Tuesday and Wednesday were sunny days...as if nothing had happened! Thursday, schools were open and Eli went back to preschool. I drove through town to complete all the backed up errands and I didn't even see one puddle. Unimaginable after the events of the week. When I stepped outside on Tuesday the sun literally burned my eyes. I had wondered how Noah felt when he first put his foot on dirt after 40 days in a stinky boat! I wonder if he ever went sailing again.....

We have gotten most of the water out of the basement thanks to Evan's quick thinking. he ran a hose into the basement and let science take over. We now have to asses the damage. We reported our problem to the Emergency Management in Toccoa. They make a list of all damages in the city and present it to the government in order to get the declaration of "State of Emergency". The lady asked that we have an engineer come and check the foundation after having the crawl space under so much water for so long. Hopefully the people who suffered so much loss can get the aid that they need.

We have received so much encouragement and offers of help and hot water from people all over the community. Especially our church! People offering their expertise and hands to help clean up. What a blessing and a break to the stress of this week!

First day of SCHOOL!

We decided to enroll Eli in a preschool this year. We thought it the best move toward preparing Eli for "real" school. Our church actually runs a preschool during the week so naturally this was the best situation for us. We figured Eli would have no seperation problems because he knows the classrooms from church. He will even recognize a few faces in his class! I registered him back in April and struggled a little all summer at having to leave my baby boy...even if only for three hours, two days a week. He has always been with me. I have left him at another little boy's house to play...but somehow watching my baby reach another milestone tugs at my heart. He is growing at an alarming rate. I get little glimpses of him going off to college, getting married, and becoming a daddy. Lord help me give him what he needs to be a good man...a loving, kind man!



We arrived at the school early so we waitind in the lobby for the teachers to pray together. ELi insisted on keeping his new backpack on! He stood at the windows that look into the hallway and started waving at someone...I am not sure who. I kept asking if he was ready...he'd say "READY!". which means yes. I'd ask hium if he was going to school. He would repeat the word and jump up and down. He was ready!


They lead him into the hallway where he could see Maddie and I on the other side. He came up to the window and said, "Mommy?". He looked like he was on the verge of crying. About 2 seconds later he turned around and ran into his room. My heart ached a little bit. I ached for a hug and a kiss from my baby boy...but my heart was full of love and acomplishment. My son was confident enough to walk away and not need me so much that day. Slowly he is taking his independence. It is bitter-sweet at times. A mother wants to be a mother all the time...the one that cuddles and kisses the boo boo's. I will give my boy what he needs and build him the foundation for becoming a man.

Wow, all this from one day at preschool> Without Eli around...I have plenty of quiet time to think:)

Madeline's Appointment

First off let me say that Evan and I have been so very blessed by all the emails and phone calls we have received from all of you. It was as if all of you walked in the doors of the doctor's off ice with us this afternoon.

Maddie did GREAT! She cried a little at first because they took her away from mommy. But when we came together again it was all fine. They attached about 10 tubes to her stomach and chest and did some listening. We were moved to another room where the cardiologist came in to listen to Maddie's heart herself. The doctor decided it was best to do an ultrasound of Maddie's heart to see what exactly had changed or had not changed. We were taken into yet another room where the ultrasound machine was hooked up. It took a little longer than usual. Maddie isn't known for being still :) The doctor came back in and gave me some very good news. One of the three wholes has closed on its own. Thank God! The other two are still there at the top of one of the heart's chambers. These two holes could be closed with a surgery but because they don't pose a threat to her development as small as they are, surgery is seen as unnecessary. We asked that God make Maddie's heart whole but she is safe and healthy. And best of all, NO SURGERY!!!!! Our prayers have been answered! Maddie will go back to the cardiologist in one year. Her condition is listed as stable. We'd rather her be improved but no surgery is all that we need!!!

What a relief to have this day over. The whole time I was watching my daughter and wishing I could take her place. A comforting thought is that she will never remember any of this. She is my brave little girl! She charmed all the nurses with her smile and her piggy tails!!!

Thank you all for your prayers. Your out-pour of love was such an encouragement these last few days. God has blessed us with so many wonderful people in our lives.

Madeline's Heart

When Maddie was born she had 3 holes in her heart. I went through an array of emotions. Was it my fault? My body was supposed to protect her and allow her to form healthily! Would she need surgery? Well we find out this Thursday. I am on my face before God...begging that He has wrapped his hands around her heart and healed these holes. If that isn't in His will, I pray that the holes have not gotten bigger, as this would mean a surgery for our baby girl. It is amazing being a parent, you know. As I look down at Maddie now, crawling on the floor, I think...if there is something really wrong I will give her my own heart. Thank you God for your gift of love. I thank God for healing in my life so that I can feel and experience such love. My love for my daughter, it overwhelms me and I gladly allow it...and how much more God loves her. Madeline is God's...he just let us borrow her for a little while...God please let it be a long while. I can't imagine my life without Madeline in it...I hope that I never have to live without her. I am not thinking the worst, I am just appreciating what I have been given. I was watching her sleep this morning...so awed by how beautiful she is...her hair all messed up and her face all scrunched up...simply beautiful.

I had a lady at church a few weeks ago ask me how many times Eli had been to the emergency room. I replied that he had never been and she said, "Well I don't believe THAT!". I had to laugh. SO many people are touched by Eli's "busy" spirit. They wonder how I do it. What they don't know and probably wouldn't appreciate is that I am so proud that my son sees a fence and his immediate reaction is to climb to the top! His spirit is strong and so free. It is a beautiful thing to see. As someone whose mother did everything to and succeeded in breaking my spirit. I look at Eli and wonder how much of that comes from me. It is a little bittersweet at times. I am proud to let Eli be "free" and I am proud of the mother that I have become. My children are a testament to my own freedom from the past. Every fence Eli climbs, every time he jumps expecting to be caught is proof that I have broken my own chains.

A Weekend away!

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Saulda, NC at Evan's grandparent's farm. I told Eli that we were going to see great grandma and all he could say back was "Cows!!!". Grandpa has two cows and Eli loves going to feed them.

Aunt Kathy was there and her son and his wife too. They brought two of their dogs, Clark and Petey. Eli LOVES dogs. Clark plowed Eli down the first night we were there. Don't worry, Eli made up with Clark and secretly fed him two chocolate chip cookies the next day.



Eli is in the terrible two's for sure. When he doesn't get his way he throws himself down on the grownd! He started a new trait where he tried to burry himself in rocks!





Still, two is a fun age. We took him to a fair the other week and Evan talked me into letting him get his face painted. I wanted to avoid it because I figured he would squirm and protest...loudly. We told him that the lady was going to put Spiderman on his face. HE DIDN'T MOVE A MUSCLE! He sat perfectly still the whole time. People actually started to gather around him to see this little boy sit so still. Anything for Spiderman. I was afraid that he wouldn't let us wash his face for weeks. Thankfully, he forgot about Spiderman by the time he got his bath that night!


Maddie is almost six months old. She has the same pleasant temperment that Eli had. She wakes up with a smile every morning. Sometimes that "morning" still comes before the sun rises. She is a happy little girl anyway. People always tell me how beautiful she is...I can't help but agree!