Much to be thankful for...

5 days after her 91st birthday, Grandma Ruby, (my dad's mom) has gone home to be with Jesus. She was still living alone until she came down with Pneumonia about 3 weeks ago. After a brief stay in the hospital, she went to live at a Senior Care facility down the road. Once there, her alzheimers accelerated at lightning speed.

But, last week, I took Philip to see her & her face lit up like she was 20 years younger. She held him & showed him off to all of the people there. She played peek a boo & sang him songs. She held him while I pushed her to the dining area & everyone said that was the brightest they had seen her. God was gracious to give me that sweet time with her.

She was put in the hospital on Monday, the day after her birthday. The doctors gave her 48 hours to live, but she showed them & lasted 4 days! When I went in to tell her bye, she opened her eyes & looked at me as I told her all of my favorite memories of her. My mom sang "Oh How I love Jesus" to her, and she raised her hand in praise for the last time on earth. But, she will be praising Jesus for eternity, and for that, I am thankful!

It's been a while

I was going to be a good blogger. Really, I was. I even got this fun Christmas background. I was going to keep everyone updated on all the fun things that the Cannons were doing in December. Then, I took my kids to the doctor for 10 weeks in a row & I honestly forgot I even had a blog!

So, you'll just have to take my word for it. We had a GREAT Christmas. Our house was so fun with all of these boys! And, because it's 2 months after Christmas, I'll just show you these 2 pictures.

Geoff & Philip were in the Church Christmas pageant as Jospeph & Baby Jesus. No, that's not me as Mary. They needed a Mary who could sing, so I got the boot! :) But, Philip did wonderful! Not a peep out of him! He was a great baby Jesus!

And, Kirkland was Joseph in the kid's childrens musical. He sang so loud & we were so proud of him!

I'll get to changing this Christmas background as soon as I have time! :) Maybe when Charlie gets his cast off!

Sorry...

If you don't get a Christmas card from us this year, it's because we can't get a picture of 5 people looking at a camera. Much less, all of us smiling at the same time.

We've had 2 photo sessions. One was even with my cousin who is a professional photographer in NYC. Even he couldn't help the Cannons!

So, this may have to be it, unless I can convince Geoff to try 1 more time! Poor Kirkland was trying to get the sand gnats off his face.

Geoff is my hero...

We moved Kirkland from a crib to a big boy bed on his 2nd birthday. We had to move him out of the nursery because baby Charlie was coming. Keeping him in his big boy bed was a nightmare! He kept getting up & coming down the hall to see us. We walked him back hundreds of times! It was crazy! We went crazy! We tried everything!

So, obviously, I wasn't super excited about doing that again with Charlie. So, we borrowed a friend's crib & decided we'd leave him in a crib for as long as possible. (at least until football season was over & I wasn't a single mom!)

Last Wednesday, I'm feeding the baby downstairs, and Geoff put Kirkland & Charlie to bed. Geoff comes down to tell me that he put Charlie in his big kid bed. I tell him he's crazy, and that he's on "Charlie duty" all night! Would you believe that Charlie didn't get up at all, not even once! He stayed in his big bed all night long! Since then, he's taken a nap in there every day, and he just waits for me to open his door before he gets out of bed! Who is this kid?!?

Geoff's book on parenting techniques will be available in stores coming soon! ;)

Just plain exhausted...

So, there is tired, and then there is "I've had a baby" tired. I walked in my living room this afternoon & saw leaves (like, from trees) I have no idea how I got leaves inside, and I didn't care. I stepped right over them to get to the kitchen. I'm just too tired to bend down & pick them up. I remember once upon a time when I used to vacuum my living room every single day when I came home from work. Those days are LONG gone.

I remember when Kirkland was born, I thought I was tired. But, I made sure to get a shower every morning. I washed, dried & fixed my hair & put on make up every single day. My bed was always made (before I went downstairs for breakfast) & I exercised on a regular basis.

When Charlie was born, I showered sometime before lunch. And, I managed to get on some make up.

Now? I try to get a shower. That's all. And, just sometime before Geoff gets home from football at 8:30 at night. It's a pretty picture isn't it? :) I rarely write anything else on my planner b/c I know I'm not going to get to it!

But, my 3 boys are a lot of fun & I am really enjoying the newborn phase again. My sweet baby loves to be held, and cries whenever I put him down. (Which is probably why I'm not having much luck getting a shower) Kirkland & Charlie LOVE him. Almost too much! The poor thing can't get a second of quiet time without one of them in his space trying to touch him.

I'll post a picture soon. But, right now, all 3 of them are asleep so I'm going to try to get a catnap in before Philip gets up!

1st week home!

They want to be wherever the baby is! Not sure if you can tell from this picture, but Charlie is kissing his toes.

Sweet thing kind of just sleeps a lot right now! I'm not sure how, because our house is Crazy loud!
Drying off after our first bath!

The boys love to go in his room when it's time for him to wake up. They peek over his crib and they talk to him & they love to touch him. It's just so sweet how much they like spending time with him. He will be well taken care of!

Baby Philip is here!

Geoff put all of my favorite pictures on facebook, so we'll put our 2nd favorites here, so you can see what September 13th was like for the Cannons! So many people told us they were praying for us, and we felt so loved & protected when we went to the hospital. God was truly in every detail & we saw how He answered prayers!

This picture was taken right before the boys left for the hospital. They are trying to show that they will love their baby brother "thiiiiiiiisssss much"!

When we first got to the hospital. Before they made me put on that hideous gown! Seriously, couldn't they make those gowns in some cute fabric or something?
I had been wondering if delivery would "feel" different since I knew what I was having this time. I worried that it might be anti-climatic. That wasn't the case at all. I heard his sweet cry for the first time, and I knew that I could never live without him. My life would never & could never be the same! It's amazing that the heart has the capacity to love this much. God is so good & I am so blessed!

The first time all the boys met! Charlie & Kirkland were SO excited! Both jumping up & down, it was just a perfect moment! There was such joy in the room. Philip perked up as soon as he heard them, and this is a picture of the first time he saw his big brothers!
Philip Harold is named after my dad & Geoff's dad. Everyone was very surprised when Geoff came out of the delivery room to tell them the name! It is such fun to keep it a surprise!

Keeping Charlie from "loving Philip to death" is turning out to be a full time job!

Oh, how I love to watch Geoff love on our boys.

We have loved all of our nurses & it's been a great stay, but we are ready to take our sweet baby home!

Charlie Boy turns 2!

We had a Thomas the Train party for our little man! He had been talking about his "Thomas cake" for weeks before his party & he was so excited when he saw it the 1st time! My parents are saints and let us have the party at their house & my mom even cooked all the food! Here are a few pictures!

I can't believe my little man is already 2! He brings such joy to our home!

Pre-K!

Kirkland was so excited this morning about going to school! He is still at the same school he went to last year & we love it! Charlie has been telling people all week that he was going to school this week too. Poor little man, with his September birthday, he actually won't start pre-school until 2012!It was hard to get a picture of Kirkland by himself this morning, because Charlie is used to having his picture taken with Kirkland, and he didn't understand why I wanted to get a "solo" shot. Grandmama came over to see us off & then she even met us for lunch at Chick-fil-A after we

picked him up for his "celebration lunch"! Charlie started sobbing when we pulled up to the school and he realized that Kirkland was going in without him. He kept saying, "I go school with Kirkland" and "Let me out". It was awful! Poor guy! We really missed Kirkland today.

What a big, sweet boy he is! His school is lucky to have him!

"blowing" bubbles...

So, Geoff & Kirkland are in the pool while Charlie & I are at the table enjoying a snack.

I think I hear Kirkland telling everyone around him that he is "blowing bubbles", but we are kind of far away so I'm not sure, but I see everyone smiling at him & I think "great!". He is practicing what he learned! When he screams over to me at the top of his lungs that he is blowing bubbles & I give him a big thumbs up & tell him "great job, keep it up!", that's when Geoff climbs out of the pool to tell me that he is actually telling people he is "Tooting bubbles". Nice...

Last of summer!

This summer has been the best! 3 months of fun with my boys! They were both old enough to really enjoy it! Oh, how I'm not ready for summer to be over. Maybe I should look into homeschooling so they can be home with me every day!

Pulling both the boys in the bike when you are 8 months pregnant is as hard as it sounds! They are heavy!!We are all about us some playground around here! My mom took me & the boys to the Jacksonville Zoo last week while Geoff was at football camp! The boys loved the water area & riding the train! And, feeding the giraffes was the highlight of the day! They were both doing so good we stayed about 5 hours! It was a great day!

So, I might have to change churches...

People say the darndest things to me...

Tonight at dinner, a much older woman actually leaned over me while I was sitting at Wednesday night dinner & she started rubbing my belly with both hands. I couldn't back up b/c she is leaning over me with her head nuzzled at my neck. Then, she starts scratching, then patting my belly. It was all I could take. I was trapped!

I walk in to drop Charlie off at his class, and his teacher says, "My you are getting big". I assume (incorrectly) that she is talking to Charlie, and I say something about how big he is, etc. and she says, "No, YOU are getting big.... Can I touch your belly?" What does one say to that? She asked, so can I say, "No"?

Walking down the hallway, a much older man says "You sure are about to split open".

Followed by another man, "You are about to pop".

My personal favorite is by a friend's 5 year old boy who said, "You look like if you eat one more meal, you will explode!"

Only 3.5 weeks to go....They better get their comments in while they can!

Pigeon Forge

So, I'm a touch late with this post. But, July was just too much fun & I didn't have time to blog. Every year, my grandparents take our whole extended family on a vacation. Here are some pictures from Pigeon Forge, TN. We spent the days rock climbing, going on hikes, feeding ducks & going to the race tracks to ride all of the kiddie rides. The boys had a blast!

Shhhh...don't tell Geoff, but I actually like being pregnant!

Now that I don't throw up every time I eat, see, smell, or think about food, being pregnant is actually kind of fun!

• People are really nice to pregnant women. I haven't waited in line for anything in weeks! Strangers smile when they look at my belly & start talking to me about the joys of having children. I haven't had to carry a thing or bend over & pick anything up. Someone comes along and offers to do it for me! It's fantastic!
• I love, love, love feeling my baby move!
• I love it when my boys want to kiss the baby in my tummy
• I don't have to worry about what I'm going to wear every day. I only have a limited selection to choose from each morning & this makes my life considerably easier! And, I don't worry about when I wore it last....who cares? I'm pregnant!
• If I ever mention that I'm in the mood for something specific to eat, Geoff usually makes it happen! If he is at practice, my mom does!
• I eat ALL the time. And, I don't care. I've got to lose all the weight in a few weeks anyways, might as well make it worth it!
• I don't have to worry about how I look in a swim suit...surely everyone can tell I'm pregnant!

I mean, I don't want to go crazy & have like 10 kids, but I'm definitely feeling blessed today that God lets me have babies! Baby Cannon 3 should be here 5 weeks from tomorrow!

Summer is the best!

Waiting on our homemade ice cream! Yum!

Seriously?

I think that men at church feel more comfortable than they should talking to me because we're good friends, and we all see each other all the time. This is an actual conversation that happened this morning between me & my Sunday school teacher, who we love, he just says goofy things. (My thoughts in blue)

Him: "Wow", (ut oh) "you are really getting pregnant" ( Getting pregnant? I've been pregnant for months now, but o.k., I'll let it slide)

Me: "What? Do you think this shirt makes me look pregnant"? (dripping with sarcasm & an attempt at humor, so that maybe he would get that I didn't want to go down this line of conversation)

Him: "No, I think it's your belly that makes you look pregnant" (Really? You think?)

A very nice bystander: "I think she just looks pregnant from the side". (Aw, thank you for trying to save him from himself)

Him: "No, I can tell from the front." (Can't you see we are all trying to help you stop talking! Please excuse yourself & go find your seat! :)

I wish every season was summer!

I love summer! I love everything about it! No where to be, nothing to do but whatever we feel like doing! We've had a blast! Lots of visits to summer waves, the beach, & lots of playing outside on the Slip n slide or we fill up our plastic pool! (Until I can convince Geoff we need a real pool!)

We took the boys to play putt putt last week! So fun! They had their own way of doing it, and it was hysterical! No rules, just a lot of running around chasing the ball.

Summer Vacation!

This year, my parents took us to Cinnamon Beach for our family vacation! We had the best time! I packed tons of clothes, but all we did was go from the beach, to the pool, and back to the beach...all day long! All we needed was our swimsuits. It was soooo relaxing! My parents even kept the boys for a night for Geoff & I to go out on the town! Evening walks on the beach are the best! The boys loved digging with their new "big" shovels.

Let's get the word out...

It is not o.k. for men to touch the bellies of pregnant women! (Unless, of course, you are married to them)

I actually had a man rub my belly with TWO hands the other day! Yes, 2 hands! Very awkward!

Pregnant is the new skinny.

I read that on a shirt & loved it!!

O.k., so I don't understand why men talk to pregnant women. They almost always say something inappropriate. It is never funny to joke with a pregnant woman about how much she is eating. Never. Ever. Please, write that down, share it with men you know.

Here are some other true, just from this week, examples:

-Any time a guy looks at me, & starts his sentence with "Whoa..." I know whatever else he says is going to be stupid. There are too many of these to list.

-There was a guy at church who was laughing at me as I passed him the offering plate, I asked him what was funny, and he pointed to my belly. I didn't get it, so I said jokingly, "Is that a fat joke?". He said, "not yet". (Still don't get it, but am pretty sure I would be offended if I did)

-Another man at chuch holds his back & waddles when he sees me. I'm not sure why, as I do not waddle in 3 inch heels, but whatever. His wife has been pregnant 3 times, so surely he knows you can't joke with pregnant women. (unless you are married to them, even then...it's risky)

-My sweet dad, and if you know him, you know that he is always putting his foot in his mouth, asks me at the pool, "Do you find that you have more "float" now?" Uh, no dad....my belly has a baby in it...not a big pocket of air.

-And my favorite: I was talking to a couple who are both in their late 60's, and she comments that she didn't know I was pregnant, don't I know how that happens, etc, etc. I politely laughed, and her husband actually said, "Well, I, for one, am just glad you guys are still doing it!" I'm pretty sure I blacked out.