You are here: Home / Archives for Categories / Sav A Life

Life with two…

April 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Hello world.  Things are crazy, a good kind of crazy.

Absolutely loving life with two babies…not quite sane yet…not sure if sanity will ever return.  :)
CATES & RETT

We are working on 4 months of life with two kiddos and I am just beginning to see the light, I think.  I am totally in love with this little guy and he has been an easy baby.  Barrett reminds me often that Cates was “waaaay worse” than Mr. Rett is.  He weighs almost 16 pounds and will be 4 months tomorrow.  Cates weighed 16 pounds at her first birthday.  He generally sleeps through the night…Cates was over a year old before she even considered attempting that.  Needless to say, I have no reasons to complain…every moment is a gift.  I am learning quickly that they get big too quickly and that I don’t want to miss a single word or little coo that comes out of their mouths.

Cates’s newest expression as we head to Publix (and pass Starbucks) is, “Mom, you’re not going to stop at Starbucks today?”.  I wish you all could hear her sweet serious little concerned voice, as if I NEED my Starbucks.  She can totally order for me at the drive through. “Grande half caff mocha please”…she knows it by heart.  It may be a little obvious that I have needed my share of caffeine lately.

In all seriousness, I am really missing them during the day when I am not around them.  (Don’t misunderstand…the few hours of silence after everyone is asleep are glorious.)  I kind of want to go sneak in the bed with Cates and just “cuddle up” as she says.  And sweet Rett has sneaked into the big bed pretty much every morning around 5am because he and I are missing snuggling.  I am learning that there is nothing on this earth more important than family.

Even though it has only been 4 months, it is virtually impossible to picture my life without sweet Rett.  It is crazy to think how different things would have been if almost 4 years ago we would have been able to bring home healthy twin baby girls.  If we hadn’t lost Reid and McAdory, there probably wouldn’t have been a Cates.  I thank God for her little life every day for so many reasons.  Through losing babies and having babies, the sanctity of life has become so real.  Life is such a precious, precious gift.  In honor of Reid and Mc (who are hopefully getting to have pig tails in their hair and swinging so high in the biggest swings in Heaven) and my heart, my Cates, and my little love, sweet Rett, we will walk this weekend in the Sav A Life walk at the zoo.  I can’t think of any better reason to participate than to honor our 4 babies.

Please join us this Saturday for a fun walk around the zoo to honor your baby or someone you love.  Registration starts at 8:00 and the walk starts at 9:00.  It is just $10 to walk and the proceeds ALL go to saving little lives and honoring the sanctity of life.

If you can’t participate on Saturday, we covet your donations and prayers.  Both save lives daily.  Please support this amazing ministry and honor a little life that is important to you.  I am a sponsored walker this year and the link to my page for sponsorship is below, and it is very easy to donate directly through the page. I have a goal listed, but any contribution you can make would be much appreciated, even just a dollar!  The link to donate to Sav A Life is here: SAV A LIFE

Love you all!!

RETT & FAMILY

 

 

Ashley

 

Katie Davis, Holland Sinrod Williams, Mandi McCarty Hall, Sara Elizabeth Finney Burnham, Lara M. Lewis liked this post
Filed Under: Cates, Children, Sav A Life

Need A Car Tag??

May 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

For those of you haven’t heard me go on and on and on about Sav A Life… I am involved with the Sav-A-Life foundation.  Feel free to read back on past blog posts as to why this organization is so dear to my heart.) This year’ s Sav-A-Life “Walk for Life” event is TOMORROW, yes this Saturday, May 5 at the Montgomery Zoo. Sav-A-Life is a Montgomery ministry promoting a culture of life, health and morality. Your support will enable the women coming  to our center to hear about LIFE … both for their unborn children and for them to have spiritual guidance. Please join us in our effort to see women choose life for their babies and for themselves.  All services we provide are free and confidential.

This year I have decided to set my goal to raise $3,500 for the “Walk for Life” event. You see, we are in a little competition… My initial goal was $2000 and it was actually MET earlier this week because you all are so wonderful and generous!!!  So in an effort to raise money for a wonderful cause (and to maybe win)…I upped the bar just a little.  If you haven’t already donated and feel led to, please see the link to the donation page.  Even $10 is HUGE!!!

Ashley’s Donation Page

ALSO, we would love, love, love for you to participate as a walker on Saturday; it is $10 per person…normal zoo admission.  Plus, there is free blue bell ice cream.  If you haven’t been to the zoo lately, you will be slightly obsessed and just might stay there until they close.  Seriously, I was kind of like a 6 year old last time Cates and I went.  I often wonder what the heck our great God was thinking when he created some of these animals…enough said.

On a different note, another way to help support Sav-A-Life is by buying the car tag when your car is up for renewal.  Below is a copy of the colorful car tag you can display to help promote awareness for unborn children. Sav A Life gets about $40 per car tag.  It’s just one small way to show support and help Montgomery’s ministry!

Thank you all for your support! It is appreciated way more than you know!!!

xoxoxoxoxo

Rebekah Gentry Edwards liked this post
Filed Under: Inspiration, Sav A Life

LIFE

April 20, 2012 By 7 Comments

This is totally off subject, but bare with me for a minute…

It’s amazing to me how God puts you through trials to open your eyes to issues bigger than your own. Three years ago I found myself pregnant with twins and trying to picture our crazy life with two somewhat unexpected baby girls. My friends will tell you it was a long road, but I began to accept the blessing God had given us and started to get very excited. Seven months in, 30 weeks to be exact, my excitement was no longer. I was left with a nursery all set with two empty cribs, precious matching outfits in every color and style, monogrammed blankets, pillows, undies, and, more than anything, a super empty heart. I got to witness these little girls’ lives in so many ways…from the sounds of heartbeats at the doctors office, to watching toes and cheeks and ears in an ultra sound, to feeling Reid’s head constantly under my ribs on my right and Mc’s feet on my left, to holding two precious 100% perfectly formed but lifeless bodies in my arms.

Reid and McAdory were born through an emergency C-Section so the next attempt at pregnancy had to wait at least six months so my body could heal. Six months later we had a miscarriage at eight weeks, just two weeks after seeing a sweet little heartbeat.

Miss Cates came into this world about eight months after the miscarriage. As you can imagine, petrified wouldn’t explain the months of being pregnant. Although two months early, Cates has been a feisty fighter since she was born.

All this to say, “I’ve been there.” Now, I’m not saying my story is the worst; I have heard much worse but, it has hurt (a lot) nonetheless. My point? This image in my mind of seeing Reid and Mc on the ultrasound is always with me…that’s all I have of seeing them actually alive. In a need to do something to feel like I am putting my pain to work, I got to know a lot about the “Sav-A-Life” organization. Sav-A-Life gives expectant moms of unwanted pregnancies a chance to actually have an ultra sound and see their baby…see that little heartbeat, their fingers and toes in perfect form, their thumb in their mouth, etc… Being on the “mommy” side of things, I can’t imagine a mom wanting to end a pregnancy at any stage. Reid and Mc were just as much alive at the eight week ultrasound as they were at the 30 week ultrasound. I cherish those pictures.

Don’t misunderstand me…I was never really for or against abortion. It wasn’t something I thought about. I’m not here to judge. If I had found myself pregnant and unmarried, I probably would have explored all my options. Knowing what I know now…holding three perfect premature babies in my arms (Reid, McAdory and Cates), there is no question in my mind that life is life…from conception to birth. I have such a great respect now for those moms who got pregnant unexpectedly and actually chose life. What a HUGELY unselfish, mature and Godly decision.

I say all of this to ask you to support Sav-A-Life. Please help expectant moms of unwanted pregnancies understand the gift God has given to them. Every dollar you donate goes towards LIFE; life only God can create. In honor of your life, in honor of your mom’s decisions, in honor of your child’s precious heartbeat you got the blessing to see on an ultrasound, in honor of the child you didn’t choose, in honor of the child who’s parents don’t know to choose…whatever the reason, please support this amazing ministry and help parents understand what a heartbeat really is…LIFE.

The Sav-A-Life walk is at the Montgomery Zoo on May 5th. We would LOVE to actually see you there and would LOVE your contributions as well. You can click the link below to donate online and truly help save a little one’s life.

Ashley’s Sav-A-Life Fundraising Page

Thanks for baring with me through my story and for letting me throw a little off-topic subject into our blog world. If you have a child and have an extra five seconds today, put your ear to your little one’s chest and listen to that little heart beat for a few seconds. It’s the most glorious sound I’ve ever heard. Thank God for LIFE and for CHOOSING to give YOU such an amazing gift!!

xoxoxo

Ashley

 

Cates, 26 week ultra sound, LOVE those chubby cheeks and those little toes.

 

Josie Mitchell McLemore, Cecile W. Hamblin, Lisa Franklin, Jennifer Berry Senn, Allison Wilson Baxley, Alex Henig Jones, Jamie Davis Ramsey liked this post
Filed Under: Cates, Children, Inspiration, Sav A Life, Uncategorized