Birthday Boy!

My nephew Caedon turned 2 today!! I cannot believe that he is two years old already! He is such a smart and handsome little boy. Here are some fun pictures from the party :)

Real Life

Well, I have been seeing people joining in a really fun blogfest called Real Life each Thursday for a couple of weeks now. I have thought that it looked really fun, but up until now, I just haven't joined in. This weeks theme is "Momentous Occasions," and you are supposed to post pictures of the momentous occasions in your life. I thought it sounded fun, so I decided to join in :) You can check out more Real Life fun over at Jessica's blog at FARM FRESH.

My most "Momentous Occasions."

1. First of course is meeting/dating my hubby. Nick and I knew each other as aquaintances pretty much forever, but it wasn't until after we were both out of college that there was any romantic interest. Well at least on his part :) I may have turned him down the first time he asked me out...but don't worry, I called him back a couple of days later ;)

2. After the dating, came the wedding. I had a hard time picking which pictures to post from my wedding, because I seriously loved almost all of them. We had amazing photographers who captured our day perfectly. :)

This first picture is actually from before our wedding. I know, shame on us for kissing before the ceremony. :) On our wedding day, I knew that the first time that I saw Nick, I would be really emotional, and I didn't want to have that experience in front of a bunch of people. So we decided to have some private time just the two of us in the sanctuary before the ceremony. I was so glad that we did that. I got all of my tears out, and we were able to talk and pray together, and it is a memory I cherish. :)

3. About six months after we got married, we started talking about having kids. I have always wanted to be a mom, and have a pack of kids running around my house. Nick and I have not quite come to an agreement on how many a pack is...I think 5 or 6 and he thinks 3 or 4... :) Here is one of the many ultrasound pictures we have of Hannah. She was being particulary cute that day, sucking her thumb. :)

4. This is a picture of Hannah when she was less than an hour old. This was a particularlly "momentous" moment for us, because we had a really difficult pregnancy with Hannah. I was on bedrest (or couch arrest as I call it :)), having ultrasounds 2 or 3 times a week etc. The doctors gave of many different scenarios of things that could possibly be wrong with her, and we really didn't know for sure that she was ok until she was born. So seeing my little girl, and holding her, and just watching her breathe was HUGE, because I finally knew she was ok . Thank you Jesus!!

5. Last really big moment to date was taking Hannah home. The outfit she is wearing is what I wore home from the hospital, and the blanket she is laying on is one that I made her while being stuck on the couch:) Lots of tears were cried and lots of prayers were prayed while I made that blanket :)

Well those are my most momentous occasions to date...hope you enjoyed reading about them, and have a wonderful Thursday!

Curls!!

When I was a little girl, I loved Shirley Temple. More than anything I wished for curly hair. Unfortunately, my hair has always be stick straight. So you can imagine my excitement when I gave birth to a little girl with curls (she got that gene from her daddy :)). It was pretty humid today, and so the curls were out in full force. So I had to take a picture. And I had to blog about it too :)

Crocodile Rock!

It was such a beautiful morning yesterday that we decided to bust out the crocodile swimming pool for Hannah. She had such a fun time playing in the water, and even used the crocodiles head for a slide a couple of times :)

Soooo cool!!

Oh yes, I really am that cool!! :) Ok not really...my cousin is an assistant manager at Chick-fila, and because of really good sales, the owner of the store got a car from the company. He got to choose what kind of car, and he chose a Mustang convertible. He is letting each of the employees drive it for a weekend, and this was my cousins weekend. So of course all of us girls (my sister Krissy, my cousin Marissa, my mom and myself) took it out for a spin. And yes we definitely thought that we were really cool! And just in case you are wondering, Hannah did not ride with us (no car seat) she just wanted in for the picture :)
Hannah helping play cornhole :)
Just being cute!

Sand and Water

AHHHHH....that was the sound of my taking a deep breath in and out. Today was kind of a stressful day, so once I put Hannah to bed, I decided to play around with some pictures, just to take my mind off of potty training :) I think they turned out kind of cool. What do you think? (some of them look better if you click on them and make them big :))

Adventures in Potty Training: Day Two

Well, yesterday was definitely challenging. In the morning Hannah would go to the bathroom and then tell me about it. I was watching her really closely but she still snuck a couple of squats past me :) The afternoon went better though, she was definitely starting to recognize when she needed to go, and although we still haven't made it to the potty before she goes, there was definite improvement. So I was happy about that. Last night was difficult though. She only had one accident, at about 12, so that was really good. But, she had a really hard time falling asleep after she was awake and we cleaned her up etc. She didn't really fall back into a restful sleep until about 5 this morning, but she is still sleeping so that is good. I dosed up on coffee this morning, so not too tired right now. :) Our goal for today is to make it to the potty before she goes, at least once. Keep your fingers crossed :)

Potty Update

There was poop on my sock...enough said...

Wish me Luck!!

Today we are starting a program called potty training in 3 days. When I first heard of this, I thought yeah right...if it sounds to good to be true, it usually it. However, several of our friends have used it with really good results, so we are going to give it a go. I am ready with lots of "potty prizes", some fun new cups to drink out of, several different kinds of drinks (to make for lots of "learning opportunites"), and a whole slew of big girl undies! If you think about it, send some happy potty thoughts my way!! I will let you all know how it goes!!

My Cutie :)

We were running late getting ready for church this morning (Does anyone else have that problem...it seems like no matter how early I get up, we are always running behind.) and as I was quickly perusing Hannah's closet for something that didn't need ironed, I came upon this adorable outfit with the matching bandana. So of course I took pictures :)



Don't you just love those curls and her big brown eyes?! I know I do :)

We have been so busy!

Wow, I can't believe it has been almost a week since I have posted. We had a really busy week last week, and I felt like I was barely able to get my family fed, and the cleaned up, let alone have time to blog. We did get to go swimming twice this past week, and took Hannah to a petting zoom. She loved the swimming, not a surprise, but did not like the petting zoo. For some reason she is terrified of loud car noises, mowers, the tillers, etc. When we first got to the petting zoo, a tractor went by, and that was the end of that. She wouldn't let me put her down. So no pictures of Hannah at the petting zoo. I would like to try it again though. :) Swimming was really fun! The people whose house we swam t have a really nice in-ground pool, and it even has a diving board. And yes, miss Hannah jumped off. She had her floaties on, and she just walked right off the end of the diving board. I am so glad that she loves the water! Here are some pictures of our week. (There aren't very many, because most of the pictures I took this week have other kids in them, and I don't feel comfortable putting them online without asking the parents first :))

Belated Father's Day

We took, my grandpa, Hannah's great-grandpa, out to luch today for a belated Father's Day. It is so sweet watching my grandpa with Hannah! The baby in the upper left hand corner is my cousins little girl...she is somewhat of a miracle baby...they tried for a really long time to get pregnant, and as you can see, she is beautiful!!

Berries!!

We made freezer jam yesterday..YUMMY!! (Also cleaned and halved some to freeze) Here is the process from start to finish...it is actually pretty easy :) (It took about 2 and a half hours from start to finish, and that includes cleanup!)

Cleaned, cut, then food processed strawberries :)

"Percolating" in the sugar :)

The "fruits" of our labor...Pun intended ;)

STRAWBERRY THIEF!!!
(ok, ok...I may have eaten a few myself :))

Going to the park and the ball game :)

What did we do today? Well, since you asked... We spent the morning with our play group at the park.

First we played on the swings.

Then we moved on to the slides.

Then it was time for our picnic lunch!

And finally, we decided to try out the carousel. As you can see by the look on Hannah's face, and the way she is clinging for dear life, she was not such a big fan!! I guess we will try again another time :)

This evening was spent watching daddy's softball game. Relaxing in the Dora chair with popcorn and milk :)

Sadness

Well, if you have read my blog very often at all you will know that 99% of the time I post about Hannah, and pictures of Hannah. :) Just to give fair warning, this post is not about Hannah. It is about some things that happened this week, that have been on my heart. Some things that I working through, and feeling some sadness about.

The first thing is that one of the little girls that my husband and I sponsor through Compassion decided to quit the program. We have sponsored her for a good six years, and on Monday we got a letter in the mail that said that she was no longer enrolled in the Compassion program. I was shocked. And even though I have never met her face to face I was really really sad. I felt connected to her through her letters, and through watching her grow up in pictures that we got in the mail. I called the Compassion office to see if they had any more information, because the letter that simply said that she was no longer enrolled. The lady that I talked to gave me a little more information, she was in excellent health, she had completed the fifth grade, the Compassion workers had gone to her families house to try to talk about keeping her involved, etc. And then she said something that made me cry. She said that during the program Allison had accepted Christ. I am so so so very glad. I didn't know that before. So even though I know I will never meet her face to face, I know that someday in Heaven I will. And that helps me not to feel quite so sad.

The second thing that I have been processing through is that we got a letter in the mail on Tuesday from our pastor saying that he was resigning. He is feeling called to somewhere else, and we don't know anything more (it is going to be addressed on Sunday), this also made me really sad. I my head I know that a pastor doesn't make a church, but in my heart, I have a hard time imagining my church without Ross. He married Nick and I, was a huge support to us during all the uncertainty of our pregnancy, and he did Hannah's baby dedication. Part of me is really excited about the new opportunities for Ross and his family, and part of me is really sad to think of him leaving. I just need to pray about it, and have some faith. :)

The last thing I want to put in this post is a song that I have fallen in love with. I really like Point of Grace, and my sister in law gave me their new CD last week. This song reminds me of how much Jesus loves me, and that my friends, is definitely NOT sad :)

"Because You Are"
Infinite deity, humbly enframed. In a mortal and breakable body you came.
To rescue our souls from the depth they were in. Because of, in spite of, to cover my sin.
Master and servant together in one. Come to redeem what our hearts had undone.
Savior of all come to gather his kin. Because of, in spite of, to cover my sin.

Holy unbreakable infinite God. Ever unchanging in all that you are.
Light of the world and the sun and the stars. You are I AM and I am because you are.

Shepherd and pastor to wandering sheep. Gave up his life so our own we could keep.
Solider in battle for souls he might win. Because of, in spite of, to cover my sin.

Holy unbreakable infinite God. Ever unchanging in all that you are.
Light of the world and the sun and the stars. You are I AM and I am because you are.

Humbly forsaking his heavenly seat. Beaten and bloodied and washing my feet.
Opened our eyes to what love really means. The blood on my hands is what washes me clean.

Holy unbreakable infinite God. Ever unchanging in all that you are.
Light of the world and the sun and the stars. You are I AM and I am because you are.

WWWAT




The theme for this weeks WWWAT was vintage. I choose to take pictures of a vase that my mom gave to me. This vase was given to my maternal grandma by my great-grandmother. My grandma then passed it down to my mom, who then passed it down to me. Each woman who has been given this vase, is the second daughter in the family. I remember how special getting this from my mom made me feel, and I am looking forward to passing it on to my own second daughter someday :) I know that it is not worth a lot in the monetary sense, but it is worth millions to me. :) For more WWWAT fun visit Rachel's blog!