My Little Fish

The kids have gotten to be little fish this summer. With swimming more at Grammie's house this summer and then spending time everyday at Grandma's development's pool, they have really started to show progress....

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Could you hear what Aunt Jaclyn bribed Lydia with to get her to go off of the diving board????

Jaclyn bribed her with the chance to hold Hannah Grace!! LOL... and that little girl got out of the water as soon as she had jumped off the diving board and asked to hold Hannah Grace..... she'd rather hold Hannah Grace than swim!

And while you may be tired of pictures of Lydia and Hannah Grace... Lydia will never be tired of holding her little cousin!

The Beard Decision

A couple of days ago, we asked for your opinions on the beard.... I think Brian was a little surprised by all the comments... so thanks:)

He lasted through church and then all day visiting with my folks on Monday. As we were leaving the beard conversation came up. My dad said EXACTLY what I thought he'd say and then my sister piped in...... LOL, ahhaaaa, LOL... so funny!!!

Before I share her opinion, I need to share one of the notable conversations of the day. We were talking about when Brian first came to meet my family when we started dating. We reminded my sister of what she said the 1st time she met Brian!!! She said, "Yep, your just as nerdy as someone should be who would be dating my sister." LOL... this time she immediately said she was young and didn't realize how rude it was.... I was just glad that I had WARNED him about her before their 1st meeting:)

OK, so that is what my sister thought of him then..... well this is what she said about the beard, "This is the most I've ever been attracted to your husband. I'd venture to say that he is almost 'sexy'... like Matthew McConaughey."

She went on about how clean shaven he kept the beard and that it highlighted his "chiseled chin". But I think we were still in tears over the 1st sentence of her opinion!!

Well I'm not sure what Brian based his beard decision on... maybe as a way to ward off his sister-in-law! The beard came off Tuesday morning :( I was a little disappointed... I had started to get use to it and I did like it on him!!! Although, his smooth face is very nice, too:)

Easily Adjusting in the newborn Days

Smallest cutie at the Splash Pad

Still snoozing (and adorable) at Grammies!!
I am just amazed how much little Hannah Grace sleeps:) I know all newborns sleep a lot (because they are growing... right) but I had forgotten! In so many ways the "newborn stage" is an easy stage.... and in sooo many ways it is not... LOL... I don't do very well without consistent deep sleep (that doesn't happen in the newborn days at my house)!

My sister and brother-in-law make it look soo easy! REALLY... they have seemed to adjust to life with a baby so smoothly!!! Even getting through those 1st few days of nursing, lack of sleep and now the awful 1st baby postpartum rash.... they take it one challenge at a time:) And I am soo glad for them that they have a big support network of other young parents, family, grandparents, church family and friends that have been helping, bringing meals and praying for them:)

Off to tame my wild crew!

BTW... kudos to all those who take newborn pics that are beautiful... it's a lot harder than it seems! Glad Hannah went to a professional.

Wordless Wednesday - day with Grammie

Watching Airplanes Together:)

Unique Glimpses of Beauty in the Gardens

Sisters pushing their little tikes:)

Major Splashing at the Splash Park

All Bundled after swimming in Grammie's freezing pool

And finally as we were leaving, in the evening light... she awoke:)

Sweet, sweet Baby Hannah

I have a more Hannah pics to share!!! Even asleep it's hard NOT to take pictures of her!! I'll share more later:)

More Wordless Wednesday here:)

I have it BAD....

You already know that we would LOVE to have some more babies... but even after 2 new local babies I had thought I kept the "baby fever" at bay....

I was thinking that my adorable little niece would be a baby-fix for me!! She was just 6 lbs 6oz at birth and she was almost 3 days old when we FINALLY got to go see her....LOL!!

She is just so precious, even in her little newborn sleepy stage:)I was soo fun to see her and enjoy her sweetness:)

Then Lydia asked to hold Hannah Grace. She held her for a second and was ready to hand her back. Then she immediately asked to hold her again, then quickly handed her back.


Then she asked to hold her again and just held her.... and held her... and held her!! Lydia was soo content and happy to be holding Hannah Grace. And she was soo careful to keep her still.... she did such a GREAT job with the baby. I was sooo AMAZED that she wanted to hold her soo long:)

THAT's when it HIT me.... MY BABY holding a baby and looking soo GROWN doing it!!! And the "baby fever" is upon us... LOL!!

BTW.... Aunt Jaclyn and Uncle Carson are doing well as well!! They are soo smitten with Hannah Grace! And Jaclyn and Hannah Grace are getting into the nursing routine easily as well!! They make it look sooo easy:)

So to ease my "baby fever".... I'll have to visit my sister again soon and get some more snuggles in with Hannah Grace (and help Jac)!! And get more pics of my baby holding her cousin:) And wait and see what next few months holds for us:)

Jaclyn and Hannah Grace

I'm an aunt!! And wished I lived closer!!!

My little sister went into the hospital thinking her water was "leaking" at 11ish on Tuesday night. Her water was leaking and had been since 5am on Tuesday!!! So the hospital kept her and gave her pitocin to start labor.

Aunt Jaclyn labored from when the pitocin kicked in. She also chose to get an epideral (something I'm not familiar with at all). So she was able to rest some, chat on th phone and have visitors for a good part of the day:)

Hannah Grace arrived about 5:25pm!! A LONG Day:) My mom didn't tell me her length but her weight was 6lbs 6 ozs!! I think there were a couple of scary moments during her arrival... so thanks for those who prayed for them.
Isn't she cute:)

I'm so thankful that Hannah Grace is here and that Jaclyn is doing well! So now is the time for Jaclyn to heal and their little family adjust to a "new" way of life!!

OHHHH, and we are sooo ready to see you guys!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Preggo Beach Beauty

A Special Gift

About Saturday my sweet hubby started talking about my Mother's Day gift.

It wasn't wrapped in in a box, or assembled in the backyard....

It wasn't a card or a handful of chocolates.....

or any of those things that would have been sweet or I could have been expecting:)

Instead he asked me to book a hotel room, pack up the kids on Sunday morning, fix a quick lunch .....

He brought me to the BEACH, to spend time with our family and to see MY MOTHER!!



Thank you Brian for our quick trip!! It was a little crazy:) But such a sweet treat to see my mom and be with her for a few moments on Mother's Day and Monday:)

I have PLENTY to share about our trip... LOL... if was very "normal" but crazy at the same time:) And I was able to get some beach pictures of my very preggo sister... they were fun to take, especially with my mom helping!!!

I can't wait to share all I have, but I need REST:)

Day With Grammie and Pey

We spent the day with Grammie and Pey!! The weather was MUCH cooler than yesterday, but we "braved" the 50's and went to the park. The kids (and the adults) had a blast:) And the camera was out:) Here are a few of my favorites:)

The TIRE Swing Spin - Mommy camera in hand spining with them:)



















My sweet Little timid Lydia-bug. While she immediately warmed up to Grammie and Pey, she took a while to get used to some of the playground equipment, especially the slides!

After a quick "quiet time" (no napping today).... we spent time with Aunt Jac, Uncle Carson and Uncle Eric. We ate dinner, and then layered again to brave the chilly wind to the park until dark!! Here's Christopher enjoying a little time "hanging around" with Uncle Eric!

I laid down the kids for bed at 8pm. And they were all asleep by 8:20ish!! ZONKED!! And I'm right there with them.... I'll be sharing a bed with both girls... who I was informed by Eric SNORE... maybe I'm soo sleepy that it won't matter:)

A Cute Shirt, Potty training Funnies

Being in the baby mindset as we await little Josiah on Monday... (he did come fine and Momma and him are resting!Hopefully we'll get to see them as soon as the family wants visitors... HERE is where you can see him)...... I thought I'd share a cute shirt I found for my little sister and her baby Hannah due in May!

To understand why this is soo cute... you have to know that my sister is a hair dresser:)And that Daddy Carson might need to watch Hannah some as Momma works:)

Anyway, I thought it was cute:) And like $2 at the Dollar Store... the perfect price for drool:)

Onto Potty Training Funnies.......

Lydia and Christopher decided in early January that they were going to wear BBP(and BGP)! Although I HAD been talking it up... they decided that were going to potty. And we've been doing GREAT... somedays there are some wet pants... but other than that they are DRY and running for the potty MOST days:)

Even while visiting Grandma and Grandaddy they were determined to wear underwear and they DID... they were soo much more consistent while away than they were at home!! But I'm thinking Grandma and Grandaddy are glad for the dry carpets;)

One funny story about pottying while we were away happened when we were driving to Gran-grandma's house. Grandaddy was driving the van with Grandma, Brian, Lydia and me! (Christopher and Anna went with Uncle Scott and Aunt Bea...relevant for later in the story)

SO we had about a 45 minute trip and I had Lydia empty her little bladder before we left.... but in the mornings she is a Pee-pee Machine ...LOL! So we were just minutes from Gran-grandma's house and Lydia starts squealling, "I gotta go potty. Gotta pee-pee!" And we immediately decipher the message to Grandaddy, the driver.

it was like a lady in LABOR!! He pulls into a turning lane, turns around in an empty parking lot and got us to TAco Bell.... LOL... great navigating Grandaddy!! we get Lydia out of her seat and I run her into the restaurant! And she used the potty and remained dry until her naptime diaper:)

So we finally get to Gran-grandma's house. As we pull up, everyone started coming out of the house to greet us and help us in. Chris is in the crowd coming out of the house but he had other PLANS.

My little man runs into Gran-grandma's yard and takes down his pants. I ask him what he was doing and he said, "I need to pee-pee in the grass!"...LOL

I guess it was a LONG trip for him too and MOmma wasn't there to encouarge him to use the potty... inside the house:)

Although BOTH incidents were funny (one was a little indecent)... they both are having successes!! And we're just waiting for some #2 in the pot to be finished with potty training:) But I'm just going to encourage and wait for them... it's been long but it's worked so far:)

Welll????

Praise God for the good report that Jaclyn's baby is healthy!!! Sooo...


Looks like we'll have more little frilly dresses at Christmas!! LOL

Jaclyn and Carson are having a little girl.... They plan to name her Hannah Grace... so sweet!! We look forward to continuing to see her grow in Jaclyn's belly! And then meeting her in May!!

Niece or Nephew????

This morning my family is gathering for my sister's BIG ultrasound.... she's not quite half way through her pregnancy and so this is the general check -up and gender ultrasound.....

We're all excited to find out if Baby is a little niece or nephew.....

Long Awaited Child

Every year I seem to gravitate to one piece or person of the Christmas story. The year before last I was VERY pregnant with Lydia and I remember thinking over and over how challenging the trip to Bethlehem must have been for Mary. Mary would have been VERY, VERY pregnant with Jesus to have given birth so soon after their arrival in Bethlehem. Just the aches and pains would have made the 100 mile trip on foot or donkey very uncomfortable! But Old Testament Scripture was fulfilled....


This year has been a little different for me. For many months now we have been hoping to get pregnant and expand our little family (my husband has been praying for twins for years....LOL.. seriously!!!). But month after month, we've been disappointed.


I know people and have read plenty of stories about couples that deal with inferility for years so I don't want to make light of their years of disappointment. But we've never had this before. We had a very few months of waiting when we got pregnant with both Anna and Christopher. And Lydia was our "surprise" baby... we found out we were pregnant with her while Christopher was 5 months old; he was not even sitting up yet!!



So this is new for us.



While practicing for the Christmas Canata, I was listening and singing the classic hymn Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus!! At first I just sang along, but then my mind started to mull over the words and my heart started to connect to the Isrealities.


For over 400 years the Isrealities had been expected a "Savior", a promised Messiah, to "set Thy people free"!!! 400 YEARS!!! Isreal had been waiting and watching. Looking for signs of His coming. Looking for a great and mighty leader that would deliver them and establish an amazing kingdom.....



And then came little, baby Jesus. Not quite what they were expecting. But after many, many generations and years..... the Long-Expected Savior came! Here are the words to the hymn:

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free:

From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in Thee.

Isreal's strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver, born a child, and yet a King,

Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring,

By Thine own eternal spirit Rule in all our hearts alone;

By Thine all-sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

While I would be overjoyed to find out I am expecting. I've realized that everything happens in God's time. So for this time of waiting I need to be faithful to what and who He has already called me to do. I need to be dilligently serving when and where I can and enjoying this special time of just having toddlers/preschoolers.



And while I am NOT pregnant I also have the opportunity to serve my little sister who is. I keep thinking that I'll be a better help to her if I'm not VERY large with pregnancy, too!!

Here is little Lydia pointing to the "baby" in Aunt Jaclyn's tummy today. She just loved showing us where the baby was:) Soo cute!!!


My prayer is that I'll be found faithful in the weeks, months and possibly years that we might have to wait for another child. That I would have a peaceful and quiet heart before the Lord concerning this as I wait; knowing that it's in God's hands. And that I would always be thankful for the 4 blessings that I already have to care for, love and encourage in their relationship (and future relationships) with the Lord.

my Salon Haircut experience

My little sister is a hairdresser and on a couple of occassions has cut my hair. I think she does a great job. She's one of these hairdressers that consider your head as their "artwork". But Jaclyn has also really tried to cut her customers hair like THEY want it and something that fits their personality.

I am the hairdressers worst client. I expect that they will know what to do with my "mane" and usually go in with no ideas. Usually I just say, "I need something easy to manage, looks great, takes NO time and looks different than what I currently have." LOL

After having my hair short for 8+ months now and getting it cut 3 or 4 times. I'm thinking I'm starting to know what I like... starting. Anyway, for the last few weeks I had been really wanting to get more layers in my hair to make it less "fluffy" and full on the sides.

Last Tuesday while we were visiting family I visited the salon my sister works at.... Let me start off saying that I am a "fish out of water" in a salon... but her co-workers were soo sweet and it was a very relaxed environment:)

My sister (too eager to please me... thanks girl) pulled out books and we talked about what I wanted. And we picked out the things that I liked out of each picture and then she started to work her magic:)



I LOVE this picture!!! LOL... there we all (minus Brian and the kids watching movies in the van waiitng for us) are in the salon: me, my hairdresser sister, her husband and our Momma snapping pictures:)

I've had it cut for a week now and I like it. It's thinnner which has been nice in washing and styling! And I think it's just a fun cut to wear... I like the way clips are in it now and the way it lays.

Usually people notice when I do something different with my hair. But they've been quiet... so I'm thinking ti's the hub-bub of Christmas activities, or it's still about the same length,etc as my last cut so maybe they haven't noticed..... or maybe it's sooo horrendous no one wants to say anything. LOL I do tend to choose clothing and styles that are older for me,too. So maybe it's just not looking right on me:)

BTW... thanks to my MOmma for this pic!!!

Finally... pictures from Saturday

Saturday I had my "little" sister, my brother-in-law and my "little" brother Eric with me... I kind of felt like the mother hen with all her chicks... aha haa

Anyway, after a lunch that worked out well, we headed to our local airport for their open house.... we had a good time.... I made a quick montage of video and pictures... hmmm, airplanes, fire trucks and Anna dancing to "Sweet Home Alabama".. check it out!!

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