The Birthday Girl...

So tonight we had our neighbors over for dinner and birthday cake. We had a great time. Ellie didn't like her cake ... she LOOOOOOVED her cake. She literally devoured her piece and then let us know very quickly that she wanted more. Here are a few snapshots of the fun...

Here's the "bunny cake" (the bow tie looks like chocolate frosting, but it is actually purple )

"Hmmmm....is Avery's piece a little bigger than mine???"

Ohhhhh....Yuuuuuum!

"Ok, I'm ready for more!"

The group...

Ellie is now walking more than she's crawling. It still catches me off guard to see her walking down the hallway towards me. She's such a little peanut - still swimming in some of her 12 month clothes - so to see her toddling around is just so crazy and so cute. She walks in this side to side waddling motion that makes me smile all the time. It's just too cute.

In other news, we've joined a small group Bible study here. I am very thankful for God's provision in this area - all of the couples except for one are in the same training program that Brandon is, so they will all be moving to Fort Bragg around the same time we do, and we'll be together there for a year. Isn't that neat? God is good. Before we came here, I was somewhat struggling with the thought of making friends only to have to say goodbye in six months. God was one step ahead on that one. Why should I be surprised? Anyway, our group is going through Focus on the Families "The Truth Project." So far it has been amazing and has challenged me incredibly. If you ever have an opportunity to go through that series, don't pass it up!

Last year for Christmas, Brandon's parents gave all of us money to put towards a family vacation. Due to schedule conflicts, we haven't been able to go yet, but last week Brandon's dad booked a 4 day cruise! Brandon's whole family is going together over Christmas break, and we are super duper excited! Li'l B is constantly talking about the "BIG BOAT!!!!"

Speaking of Li'l B, what a little character he is! The other night at Bible study, we were all sitting around discussing the material we had just watched. Li'l B went to the middle of the room, put his hands in his pockets, tipped his head to the side, and nodded his head back and forth as though totally participating in the discussion. It was priceless. He told me the other day, "I'm an amazing kid!" hahaha! As much as I think we may have to work a bit on humility, I couldn't disagree with him. I'm a blessed momma!

With that I'm off to bed. Sending lots and lots of love!

Ellie Grace

Last night I rocked Ellie to sleep. She snuggled up so sweetly and fell asleep so quickly, but I held her for quite some time, enjoying the moments with her and letting my mind wander back to a year ago when I was in labor with her. I had to smile as I remembered how SURE I was that Ellie was a boy. I’ll never forget my shock after she was born when Brandon told me that we had a little girl. I’ll never forget the thrill and the joy I had when I held her for the first time, when I nursed her and cuddled with her, when I bonded with my sweet daughter. God knew just what our little family needed when He gave us our baby girl.

Ellie is our sunshine. Her smile, her giggle, her mannerisms, and her cute personality have the ability to brighten my day in just an instant. She is such a little character and is becoming such a goofball.  It’s just plain fun to watch. She's also showing some signs of having a strong, determined, adventurous spirit. It will be so neat to see what God has planned for her life.

It’s so strange to think back to the days before she was a part of our family. I’ll never forget how fearful I was during my pregnancy with Ellie; fearful that I could never love another baby as much as I loved my first. I couldn’t imagine how it was possible, and I was so concerned as to how I was going to juggle life with two kids.

Then I met her. Somehow (as everyone had assured me) my heart magically doubled in size.  Somehow “juggling” life with two kids just kind of took care of itself. Not that there aren't tiring moments, hard days, or sleepless nights. There are. But I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am in awe of the gifts God gave to me in my beautiful children, and I praise Him for calling me to this role of caring for, nurturing, and training them.

Ellie's first year has gone by so quickly. I wish I could make the moments stretch just a little bit longer - she's growing up so quickly! I praise the Lord for every moment He has given us with Ellie – what a beautiful, precious, priceless gift she is to us. We love you, Ellie Grace! Happy Birthday baby girl!

(P.S. Birthday cake pictures to come later...we're having a few friends over later this week for that fun time. )

Introducing...

The newest members of our family! Meet Beezer, Bubbles, Doodle, Hopper, and Fish! Well, actually, I better backtrack and clarify that "fish" (affectionately named by our 2 year old ) didn't make the transition to our home very well and ended up belly up in the tank this morning. We promptly flushed him before Li'l B woke up to witness it, and so far he hasn't noticed that he's one fish short.

I, unlike my husband, have never had a huge fascination with fish, but I do have to say that I'm having a whole lot of fun watching my kids enjoy their first "pets." Doodle spends literally the entire day chasing Hopper, so there's always lots of activity going on under the sea. Li'l B and I had a Mommy-Son date to Walmart last night to pick out and purchase our fish. I had a great time having some one on one time with him (even though he was up far past his bedtime.) He did ask where Ellie was at least 20 times, and this morning as soon as they woke up, he rushed her to the living room to introduce her to their new fish friends.

Li'l B and Ellie play together more and more everyday. Yesterday Li'l B came running to me and asked,

"Where's my girl?"

I replied, "What girl?"

He responded, "My girl! Ellie!"

I love to watch their relationship blossom. They do have a tendency to get into trouble together, however. Like the time when the movers were here, and I came into the room to see Li'l B with a pair of scissors giving Ellie her first haircut!!!  Of course my reaction brought Brandon running into the room. When he assessed the situation, he immediately started laughing and had to leave before the kids picked up on it.  Thankfully I caught it quickly enough that she wasn't too badly shorn ... however there are several little chunks of hair missing. I try to hide it the best I can with pigtails. So far, so good.

I am amazed at the fundamental difference between boys and girls. This evening when I was fixing dinner, the kids were less than cooperative. Finally I gave them each a pot and a spatula to play with so they could still be in the kitchen with me without hindering my progress. I looked down a few minutes later to see this:

Li'l B was banging endlessly on his pot, making horrendously loud noises, while Ellie had turned the pot right side up, and would rotate between stirring the spatula inside the pot and bringing it to her mouth for a "taste." Isn't that funny?

On a different note, this past Sunday we decided that it was time to have Li'l B try attending Sunday School. It was our third week at the church we've decided to attend during our time in Georgia, and up to this point he has tearfully refused to even try it, so he sat in the service with us (and did a great job, I might add). Because his life has been such a whirlwind lately, we didn't push the issue. However, we have discovered that as a military family, if we want to make friendships and connections, we have to jump right in and get involved quickly, and our kids will have to learn to do the same. Anyway, as soon as we got to church on Sunday, Li'l B panicked. When I went to sign him in to his class, he opened the door and escaped down the hallway, screaming his head off. The worker was chasing him down and other parents were trying to block him from his flight, to no avail. Eeek! I decided to stick to my guns, and I told him he had to try it for 5 minutes. If he didn't like it, I would come back and get him. He tried it. He did great.

My sister Janelle called me yesterday to let us know they want to come visit in a few weeks! They booked tickets, and we are so excited. Today when I told LI'l B that his cousin AJ was coming to our house, he got so excited. Then tonight he said, "Can I go to Sunday School with AJ?" I said, "Sure! You can take AJ to your Sunday School."  Li'l B replied, "Then I won't cry. I'll have a buddy!"  I love it.

So how's that for a bunch of random stories?

Sending love

Random Thoughts...

Phew, what a week! I've spent the past week buried in a sea of boxes - unpacking, sorting, organizing, and throwing junk away. Because our last two moves have been so close together, I did not have the time to get as organized as I would have liked. When the movers come, they tend to just throw things randomly in boxes, so you never know what you'll find put together at the other end. We were a bit disappointed this time as several things have come up missing or damaged. Because of that, we have decided to come up with our own storage and inventory system, which I began to put in place this week. It was a big job, but it will make our next moves so much easier, and it will make the unpacking at the other end seem like a breeze compared to this. I guess the one very good thing about moving a lot is that it forces you to get rid of unnecessary clutter simply because you don't feel like unpacking and repacking it all the time if you never use it!

The kids hung in there very well this week, considering the fact that I was highly distracted by the work that needed to be done. They are starting to play well together for long periods of time - it's so fun! Sometimes I love to just peek in and watch them interacting. I just love it. They definitely have their moments when they battle each other (and Ellie has become VERY verbal about voicing her anger...), but overall they are just good buds.

(Ellie managed to get stuck in a laundry hamper today...silly girl.)

Brandon is busy. The school he is attending right now is mostly academic with lots of reading, studying, writing, etc. He's been pulling some long hours and working very hard. I have to be honest - I don't miss being in school and having the stress of papers, deadlines, and homework. Those of you who are doing that right now certainly have my kudos.

I have been thinking today of a moment I had with Li'l B when we were on our family vacation this summer. The four of us had been on the beach and decided to take a boat ride in a large inflatable boat that we bought to use on our trip. Ellie, Li'l B, and I were in the boat while Brandon propelled the boat around in the water (he got quite a workout! ) He actually took us quite a ways out on Lake Michigan, away from the shore. The gentle rocking of the boat had Ellie asleep in minutes, so Li'l B and I had some time to chat. At one moment, the waves kicked up just a little bit, rocked the boat, and splashed us with water. Li'l B looked around to see what was going on, and at that time noticed that he couldn't see Brandon. He looked at me with a bit of startled fear and said, "Daddy's left us!" I quickly reassured him that Daddy was still there, manuevering the boat through the waves and directing us back to shore - we just couldn't see him because the sides of the boat were hiding his head. Not long afterward, Brandon popped his head up and his little boy calmed down, realizing Daddy was indeed still right with us. Before long, my little boy was also napping peacefully while we continued toward the shore.

That moment etched itself into my mind and has come back to my thoughts since that day. There have been many times when I have felt just like my little boy. Difficult or painful circumstances in my life have caused me to look around in fear, trying to find God in the midst of the situation and wonder if "Daddy had left us." And yet God has clearly stated in His Word that He is always in our midst - that He orchestrates, guides, protects, comforts, covers, shields, surrounds, fills, and carries us through every single situation we face. We are His. Whether we can see Him or not, whether we understand Him or not, whether we enjoy His Plan at that moment or not, whether we sense His Presence or hear His Voice at that moment or not does not change the simple truth. God is.

This week one of my dearest friends asked for prayer for good friends of hers who lost their baby girl very suddenly this week. That situation has been so heavy on my heart all week as I thought of the intense and terrible pain that family is enduring. I have to admit that this week I had to wonder if "Daddy had left" that situation. And yet while I do not understand, I stand on faith that God is still good, still faithful, still Sovereign, accomplishing His purposes in the midst of a whole lot of suffering.

And my prayer for myself this week is that no matter where God chooses to take me and my family - no matter what struggle, what stress, what pain, what suffering - that I will always rest in who He is and always trust that Daddy is still with us.

  He's always good for a laugh...

Sooooo....I thought you'd all get a kick out of these pictures of my stud. We sure did...

(are you laughing yet???? )

What can I say? It's a match made in Heaven

(brandon really warped my face in this one, below...nice, Honey!)

 hahaha, I just couldn't resist putting those up.

And on another note...

Yesterday was "Military Appreciation Day" at Six Flags! They gave complimentary admission to servicemembers and their families - so cool! So anyway, we took the kids and had a great time together at the park. Of course we didn't get to ride many "big people" rides and spent a whole lot of time in the "kiddy section," but we both commented on the way home about how much fun we had watching our kids enjoying the rides. It was just a delight to watch their faces light up with delight as they enjoyed the adventures. Well, by "kids" I really mean Li'l B, since the Ellie panicked on her first solo ride and didn't venture out on very many after that. Li'l B is quite the daredevil, though. The only time he got upset during the day was when we told him that he couldn't go on the "big people rides." He insisted to me at one point that they "are not scary" and that he should be able to go. One of my favorite moments was when he was high up on one of the kiddy rides. Kids around him were screaming in delighted terror, and he was yelling to me, "Hey Mom! Look at the fountain over there! It's not turned on right now!!!" Instead of being scared, he was just enjoying the scenery. It cracked me up. We had a great day, and the kids CRASHED in the car on the way home.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our family day at Six Flags. And with that, I'm going to bed! We received word on Friday that our household goods have arrived (over 3 weeks earlier than expected!!!!! YAY!!), so I've got to be ready to start the unpacking after the movers get here tomorrow!

The boys "won" the go-kart race.

Li'l B made friends on several rides...

No comment needed for this one...

 And for good measure, I just have to add one more of our big girl...she's too sweet.

Sending love from Georgia!