More Christmas Festivities

Hannah's church preschool choir sang last week! During one song they were all snowmen. Aren't they cute! Between 2 of the songs Hannah and her friend Ethan provided everyone with some entertainment. She started hugging him and he'd pull away and shake his finger at her. Then she decided her friend, Naomi's, hair needed touching up and began to try to do that for her! I just love preschool performances!

This past Sunday we had such a sweet time with our friends the Shrums. We were able to capture a good picture of the girls while we were there.

Trip to the Beach

Well, we took the girls to the beach yesterday. Yes, the beach. Hannah's been wanting to "go to the ocean" for several weeks now, so when I realized the temps would be in the 70's our first couple of days in Houston we decided to head to Galveston. That's a good Houston Christmas for you!

The water was too cold for swimming, but we had fun wading in a little bit, letting the waves chase us and playing in the sand. Hannah and Daddy got a bit carried away though with their wading and a big wave knocked them off their feet! Hannah was traumatized for a few seconds and then wanted to go back in the water. As you can see in the pictures below a good time was had by all! This was Kaitlyn's first time at the beach and she loved it!

Christmas Festivities!

Yesterday we took the girls to see Santa. Although Hannah had been excited all morning, by the time she was face-to-face with St. Nick, she wouldn't let go of Daddy. So, we had to go with a family portrait if we were to get anything at all. Dale and I were not prepared for this. Next year we'll know better! Kaitlyn was very intrigued by Santa's beard, which was real. In fact, he was one of the best Santa's I've seen in awhile. He almost had me believing again! ;)



















Things got a little crazy on the train ride!














We had lots of fun decorating for Christmas last week! We tried to get Hannah not to put all the ornaments on the same 3 branches while trying to keep Kaitlyn from eating them!





























Hannah proudly put the nativity scene together, with a little help.














Kaitlyn proudly destroyed the nativity, with no help whatsoever.














When Hannah alerted us to the sunset, which she does often, we had to take a break to admire! Isn't it beautiful!

Thoughts about leaving

I have to be honest. The place in which we find ourselves right now is difficult. It's heart-wrenching. I know now why many do not take on this task - the task of going to a far-away place to begin a ministry that currently does not exist. I'm not even talking about the uncertainties involved or the enormous resources needed, but they are definitely factors in the difficulty of this venture. The hardest thing for us right now is knowing our time here is fleeting. We absolutely love the people God has placed in our lives in Nashville. I've asked God many times recently, "Are you sure about this!" because I don't know if I can do it.

But, as we've checked and re-checked what we feel God has been saying to us and leading us to do, we cannot change our course. He must be the one to redirect us if that is ever necessary. Above all else, we want to obey Him. He has been too good to us. And isn't that why we're doing this? So, others who don't know Him can experience the awesome life they can have in Christ?

God knew we'd come to this point where we wouldn't want to leave and the emotions would run deep. So, many months ago He began leading me to various scripture passages that would encourage me along the way and especially now. We think our time here is fleeting, but our whole lives are fleeting in light of eternity....they are "but a vapor".

One book in particular I've been reading in is Hebrews. Hebrews 11: 8 and on "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents....for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

Heb. 11:13-16 "They admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Heb. 13:12-14, "So Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."

Heb. 12:2-3, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

These verses, among many others, help me to have more of an eternal perspective. They highlight to me the temporary nature of this life and that this is not our home. Compared to eternity, the time we spend here is so brief anyway. So, why not say "good-bye" for a short time to go to a place where the gospel's light is dim and gain more family for eternity. If the God of the universe would leave the comforts of heaven to walk among humanity; if Christ would temporarily, but painfully, sever His relationship with the Father by taking on our sin and letting it kill him, is moving across the country such a big deal? Christ is our standard. He is the only one who can save, but we are called to nothing less than what He has modeled for us. Imagine the joy that is to come when we not only get to meet up in heaven again, but we are actually with God..... forever.

Family Pictures!

A friend of ours, Angie Gambill of Gambill Photography, recently did a great job of taking pictures of our family. Check out a slideshow of favorites here. For those of you in the Nashville area I highly recommend her!

Seattle It Is

Most people reading this blog already know that we are in the midst of preparing to move to Seattle, WA to start a new church, called Connect Church. Hence the main reason for my delinquency in posting. BTW, I do still intend to post some pictures, so keep checking!!

It's just a crazy time for us as we are doing much to get things in order while trusting God to actually make it all happen. And I will go ahead and say that if anything good or successful comes of this venture it will be solely because the Lord did it! That's not said lightly - we feel this more than we've ever felt it before.

Many people wonder why we would do this. It's not like living in Seattle has been a life-long dream of ours. All our family and closest friends are in the South, with the exception of the Corbins, who just recently moved to "the emerald city" themselves to start a church called The Commons. In fact, the idea of starting a church had never entered out minds until about a year ago. Plus, we just love Nashville and thought we'd be here long-term. There are many other reasons, which I will not take the time to detail, why this doesn't make sense. The only reason I can give is God is compelling us to do this.

It was through a series of unique events and interestingly-timed conversations that God put this idea in our heads. The initial hook for me was hearing that the percentage of Christians in China is greater than in Seattle, WA. Are you kidding me?! This southern girl was shocked! I must say that even though this fact intrigued me from the start I was not initially excited about this idea. In fact, I was even bold enough to tell God not to make us do this. But, He gently changed my heart as He has many times before. And I've always been glad He did.

With that said, we have spent months and months praying for God to put His desires in our hearts, to open the doors necessary to fulfill those desires, for clarity, for wisdom..... And here we are. So, Seattle it is.

(Please check out the links I've posted under "Seattle-Bound" to get more details about Connect Church.)

"Thank You God for my panties..."

Tonight during our family prayer time these words came out of Hannah's mouth, and I must admit that I was echoing them! We finally seem to have turned a tide this week with our potty training saga. Hannah successfully wore panties all day today! She was very excited and we hope that will continue to motivate her to be a big girl. :)

Kaitlyn Is Growing

I know I'm lame for not posting in well over a month! A friend of mine - I won't name names Tricia ;) - recently heaped the mommy guilt on saying how awful it was that people will only think of Kaitlyn as a screamer since I haven't updated since then. :)

Well, here ya go. Kaitlyn is officially crawling as of 2 nights ago. She's not going full speed ahead quite yet, but if she wants something bad enough she can find a way to get to it. She also laughs and smiles a lot, especially at her big sis who is always asking, "Can I play with Kaitlyn?" She sits up on her own and has begun to potty train. Just kidding on that last one. But at the rate we're going with Hannah, Kaitlyn will beat her at that! She's enunciating her Gas and Goos quite well too. We're so proud!

I'll post some recent pictures soon.

The Screamer

Kaitlyn is creating quite a reputation for herself as "the screamer". Occasionally she begins yelling out, not because she's upset. Oh no. She does it with a smile. It's somewhat alarming at first because she's SO LOUD. But after awhile it becomes humorous. I've been wondering if she's trying to say, "Hey people! Listen to ME! Look at ME!"

Until yesterday this mostly took place within the confines of our home. But now she's gone public! Her first performance took place during dinner at church last night. Everyone was staring at our table wondering what I must be doing to torture this child. People from across the room were stopping by to check on her. Of course once people realized she was just yelling for fun, they talked to her and encouraged more shrieks. One thing's for sure. She got A LOT of attention! I guess she liked it so much she decided to see what it would do for her while I got my hair cut today. Same affect. Lots of attention throughout the salon!

Fun with Food

Here's Hannah having fun helping me make brownies. She loves to help in the kitchen!














Kaitlyn eating green beans. She seems to like them, but she sure was eyeing our brownies!

Catching Up

It's been hard to keep up the blog w/ everything we've been doing. And now I'm trying to get my Premier business going again after taking an extended maternity break. Oh well. Here are some pictures from the last week or so.......

Kaitlyn enjoying one of Hannah's puppet shows














Kaitlyn trying to feed herself.














Last Sat. was Naomi's 3rd b-day and we helped her celebrate at the Bicentennial Mall Fountains, one of our favorite summer play places.

Naomi is examining one of her gifts while Veronica & Hannah are too busy blowing their bubbles to notice.














"Hey Ethan, how do you like my My Little Pony tattoo?"














I thought I'd throw in a picture of the capital building, which is directly across from the fountains. Notice the motorized scooters at the bottom. Apparently you can rent them to tour around the city. Pretty cool.














Last Sun. after church we went out to our friends Kevin & Tricia's new house for burgers and swimming. We had lots of fun!














Hannah eating at the kids table (without Mommy) at church Wed. night. More proof of growing up!














I finally remembered my camera! Here Hannah is before going to Cubbies. Our little poser. We are so proud of her! She is memorizing a new Bible verse every week. She just earned her first patch for being able to recite all of her verses so far. We are so thankful that she is already learning to hide God's Word in her heart. We pray that it will serve as a foundation for future faith.

Funny Football Story

Last Friday night we went to the Davidson Academy football game, where some of our students go. Before the game I prepared Hannah to cheer for the Bears. She enjoyed practicing "Go Bears!" Well, when the team ran onto the field I encouraged her to cheer. She said, "I don't see the bears." We did our best to explain why there weren't real bears there, but why everyone was yelling for them. She inquired several more times as to where the bears were, but by the end of the evening, she was yelling proud and strong "Go Bears!"

Also, she was confused by the fact that the announcer kept calling her name. A guy on the other team, who made most of the plays for that team, had the last name of Hanna. So, there were moments during the game where the announcer was saying, "Hanna...." every few minutes. Hannah kept looking around. Poor thing. Someone there said she must feel like she's in the Twilight Zone. A deep loud voice keeps calling her name and she can't find the bears! It was quite entertaining.

Growing Up

Hannah is growing up. I know that sounds like such an obvious statement. All kids grow up. But I'm so aware of it right now as I watch her. I can actually carry on a decent conversation with her. She has her own opinion about things, and she's not shy about expressing it! She asks me questions like, "How was your day?" and tells me, "Let me know if you need me" as she goes to another room to play.

Just today our friend Naomi came home with us from preschool and the two of them were carrying on the most adult-like conversation. It began something like this:

N: Hannah, do you remember we saw the fireworks? (I'm assuming she was referring to July 4th)
H: Wow! The fireworks! Yes, we did!....

She began going to preschool choir at church last night and had so much fun. She had about 10 minutes to eat her dinner at church before going off to Cubbies, the preschool version of Awana. (I will eventually remember to take my camera and actually take a picture of her. She looks so cute in her vest!) She took it all in stride.

Now if we can just get the potty training down, all will seem well in our world.

Firsts

Last night we finally started Kaitlyn on cereal. She really could have started a month ago and I think she's been ready, but with all our travels and craziness here we waited. So, here she is. It didn't take her long to figure out what to do and she ate the entire bowl!














Today Hannah began attending her new preschool at Parkway Baptist. Here she is just before going in. She had a great day! We are all excited about this new year in preschool.














This doesn't really go with the theme of "Firsts", but it's a cute picture I recently took so I thought I'd include it. Hannah and Kaitlyn are really having fun together now since Kaitlyn can respond to Hannah. Hannah loves making her little sister laugh!

Scootin' Around

I may soon have a crawler in my house!! Yikes! Kaitlyn has gotten quite fond of rolling over and can scoot on her backside quite well. Well, today she scooted at least a foot on her belly. She can't wait to be all over the place like big sis!

And just look at that pretty girl holding herself up!















P.S. Okay, I have to admit that after reading what I just wrote I had to go back and change Kaitlyn's name to Kaitlyn b/c I wrote Hannah. Is anyone with me on the second child potentially having an identity crisis b/c you tend to refer to them using the first child's name or am I the only dysfunctional mother doing that?! A friend informed me last week that I actually signed Kaitlyn in at the nursery as Hannah. The sad thing is I didn't ever catch it and couldn't remember doing it. Could I just blame it on sleep deprivation?

Random Happenings

Here are some random pictures from the last few weeks....

Hannah posing amongst the bamboo at the zoo














Kaitlyn's famous "deer-in-the-headlights" look, as our friend Amy adequately described it.














(Okay Beth, here is a swimming picture! :)) I would have preferred to post one of just the girls, but we don't have one. :( This is momentous though as this is Kaitlyn's first time in a pool. We were at the Waller's, good friends of ours who bless us often by providing free child care!



















It's a bit dark, but unfortunately this is the best one I have from our awesome day at Fundom Kids last week. Most of them are blurry due to the fact that I was either holding Kaitlyn or the kids were in constant motion! Hannah and Naomi are dressed up as princesses posing in front of a 2-story castle equipped with child-sized furniture and a slide. And yes, the dress-up clothes are provided. This place is awesome! It is in an old skating rink....They have a tricycle track, a pedal-car track, a couple of inflatables, and all kinds of other hands-on activities to keep the kids busy and having fun. At one point they even gathered everyone under the disco ball as they turned out the main lights and got some strobe lights and dance music going. The kids were so fun to watch!














A sweet sister moment. Hannah is enjoying her big-sister role more and more and I can already tell Kaitlyn loves her so much!














Kaitlyn trying out the jumpster a friend loaned us for the first time today. She really liked it. Now she can get a good leg workout!




























And a-one, and a-two.......














What a joy it is to have Kaitlyn in our lives! She is 5 months old today. She has definitely discovered her voice and is beginning to find her feet now too. I am eager to know the ways her personality will resemble Hannah's and the ways it will be unique, but I'm not eager to pass through this sweet phase we're in......

I'm Back

I've been out of pocket for awhile, but I am back now. It's a little overwhelming to look back and see how incredibly busy our summer has been. They're always busy, but this one tops the rest I think! There's no way to quickly recap the last couple of weeks, so maybe I'll tell stories here and there later.

So far this week we've tried to relax and hang out at the house. We're not going out much with 100 degree heat all week! Tomorrow we've got a play date planned with friends at Fundom Kids, a 16,000 ft indoor play "kingdom". This will be our first time there and we're looking forward to it!

Some highlights of Hannah's day were: 1) seeing "the dudes" - what Hannah calls Dale's interns, Caleb, Patrick & Stephen. It also may refer to any other guy who may happen to be hanging out with "the dudes". 2) helping Mommy build a castle/space ship with her Mega Fort pieces she got for her b-day and visiting Saturn. All she had to sustain her on her long journey were Goldfish, almonds & apple juice. 3) seeing 2 bunny rabbits in our backyard this evening 4) watching a Transformers cartoon episode with Daddy. Yes, he's created a monster. She knows the names of many of the characters. He loves it.

Some highlights of Kaitlyn's day were: 1) getting to ride in Hannah's space ship 2) trying to sit up to see her kicking toy 3) taking a bath - she LOVES bath time!

A date with Hannah

Well we are at least winding down with the summer craziness, although we're not quite done yet. Dale returned from his 3rd week away on Friday and we were all ready for that! Hannah has begun to really feel and be affected by all the comings and goings of him and family over the past few weeks, not to mention still getting adjusted to her baby sister. We had some tough times last week, but we made it. I will say though, I think I would have absolutely gone nutso if it hadn't been for the Lord! I just don't know how you can do this thing called parenting without Him.

Anyway...... on a better note, I had a great opportunity today to take Hannah out for some one-on-one Mommy time and it was so much fun! She is such a fun little girl, when she's not being temperamental. So full of joy and spunk! The plan was to go to Opry Mills b/c I had an errand to run there anyway and then have some ice cream from Marble Slab. It was her first Marble Slab experience and I think she chose well. She had strawberry ice cream w/ chocolate chips mixed in. Really the only reason she chose strawberry is b/c it's pink! I had chocolate swiss w/ Butterfinger and hot caramel - OH YEAH!! A heavenly combo.

That was supposed to be the extent of our date, but she really wanted to ride the carousel that we passed that is a part of Stingray Reef. Then when she saw the sting rays she really wanted to go touch them. So, in my moment of weakness I paid for an all-day pass, just so we could go pet the sting rays for a minute and ride a 2-minute long carousel ride! She couldn't get enough of the sting rays, so we ended up spending about an hour in there and rode the carousel twice. I must admit it was quite fun having the sting rays come up to us and hearing her squeal with delight as she got to touch them. In the end I'm glad I did it. 2 passes to Stingray Reef plus ice cream - $$; enjoying a special treat w/ my 3-yr old daughter - priceless!

Kaitlyn

For all the family out there that reads this and likes to know these things ....... Kaitlyn had her 4 month check-up yesterday, and more shots. Not fun! But she is doing well and definitely growing. She's up to 13 lbs 8 oz and is about 27 inches long. She'll begin eating cereal just whenever we're ready, which will be after all the summer craziness is over! We're very thankful to have a healthy little girl!

Blog Tag

It looks like I'm playing my first game of Blog Tag. I've been tagged to let people know what I dig about Jesus. Here are the rules:

1. those tagged will share 5 things they dig about Jesus…
2. those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers…
3. those tagged will post a comment here with their name and a link to their “dig” Jesus list…

So, here's my list of 5 things I dig about Jesus:

1) I dig that Jesus never changes. He's reliable. Hebrews 13:8 - "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." James 1:17 - "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." In a world that changes constantly, it is a comfort to know that He is my constant, my Rock. He won't be my friend one day and blow me off the next. He will always be present with me, when others are far away. He won't ever be anything but what He tells us He is through His Word. What I learn about Him today will be true of Him a million years into eternity. He NEVER changes and this gives stability to my ever-changing life!

2) I dig that Jesus is TRUTH. John 14:6 - "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." He is the way to salvation - the ONLY way, and He can be trusted to save anyone who would simply ask in faith. Because He is truth He can be trusted. He will not lie. He is The Standard I can base my life upon and know that I will not falter as long as I am following Him. When differing views about how to live life bombard us every day, we can look to Jesus to show us the way. When I need to know how to parent, how to respond to a disappointment or frustration, how to be a godly wife, etc, etc, Jesus brings clarity. I am thankful that He is THE truth!

3) I dig that Jesus pursues intimate relationships with sinful people. Ephesians 1:4-5 - "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ..." He chose me. He sought me out. I am His daughter, the church is His bride. Psalm 139 indicates His intimate knowledge of me. And He still pursues me to love and know Him more. And not because I'm somehow worthy of it. But because He's God and this is what He does. The gospels are clear that Christ came to seek and to save the lost - He didn't come to hang out with "church people" - He hung out with the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the drug dealers, the murderers, the gossipers......those in need of grace. I am glad for His intimate pursuit of me!

4) I dig that Jesus is patient. Exodus 34:6- "The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness..." He is slow to express His anger. There will be a "day of God's wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed" (Romans 2:5). But for now He waits patiently as the world spirals deeper into moral decay, lovingly waiting for the salvation of those who have yet to be saved. He is patient with ME. When I stumble over the same sin again and again and again....... Romans 8:1 - "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." When I fail Him, when I don't obey Him, when I don't reflect Him adequately to others.... He continues to love me, waiting patiently on my growth in Him.

5) I dig that Jesus suffered to bear my sin. 1 Peter 2:21-24 - "...because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. 'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.' When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed." Beautiful. God Almighty, the creator of all, left the riches, the comfort, the perfectness of Heaven to become a man, Jesus. He entered into the pain of humanity. He endured separation from the Father. Even though He had never sinned, He took the punishment - a humiliating and barbaric death on a cross. All of this so that we, who are the reasons He went through this in the first place, could have a relationship with Him. Amazing. I love Jesus for bearing my sin!

What a great thing to reflect on attributes of Jesus! I can't wait to read more from others.

Family and Fun

The past 2 weeks have been filled with family. They all helped Hannah celebrate her birthday and we were blessed to reap the rewards of their labor for us around the house. My dad was especially helpful as he and Dale completed some things our contractor left undone. Yea!!

Here are some pics of the girls w/ Grammie and Pawpaw.










































We spent a lot of time GRILLING and the 4th was no different. We grilled my dad's awesome spare ribs and took it easy most of the day. That evening we enjoyed a refreshing, cool breeze as we sat at a local park to watch Nashville's famous downtown fireworks.

Here is Hannah "fixing" Grandma's head. She received a toolbox full of tools for her b-day so she can work alongside Daddy now. She loves them! Although, the pliers have become styling scissors as she goes around wanting to cut everyone's hair with them. :)














Kaitlyn getting kisses from Grandma!














Hannah playing in her "Mega Fort". It is really cool! You can use combinations of the pieces to build literally hundreds of differently shaped "forts", which is perfect for this child who wants to use whatever possible to build "houses". This can be used indoors or outdoors. You can tell she's excited!














Kaitlyn's wide eyes. She is becoming known for her big eyes!

Ordinary and Uneventful

I recently read Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper. GREAT book! In it she examines the lives of 5 women in history. One of them is Esther Ahn Kim, a Korean woman, who refused to bow to the Japanese idols that were imposed on the Koreans when Japan ruled the Korean government. As she faced imminent imprisonment, she prepared herself to die a martyr's death. She said that what she faced for the sake of Christ was far greater than living "an ordinary and uneventful life".

That phrase jumped out at me and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since - "ordinary and uneventful". I don't believe Christians are called to be ordinary. Scripture is clear that we are set apart - called to be holy, to love as Christ has loved us, to walk in humility, to joyfully persevere through hardship, to be grateful rather than a complainer, to fellowship with Christ in His sufferings..... The list could go on. None of this is ordinary. Neither does Scripture depict our lives as uneventful. Jesus came that we might have abundant life, eternally AND presently.

Yet how many of us yield to the ordinary and uneventful? It's so easy to become self-absorbed; materialistic; to settle for the status quo; to think "I can't possibly make a difference."..... I find that my standard often becomes people around me. And even though I am blessed to be in some pretty great company at times, no one is a match for Christ. He is our standard. And if we're not being imitators of Him, as He calls us to be, then we're just living ordinary, uneventful lives. If we're not being obedient to the things He is calling us to, we're submitting to the ordinary and uneventful.

As I read the above mentioned book, I was confronted by women who passionately followed Christ no matter where it led them, to the mission field, to prison, and even to the home. One, Sarah Edwards, wife of Jonathan Edwards, was a faithful wife and mother leaving a godly legacy for generations to come and allowing God to use her husband mightily. No matter what station of life we find ourselves in, may we not allow societal norms to conform us to the pattern of this world. Let's let our God who is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us" lead us to greater things, whatever that may mean. (Eph. 3: 20)

Transforming Experience

I got major points for promising to take Dale to the first showing of Transformers for Father's Day. To say that Dale is a Transformers fan is an understatement. He has been looking forward to this movie for a very long time. Then I surprised him by buying I-Max tickets and last night was the night. I'll be honest. I was more excited for Dale to see the movie than for myself. I just wanted to watch the happiness burst out of him, which it did! But, I found myself quickly being taken in by the very impressive special effects and the intriguing story line. It really is a great movie and I'm actually looking forward to the sequel.

Growing Girls

Okay. I actually started this one a couple of weeks ago. And even more has happened, so I'm glad I never finished. Just thought I'd share how our girls are growing!

KAITLYN
She is so good about going with the flow with our crazy schedule. She's either sleeping or smiling at everyone. She smiles when people talk and sing to her and chuckles when she's kissed or tickled around her neck. She loves it when Hannah talks and sings to her, as she does often, and has proven pretty tough against the not-so-gentle ways Hannah will attempt to "play" with her.... She is rolling over now! But then she doesn't know quite what to do once she's on her tummy. Thank goodness! I'm not ready for a crawler! Although she wiggles a lot as if she is wanting to get up and move, just like her sister. She also tries to sit up occasionally when she's lying on her back. It looks like she's trying to do a sit-up.... She was already growing into the 3-6 month clothing before she was 3 months old. If she continues this pattern, her big sister's hand-me-downs just aren't going to last as long as we were hoping! Yikes!.... She enjoys reaching for objects of interest, including my hair lately. My hair is still a source of comfort for Hannah as she still holds onto it when she's being rocked or when she's tired. It looks like Kaitlyn may follow that pattern! I'll never be able to get my hair cut short! AND, it looks like she's already getting a tooth! This child is growing fast in every way! Too fast in my opinion!

HANNAH
Sometimes I feel like I have a 15-yr-old trapped in a 3-yr-old body. She changes clothes many times a day and is very particular about what she is wearing. If it doesn't somehow qualify as a "ballerina dress" it just won't do. The only way I could get her to wear a pair of shorts the other day was to point out the ruffles that were on it.... She's improving slowly in the potty department. The only poop that's gone in however was the one I mentioned a few posts ago. But she's being more consistent, so I'm grateful and trying to be patient. She has memorized this mantra and states it often as she sits on the potty, "Big girls don't wear diapers, they wear panties." I'm trusting that one day this will take..... One of Hannah's latest sayings that has us cracking up is, "I want to jump over you. You're the moon, I'm the cow." She definitely pays attention to the nursery rhymes! And her favorite game at the moment seems to be Hide and Go Seek, since she wants to play it ALL the time. But she still doesn't really get it. She'll either hide in the same exact spot I just hid in as I'm watching her, or she'll yell out from her spot, "Come find me!" which is a dead give-away. It's quite entertaining actually.... She figured out several weeks ago how to write the letter "H" without any coaching from us, so we're working with her on other letters, since according to her "H" is her name. :) .... She has become quite sensitive to others' feelings and is often concerned if someone appears sad, unless she's caused the sadness by taking away a toy or something - she does have her moments!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17) We thank God for our girls and pray that we are good stewards during the time they have been entrusted to us!

Birthday Fun

Grammie and Paw Paw came into town Thur. for Hannah's birthday. They bought her a swing set! So, when Daddy came home Friday from Super Summer EXHAUSTED, he got to help Paw Paw assemble the new addition to our backyard. Here they are hard at work.














Hannah's first words about it: "WOW! That's the hugest one I ever saw!" What a GREAT gift!!

We had Hannah's party today. I decided to have a simple party here at the house and only invite a few close friends. The swing set got broken in well and the kids also enjoyed playing in the pool and sprinkler.

Hannah and Naomi swinging














Veronica and Hannah on the big girl swings! (Sorry Joy for cutting your head off!)














Ethan and Hannah in the sprinkler














The girls in the pool














The kids enjoyed eating lunch and then diving into the cupcakes and ice cream cones!










































Hannah received lots of fun gifts. Hannah has grown to LOVE dressing up and wants to do it all the time. We go through many outfits a day, mostly dresses. So, we gave her a trunk full of dress-up clothes. That was a big hit. Our outdoor party quickly became and indoor dress-up party. Aren't they precious?!




























I have to say that throughout the whole event Kaitlyn was perfect! She welcomed everyone with a smile and then went to sleep and slept the entire time in her bouncer! It was a great day with friends and family.