It's been a busy day with Olivia's well-baby visit, Bible Study, and getting geared up for Daddy's return (from his week long boy's trip!). Here are some images from my phone over the past week. There has been a lot of joyful moments to capture.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
wordless Wednesday.
I'm a little late, but I haven't forgotten about y'all!
It's been a busy day with Olivia's well-baby visit, Bible Study, and getting geared up for Daddy's return (from his week long boy's trip!). Here are some images from my phone over the past week. There has been a lot of joyful moments to capture.
It's been a busy day with Olivia's well-baby visit, Bible Study, and getting geared up for Daddy's return (from his week long boy's trip!). Here are some images from my phone over the past week. There has been a lot of joyful moments to capture.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Olivia's birthday interview.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
a letter to Olivia on her third birthday.
Dear Olivia Grace,
You are three years old today! 1095 days that is. Wow, how time flies! While that number seems like a lot, it could never be enough for me. 1095 nights of snuggling at bedtime. 1095 days of watching you grow and thanking God for the awesome blessing of being your mommy! Each day with you only makes me yearn for more. You made me and Daddy parents and we have tried everything out on you first. Thanks for being our guinea pig as we stumble through the crazy world of parenting! We pray that we are doing it right!
You are a talking, running, spinning, dancing, and laughing crazy girl! You love all things princess and only like to wear skirts so you can twirl in them! Daddy and I have acted out many prince and princess "enchanted ball" dance scenes and you love to make us all turn into Cinderella by shaking your magic wand in our direction!
Singing is one of your favorite pastimes, too. You shocked me one day when a song came on Pandora because you knew every single word of it. Then another, and another. I realized they were all from the same Bible song CD so we downloaded it for you and you could sing every song by heart! Seems that you were paying attention at school during music time! Right now, one of your favorite things is to change the words of a song into something silly and then you laugh and laugh when you are through! You also love to tell jokes and try and make Carter laugh at you.
Speaking of Carter. You are a very protective and loving big sister. When people in public or restaurants call him "buddy" or "little man" you are quick to correct them by saying, "his name is Carter and he is a baby!". At the young age of three you are already making sure your brother isn't misrepresented! He is so lucky to have you! He giggles with delight anytime you walk in the room and loves your "hugs", even if they are more like wrestling moves or take-downs!
You are a very passionate and determined little lady! While those traits are hard to parent at times, I know they will serve you well in your life. I pray that you continue to know what you want and fight for it! At this stage in life it is represented in things like wanting a certain color cup, needing Mommy to be the one to put you to bed each night, sitting in the same chair for each meal, or being the one who decides how you want your hair styled that day. However, later in life I know you will be a confident and insistent young lady and won't let anyone push you around! I love that!
You are slow to give away your heart and don't warm up to strangers all that easily, but once you've decided they are safe then you are very loyal. Sometimes it can be viewed as shy, quiet, or unfriendly, but those words do not describe you! You like to take your time to check out a new situation, and we don't push you to act any other way. In fact, you sometimes talk so much during dinner that Daddy and I cannot even get a word in! You love a good plan and one of your favorite things to do is repeat that plan over and over (ie., "first we will have dinner, then we will pack our clothes and go night-night, and then we will go to Aunt Cathy's in the morning!" I only heard that statement 30 times this evening ;)
You love to play baseball with Daddy and build block towers with him. In fact, the two of you build a new tower together each night before bed and you are always so proud to show me when I come to tuck you in. Watching your relationship grow with him this past year (since we've moved to Altus and he is home a lot more) has been such a joy. You are a still a mommy's girl, but you run full speed and jump into his arms like you haven't seen him in months each day when he comes home from work! And you cry most days when he leaves. Your love for him runs deep, sweet girl! I've heard you ask him twice in the past week if you can marry him and then listened to your dismay when he says he is already married to me! I pray that bond only continues to grow over your lifetime. There are few things in life more special than the daddy-daughter relationship. Trust me on that one.
You have a heart for Jesus and this makes me so happy! One of your favorite books to read is your children's Bible. You can name a large number of people from the Old Testament and can re-tell many of the stories by heart. Jesus rising from the tomb, David defeating Goliath, Adam & Eve and that sneaky snake, and baby Moses being found in a basket are some of your favorites right now.
Baby Girl, it has been a amazing three years and I love being your mommy. It is one of the greatest joys and challenges I've ever known. Your blond curls and blue eyes are the prettiest I've ever seen and I sometimes have to remind myself that you are mine!
I love you to the moon and back, sweet girl.
Happy third birthday.
Love, mommy.
You are three years old today! 1095 days that is. Wow, how time flies! While that number seems like a lot, it could never be enough for me. 1095 nights of snuggling at bedtime. 1095 days of watching you grow and thanking God for the awesome blessing of being your mommy! Each day with you only makes me yearn for more. You made me and Daddy parents and we have tried everything out on you first. Thanks for being our guinea pig as we stumble through the crazy world of parenting! We pray that we are doing it right!
You are a talking, running, spinning, dancing, and laughing crazy girl! You love all things princess and only like to wear skirts so you can twirl in them! Daddy and I have acted out many prince and princess "enchanted ball" dance scenes and you love to make us all turn into Cinderella by shaking your magic wand in our direction!
Singing is one of your favorite pastimes, too. You shocked me one day when a song came on Pandora because you knew every single word of it. Then another, and another. I realized they were all from the same Bible song CD so we downloaded it for you and you could sing every song by heart! Seems that you were paying attention at school during music time! Right now, one of your favorite things is to change the words of a song into something silly and then you laugh and laugh when you are through! You also love to tell jokes and try and make Carter laugh at you.
Speaking of Carter. You are a very protective and loving big sister. When people in public or restaurants call him "buddy" or "little man" you are quick to correct them by saying, "his name is Carter and he is a baby!". At the young age of three you are already making sure your brother isn't misrepresented! He is so lucky to have you! He giggles with delight anytime you walk in the room and loves your "hugs", even if they are more like wrestling moves or take-downs!
You are a very passionate and determined little lady! While those traits are hard to parent at times, I know they will serve you well in your life. I pray that you continue to know what you want and fight for it! At this stage in life it is represented in things like wanting a certain color cup, needing Mommy to be the one to put you to bed each night, sitting in the same chair for each meal, or being the one who decides how you want your hair styled that day. However, later in life I know you will be a confident and insistent young lady and won't let anyone push you around! I love that!
You are slow to give away your heart and don't warm up to strangers all that easily, but once you've decided they are safe then you are very loyal. Sometimes it can be viewed as shy, quiet, or unfriendly, but those words do not describe you! You like to take your time to check out a new situation, and we don't push you to act any other way. In fact, you sometimes talk so much during dinner that Daddy and I cannot even get a word in! You love a good plan and one of your favorite things to do is repeat that plan over and over (ie., "first we will have dinner, then we will pack our clothes and go night-night, and then we will go to Aunt Cathy's in the morning!" I only heard that statement 30 times this evening ;)
You love to play baseball with Daddy and build block towers with him. In fact, the two of you build a new tower together each night before bed and you are always so proud to show me when I come to tuck you in. Watching your relationship grow with him this past year (since we've moved to Altus and he is home a lot more) has been such a joy. You are a still a mommy's girl, but you run full speed and jump into his arms like you haven't seen him in months each day when he comes home from work! And you cry most days when he leaves. Your love for him runs deep, sweet girl! I've heard you ask him twice in the past week if you can marry him and then listened to your dismay when he says he is already married to me! I pray that bond only continues to grow over your lifetime. There are few things in life more special than the daddy-daughter relationship. Trust me on that one.
You have a heart for Jesus and this makes me so happy! One of your favorite books to read is your children's Bible. You can name a large number of people from the Old Testament and can re-tell many of the stories by heart. Jesus rising from the tomb, David defeating Goliath, Adam & Eve and that sneaky snake, and baby Moses being found in a basket are some of your favorites right now.
Baby Girl, it has been a amazing three years and I love being your mommy. It is one of the greatest joys and challenges I've ever known. Your blond curls and blue eyes are the prettiest I've ever seen and I sometimes have to remind myself that you are mine!
I love you to the moon and back, sweet girl.
Happy third birthday.
Love, mommy.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
(almost) wordless Wednesday.
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| real (little) men ride in pink strollers. |
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| happy girl eating her mac-n-cheese! |
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| not letting his paci get too far away while sleeping! |
Olivia making funny faces that she then wanted to me to send to her daddy.
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| my running partner! She was smokin' me ;) |
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| his big sister loves to torment him already! |
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
I am a proud aunt.
Kaylynn was my first niece. I was still in high school when she was born. I remember how Mom, Dad, and Grandma took off to Virginia Beach to be there for her birth. I was working at Video Stop and was so anxious about hearing of her arrival. She was the first baby in our family and I know she holds a special place in all of our hearts.
While we were visiting Indiana a few weeks back we were so lucky to be there for her 6th grade graduation! She has been at St. Paul since beginning school and will be going to public school next year. I know it is bittersweet for her to be going to a new (and much bigger!) school next year, but she is excited too. Some of her friends from St. Paul will be switching to her school, too, sot hey can experience that journey together. St. Paul only goes till 6th grade so everyone will be attending a new school next year.
Back to her graduation.....
It was such a proud moment! Kaylynn was asked to give the student address as one of the valedictorians of her class! Her speech was amazing and if I hadn't watcher her write it over the week that we were there, I would have guessed her mom had a large role in its content and theme! It was outstanding! She delivered the speech like she was born to talk in front of large crowds. I was teary with pride for her!
I know we were all so excited to be there and support Kaylynn! It was a wonderful family moment!
While we were visiting Indiana a few weeks back we were so lucky to be there for her 6th grade graduation! She has been at St. Paul since beginning school and will be going to public school next year. I know it is bittersweet for her to be going to a new (and much bigger!) school next year, but she is excited too. Some of her friends from St. Paul will be switching to her school, too, sot hey can experience that journey together. St. Paul only goes till 6th grade so everyone will be attending a new school next year.
Back to her graduation.....
It was such a proud moment! Kaylynn was asked to give the student address as one of the valedictorians of her class! Her speech was amazing and if I hadn't watcher her write it over the week that we were there, I would have guessed her mom had a large role in its content and theme! It was outstanding! She delivered the speech like she was born to talk in front of large crowds. I was teary with pride for her!
Monday, June 11, 2012
a getaway.
This weekend was fabulous! My sister, brother-in-law, and their 3 awesome kiddos came to our house to stay overnight with Olivia and Carter so that Andy and I could get. out. of. town!! We've had a few date nights (i.e., a couple hours) to ourselves since moving to Altus, but we haven't been away from the kids overnight. In fact, the last time I think we were gone overnight from Olivia was when we went to Jamaica in December of 2010! Talk about forever! I had never left Carter overnight and wasn't really ready until recently. I am a mother hen and I like to keep my babies close to me while they are itty bitty!
Anyhow, we went to Dallas to see Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw in concert together! It was our anniversary gift to one another :) There is just something out live music that we relate to. In fact, this is the 5th time we've seen Kenny in concert in the 7 years we have been together. Music can speak to your soul and hearing Kenny sing live definitely brings the love affair I have with my husband to the front of my mind! Parenting can be hard and is stressful on our relationship at times, and a little getaway is just what we needed!
We enjoyed our time off from parenting responsibilities and were able to reconnect and remember how much fun we used to be before we had kids ;) haha. All joking aside, a quick 24 hours away with Andy is all I needed to refresh my mind and spirit. We slow-danced, we broke it down on the fast songs, we laughed, we snuck kisses during the love songs, we people watched all of the drunk "young kids" around us, and sang our hearts out for the 6 1/2 hour concert!! (and I tried my hardest to not worry about our precious babes back at home) This concert is well worth your money if you have any interest in country music!
There were 70,000 people there! Can you imagine singing in front of that audience?! Unreal. Anyhow, there are a zillion posts I need to get up about the kids (like Carter's 9 month info, our trip to Indiana, Olivia and swim lessons, and her upcoming birthday), but I wanted to share about the fabulous weekend Andy and I just had!
Happy Monday :)
Anyhow, we went to Dallas to see Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw in concert together! It was our anniversary gift to one another :) There is just something out live music that we relate to. In fact, this is the 5th time we've seen Kenny in concert in the 7 years we have been together. Music can speak to your soul and hearing Kenny sing live definitely brings the love affair I have with my husband to the front of my mind! Parenting can be hard and is stressful on our relationship at times, and a little getaway is just what we needed!
We enjoyed our time off from parenting responsibilities and were able to reconnect and remember how much fun we used to be before we had kids ;) haha. All joking aside, a quick 24 hours away with Andy is all I needed to refresh my mind and spirit. We slow-danced, we broke it down on the fast songs, we laughed, we snuck kisses during the love songs, we people watched all of the drunk "young kids" around us, and sang our hearts out for the 6 1/2 hour concert!! (and I tried my hardest to not worry about our precious babes back at home) This concert is well worth your money if you have any interest in country music!
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| Cowboy Stadium is impressively huge! |
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| that's Tim McGraw without any zoom. Andy always gets us tickets nice and close! :) |
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| they opened the roof and that is really cool to watch! |
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| that's Kenny Chesney without zoom |
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| that is Kenny on the right pointing to Tim |
Happy Monday :)
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Daddy's airplane.
While Mandy, Jared and Caleb were here for Carter's baptism we went to the "Air Base Open House". The government is too poor for air shows this summer, but Altus Air Force base did open up to the public so people could come and climb through the jets and see them up close. It is always amazing how BIG they really are!
While there were no Thunderbirds or Blue Angels zooming overhead, we did enjoy a morning of free entertainment and Olivia was thrilled to be inside "daddy's airplane".
While there were no Thunderbirds or Blue Angels zooming overhead, we did enjoy a morning of free entertainment and Olivia was thrilled to be inside "daddy's airplane".
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| fasten our belts, we are ready for take-off!! |
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| wonder how efficient he would be in the cockpit if he had these 2 on his lap during flight?!! I don't think there is a check-list for that! |
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| Caleb looks like he was born to shoot that gun! |
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| the Oklahoma wind nearly blew us over! |
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| Olivia discovered Mandy's high heels and was so excited to wear them all around! |
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