Such A Pretty Girl

Well, What Do You Know. . .

We CAN make boys! After years of insisting that I have been rejecting his Y chromosome, Lon can now eagerly anticipate the arrival of a boy on June 8th and can now rest a little easier in knowing that he'll only have 3 teenage daughters at one time instead of 4. Here are some of the awesome pictures we got at the ultrasound. I just can't tell you how incredible it is to see all that the ultrasound can see. We saw his bladder, his kidneys, the hemispheres of his brain(!), the very obvious makings of a boy (and one who doesn't appear to be too modest at this point), his heart, and were even blessed with some 3D pictures at the end. Absolutely amazing. What a blessing to be able to peek into the womb and see how God is knitting together this little life.












The girls thoroughly enjoyed seeing the ultrasound today and were excited to find out they are definitely going to have a brother. (We already suspected as much from my ultrasound last month.) Sarah Grace doesn't seem to have accepted ownership of this brother yet as when we saw the ultrasound, she said, "There's Lainey's brother." We tried to explain that he'd be her brother too. What a blessing to see how the Lord is growing our family!!

Thankful For Each Moment

Today in our county, as a mother drove her two daughters to school, her van slipped on the ice and she crossed into the path of an oncoming truck. Her seven year old daughter was killed and her six year old was injured, but was able to be released and sent home. Why do I share such a sad story? Because it makes me appreciate the fact that our time with those we love, especially our children, is far too short. They grow up much too quickly and sometimes we are quick to want to get through a certain phase because it seems a bit difficult. I have been reminded today to cherish EACH moment with these precious gifts from God and not to take any of it for granted. The Lord knows the number of our days and is in control of the times and the seasons we pass through. I pray that I will be found faithful in loving my girls and teaching them to love God and others. And now I must go hug my babies just one more time before bed.

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub

Three girls in the tub. . .

Funny Things My Children Say

Last night, I was watching the news and they were doing a story about the inauguration. They (obviously) showed a picture of Barack Obama as well as a picture of a church in Seattle that was having a celebration for MLK day. Lainey looked at me and asked, "Does Barack Obama only like brown people?" I tried to explain that he liked all kinds of people and that it didn't matter what color their skin was. She said, "Does he like people who don't like him?" I tried to explain that we all have people that disagree with us or who don't like us, but that we can still be nice to them and that I thought Barack Obama would still be polite to people who didn't like him. She said, "Would he be nice to us?" I said, "Yes, he would be very nice to us and we would be very nice and polite to him. That's one way we can share God's love with him is to be kind to him." She seemed satisfied until a few minutes later when she said, "We should send him some fresh baked cookies." I asked, "You want to send cookies to Barack Obama?" She did. I tried to explain that the cookies probably wouldn't be so fresh when they got there because Washington, DC was a long way away from our house (never mind that the Secret Service would never let him eat them!). She said, "Well, maybe he'll come visit us." I said, "If Barack Obama comes to our house, we'll make him some fresh baked cookies." Lainey said, "Or maybe some brownies." And such ended that conversation. If only all relationships could be centered upon being kind to one another and making fresh baked cookies (or brownies).

Sarah Grace often likes to dress herself and usually comes out with some strange creations. This morning she came out with a short sleeved gown with a cat on it, a pair of Lainey's light blue socks, and a pair of black patten shoes that are too small. She also had on a pair of neon green 3D glasses that Lainey got with some sidewalk chalk. She came to me and said, "How do I look?" I said, "Oh, Fab-O!" She said, "No, I don't look Fab-O, I look radiant!" She then proceeded to do a dance while singing, "I look radiant!" Self esteem seems to be in tact!

We DO Matter!

Some days, you feel like you've done something right as a parent and the things you're trying to teach your children actually do soak in. The girls each got a $5.00 gift card from Walmart in their stockings for Christmas. Lainey has been asking when we could go to Walmart to use it since December 26th. We finally got around to going on Friday. Lon and I decided that the best attack for Walmart was to divide and conquer so he and Lainey went one way and Sarah Grace and Abby and I went another. Lon and I expected that Lainey would use her gift card to get herself something since they each got their own card, but she fooled us. She decided to use her card to get Sarah Grace something for her birthday. I told her how proud I was of her for thinking of someone else instead of herself and she said, "Well, it is her birthday." (I mean technically it's not, but Lainey seems to have embraced the "we celebrate birthdays for the whole month" philosophy.) It's just one of those moments that you feel like, "Hey, they do listen every now and again and it DOES matter what I'm trying to teach them!" Makes me think I should ride this parenting thing out to the end to see how it turns out!

This has been a busy week for Abby. She cut her top two teeth, learned to wave (precious!), and has learned to clap (equally precious!). We're working on blowing kisses as well. She had a check up on Friday and is doing great. She's weighing almost 16 1/2 pounds and, as hard as it is to believe, will be turning one in just a couple of months. Where does the time go?

As for pregnancy news, all continues to go well. I started feeling the baby move this week which is always a welcome blessing. I noticed it for the first time on Tuesday and then not again until today when it began in earnest. It's always such a neat thing during those first few days and weeks of movement when only I can feel it. For me, it's always been a real bonding experience as though the baby and I are sharing a few private moments of getting to know one another. Soon enough, this baby will be kicking hard enough for others to feel and sometimes see! It brings to life the verse in Psalms which speaks of the Lord knitting us together in our mother's womb. What a blessing to be a part of such a miracle!

A Little Stomach Bug, A Dislike Of Snakes, And A Love Of Birds

It's never fun when one is awakened by either a child trying to climb into your bed or by a child who's throwing up. When the stars align and the two of these things happen all at once at 3:14 am, you know your day is going to be SUPER! Do I sound as though I'm speaking from first hand experience? If so, it's because I am. Sarah Grace has a bad habit of coming into our room in the middle of the night to sleep in our bed. As ours is but a double bed and I am growing enough that the bed really only accommodates me and a little of Lon, we really want to break her of this habit. As she often comes in and finds me in such a stupor that I can't resist her sweet little voice when she says, "I wanna get in the middle." Last night, she happened upon me when I was awake and ready for her. As I took her back to her bed, among her tears, I realized Lainey was up and crying as well. When I asked her what was wrong, all she would say was, "I'm throwing up!" GREAT. I hopped into Supermom mode and, being careful not to dirty my cape, got her all taken care of. Needless to say, our night was a long one. Thankfully, she dozed off again about 4:30 and I was able to go back to bed for a bit before Abs was up to eat at 5:30. Thankfully she's a quick eater and I was able to get back to bed for a few more precious hours of sleep. By this time, Sarah Grace had found her way back to our bed (it was either that or she was up with me and Lainey at 4:15) but I was too tired to care! Sarah Grace woke up before I did and was fairly quiet until I turned over in bed and she woke me by saying, "Mom, why don't you like snakes?" I think I grunted at her to which she said, "But you do like birds." And so my day began! Thankfully today has been a little better; I'm grateful that my washer is working as it should after being on the blink for a few days as it did double duty today; a nap was had and Lainey seems to be feeling better. A sure sign of healing is bickering with Sarah Grace and that was in full swing this evening.

In other news, Abs has cut her two top teeth in the last couple of days so we're on our way to a toothy little grin. She's also learned to wave a little and can give kisses when it suits her. Though I will say that tonight when I asked her to give me a kiss, she leaned in to oblige, and then burped all over my lips. Nice.

Now, let me go get my cape out of the dryer; I may need it later tonight.

For the Benefit of Nana

WFU 92
UNC 89

And as Lainey said, "Go Deacons! Go Deacons! Go Deacons!"

Happy Birthday Sarah Grace

The pink eye kept us in for most of the day, but it didn't completely keep us from celebrating Sarah Grace's 3rd! As the doctor told us that after 24 hours on the antibiotic, they were no longer contagious, we were in the clear to take Sarah Grace out to dinner at Red Robin last night. There were several other folks celebrating their birthdays there and she got excited every time she heard the wait staff sing to them so we knew she'd enjoy it herself. Here are a few pictures from our time there and of her and Lainey enjoying a birthday sundae.




I'm just curious when this:


became this:

The Birthday Party That Wasn't Meant To Be

Well, the morning started out with great plans of a birthday party and, of course, more snow. The snow wasn't so bad and has just become common place over the last several weeks. It seems that now we wake up in the morning expecting that there will be more snow on the ground. We've all been nursing colds for the last few days, but still felt that we'd be okay to have the party; we weren't counting on the new wrinkle that today would bring: pink eye! This is my first experience with it and, oh, what a joy it's been! Lainey started with it at first, but by lunch time Sarah Grace had developed it as well. So, no birthday party for us as pink eye was not the party favor we had in mind for sending home with our guests! Sarah Grace was completely okay with not having the party as long as she still got her cake so all was well. We made as big a deal as we could without an actual party and with two sick girls. Perhaps next year's celebration will be more to write home about! Oh well, she's happy for presents, cake, and chocolate ice cream and we're happy for her!