On the phone with Alex.....

Mimi.........

Happy Happy Birthday Mimi!!

Yellow!

absolutely nothing like I imagined but so much more than I expected

Before my kids were born, I imagined life as perfectly orderly; I would teach with care while my child listened attentively. We would have wonderful, long days together with no fits or tears that I could not handle or control quickly and efficiently with the perfect parenting technique. And this child of mine would grow and learn (and have perfect manners) and surrender her life to following Christ without any questions or doubts that would follow.
Because I wasn’t idealistic or anything.
But the reality, as anybody with a little one knows, is absolutely nothing like that. The daily process of teaching and leading a precious little heart is about as orderly as a room full of hungry, pregnant women! And you know what else? It is hard. On every single level. So much of parenting uncovers our own imperfections, and we are constantly being humbled, broken and refined in our own lives while we try to nurture the little lives that have been entrusted to us. Did I mention that it’s hard? Did I mention that it is humbling?
There are days when I’m really disappointed in myself as a mother; I get so tired of struggling to balance the things I need to do with the things I want to do, and as a result of that I am confronted with the reality of my selfishness over and over again. It’s a mighty good thing indeed that I don’t have to parent in my own strength, because I’ll tell you right now that I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t last a day. I might last a day but I definitely would be reported to higher authority!
But the rewards of parenting? They really are huge. They’re immeasurable. They’re eternal. And the longer I’m a mama, the more I am beginning to understand that it is not what I can do in my own strength or thought process, but what God can do through me (which blows my mind that I could be worthy of mentioning his name, much less be used by Him!)
In many ways motherhood is absolutely nothing like I imagined but so much more than I expected. So Lord, please give me understanding of the situation on those hard days and faith to see you at work in our lives.

I lifted this from another blog I came across. It was too good not to share:)!

Family Time!!

The kids and I took a trip to Josh's hometown, our future hometown:). We had a blast! Mimi went out of her way to make us feel very welcomed! She kept Guice and Emery Jai on Thursday, the first time Guice had been left! He did amazing, better that I did! The kids had so much fun spending time with family. They are very blessed to have so many Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins to spoil them rotten! Emery Jai LOVED all the attention from her older Cousins. My nieces were wonderful with her and EJ ate it up! Guice loved Uncle David and Uncle Jamie. He is going to be Uncle David's little hog buddy! He was at home in the hog barn! EJ kept everyone laughing with her antics, of course! She is a riot! G added a few more words to his ever-growing vocabulary Mimi, Bella Boo and Nat Nat (in reference to his Aunt Amy;).
It was wonderful to spend time with everyone and we are very much looking forward to relocating!!!!

In to EVERYTHING!

I left him alone for a few seconds only to find this! I was not joking when I said he is into it everything, nothing is safe!

Rock it out!

Emery Jai received this gift from her Mimi at Guyboo's birthday. To say she loves it is an understatement! I have a feeling we need to stock up on batteries;).

Birthday Paloozza!!

Today we celebrated Guice turning one! It was wonderful! I have to thank everyone who came, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Guice enjoyed his day immensely! He loved his balloons and loved the cake! He even blew out the candle by himself (I was thinking the same thing, he is a genius:)! Emery Jai was absolutely perfect. She was so very good. She waited calmly to open her gifts and thanked everyone. After all the guest had left she came in and asked me and NeNa to sing her happy birthday and let her blow out a candle, which of course we did! I almost cried. The party was great! I am amazed at how fast his first year went:(. Josh was not able to attend and we missed him greatly! It was not the same without him....
in no particular order:)....
Guice goin' to town!


Good stuff! A boy and his balloons!
G with his hat, I remembered it after everyone had left!
Checking out his new toys!

Emery Jai got a tricycle! G's cake!

Blowing out his candle! Happy birthday sweet baby boy.....
My dear friend Linzi and my sweet sweet Rodney Lane!

Allison & Emery Jai! G opening Gifts!
Helping Mommy!

He really just wanted a balloon!
Wooo Hooo Balloons!

Cousins!
NoNo Allison & Emery Jai!

Eating like a big boy!

EJ & G medaled in mess making!

Go team Anderson!

Guice took Gold in....

Naked cupcake eating!



it is good to be at Pop and NeNa's!

The Latest Craze!

Wearing a dust mop as a hat! All the cool kids are doing it:)!
EJ is rockin' her hat! G is not diggin' it!

Strike A Pose!

EJ loves to model! She can work it:)! Someone get this girl an agent, quick!

i wish the light had been better.

35 YEARS!!

Happy Anniversary Pop & NeNa!

Mighty Fine Man....

Guice loves babies! He is saying shhhh to get the baby to sleep. What a man, get in line ladies! Guice is so progressive he breastfeeds, as you know a man who is willing to nurse is hard to come by:)!

Preoccupied....

You have probably notice a significant drop in postings, I have a very good reason. My mind is elsewhere. Josh and I are heading into a huge life change. To make a long story short and sweet, Josh is changing careers. We are selling our home (of only 4 months aaagggrrrhhhh) and are 99.99% sure we will be moving to Mena where Josh will begin a discipleship! We are very excited about it! But, as you can imagine, it is all consuming for me. Where will we (I will work ) work, live, so on and so forth. So, that is the big news I had promised in an earlier post! I am sure it will come up more and I will post on the subject often. Please pray for us during this exciting, albeit, stressful time!

Consider yourself invited!

Please join us in celebrating

Guice's First Birthday!

Saturday 16th August 2008

11 o'clock!

I did not get around to mailing out the invites I ordered:(. So it wasn't just you, no one got one:).

Hope to see everyone at the party!

Practice Practice Practice.......

Emery Jai is going to be in the Christmas program at Springhill! She is very excited. EJ just missed the age cut off, she is a little young but NeNa got her in:). She loves to practice her music! She raises her hand while she sings, in case you don't know that kind of thing does not go on at Springhill, should be interesting. I will keep you updated on the progress and if you are looking for entertainment in December you might want to swing by the Children's Christmas Program it will be great (and EJ might not be asked back next year;)!

My favorite song (for now)......

Come Thou fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace Streams of mercy never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise And teach me some melodioussonnet Sung by flaming tongues above I'll praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it Mount of Thy redeeming love Here I raise my Ebenezer Hither by Thy help I come And I hope by Thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home Jesus sought me when a stranger Wandering from the fold of God He to rescue me from danger Interposed His precious blood Oh, to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be And let Thy goodness like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee Prone to wander, Lord I feel it Prone to leave the God I love Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above

I really love this song and feel the need to listen often. For this reason it is the only song on my playlist now. I have two versions because I am that big of a dork:)!

He is one!

Birthday Boy!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Guice's very first year! I have to admit, I shed more than a couple of tears on his birthday and the days leading up to it:). Why are the days so long but the years heartbreakingly short? I love that he is growing up, I really look forward to all that is to come. I just wish it did not happen, seemingly, overnight.
It has been such a wonderful year! Guice is doing all sorts of things. He does something new almost daily. He can tell you what sound cow and horse make. Guice can point to his hair and to his nose. He says a ton of words (and yes, I have witnesses:)) including balloon, giddy up and popcorn. He has been extremely healthy. In fact the only Dr. appointments we have had are for check ups! He hasn't so much as had Tylenol! We are so blessed. I could go on for days about my little one and how enthralled I am! Moving on...... I took Guice to his one year and he is great! Dr. H was impressed with all of his tricks:). Guice was a good boy and preformed on cue:)! Guice weighs in at 28.4 lbs and is 32 inches tall! His head circumference is 50 cm.! He is still topping the charts.

Our babies.......

I'm Back!

I made it to AR safe and sound and boy do I have a lot of blogging to catch up on! We have big news to share, not just yet however:). My baby boy is one! I am still in shock! Our little girl is officially two and a half! Where in the world did the time go?!?!
Just wanted to check in and say I will be updating in full shortly....stay tuned!