1st Cupcake Smash!

She didn't really SMASH it...she did EAT it!

ALL of it...

well, except for a clump of frosting stuck to her tray. Mmm buttercream!

My mom and I made fresh strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting...they were DELISH!

See for yourself...

Yep, they were a hit!

Happy Birthday!!

Here's just a quick peek of our newly crowned...

1 year old...

it's all I've had time to do since our basement flooded. We have been in the thick of it -doing the work ourselves & fitting it in around baseball games- then with the storms last night we had some water again. This time it was pouring in one of the windows. Thankfully Mike braved the downpour to investigate and he removed debris away from a drain spout and that seemed to solve the problem for now! I do see replacing lots of the cracked black drain pipes in our future this summer though. Augh! It never ends does it :) Opportunities to work on my attitude and response to difficulty are abundant.

Enough about that...enjoy this sweet little smile...

I plan to post more of her cupcake smash and pics of her and Drew just playing in the back yard later.

11 months

My goodness, am I really documenting another month? I've been looking back at how much her hair has grown, wow!  I snapped this pic outside at Trent's baseball game! I'm so thankful she just 'goes with it' and has a happy personality. She loves to say "hi" and loves the response she gets from strangers/friends even more. It's pretty funny for me too. People don't expect such a clear greeting from a "baby." We love hearing her chatter (yes, she LIKES to talk) though she has also learned she can screech. Fun times...No, really, I'm SO blessed!

10 months

A cheery pic...outside!! So glad for warmer weather and a bit of sunshine.

The boys played and played out there...

basketball

and

whiffle ball in the backyard with neighbor kids.

I was thankful for some quiet time to myself.

Yesterday, the 7th

we celebrated Emilie's 2 years AND Annalise's 10 months

Bittersweet.

We are reminded and thankful for ALL our kids

and

God's precious grace poured out.

She wasn't sure she liked the deck...she didn't want to touch it and she didn't crawl anywhere...so not like her...see...

another year...

Missing her today especially.

our Emilie Alyse.

Heard this song this morning at church...so good...i've listened to this album so many times...

healing.

-This is not how it should be, this is not how it could be, but God is in Control!-



Drew asked if we could go get balloons and sing happy birthday at the cemetery.

So we did.

The boys showed Anna her big brother and sister's stones.

Tears.

and

Laughter.

all

Together.

When we walked up I saw 3 big bunches of my favorite flowers...I was so surprised...yep, they WERE at my babies stones.

But Who? How? When?

My Stretcher Bearers!?!

Speechless.

Thanks, friends, for remembering with us today.

It means so much!

We know life goes on...dates just become days...so we are humbled and so grateful that you still show us you remember.

Thanks for loving our family and continuing to pray us through.

You blessed us so much today!

One of those days...

...and its only 8:15am...

I woke up early, early this am to Anna's whimpers of "daa daa daa." I grabbed her out of her crib, fed her, and promptly tucked her in and back to sleep. Ahh...another hour and a half till my alarm goes off...

Enter Trent...

"Mom, it's 7:30, aren't we supposed to leave for school now? You have to hurry cuz I need snacks and stuff for my read-in." (As a reward, students get to bring blankets/pillows, electronic readers, and snacks out to the hallway and read for the afternoon. Yes, fun stuff for 4th graders!)

I hop out of bed, throw on yesterdays clothes...take out my retainers and swish with water.

"Hurry, hurry! We are gonna be late, boys. Trent why didn't you wake me sooner?"

"I didn't realized what time it was." (yeah, because he was playing minecraft, no doubt)

We tear through laundry baskets to find Drew some socks and he says, "But, mom I have to do announcements this morning!"

"Oh great...well we've really got to book it now!"

We throw bagels in the toaster and amazingly both boys are dressed.

It's 7:45 and I snatch a sleeping Anna from her crib and bounce down the stairs to get her buckled into her car seat.

Everyone is loaded up...check.

Everything we need is loaded up...check.

"Oh good, Drew, we are gonna make it in time for you to do the announcements...wait, I can't find my keys!"

WHAT?

Just minutes before, I grabbed my purse from the unlit living room. It still sat by the computer from the wonderful duty of balancing the checkbook the day before. I begin to dig for my key chain...that's weird, can't find it.

I throw out the tic tacs, the notepad, the hand lotion...they have to be here...where else would they be!?! Seriously, I'm very good about keeping keys "in the right spot" you know, so I can find them when I need them...that's what I tell my boys almost on a daily basis, right!?!

Nope. Not there.

I dig in my coat pockets. Nope.

I call Mike. Maybe he saw them...no answer...I call about 5 more times in a row...

Boys are "looking" in the car, but at least they are ready. School starts at 7:50.

I look on end tables and counters...finally, I go back to the unlit living room and there, ON THE FLOOR, probably right beside my purse, lay my keys.

So we jump in the car...it's 7:52.

I plug in my cell phone, which had been beeping all morning to let me know it was about dead!

I call the school and let them know Drew is coming, but we are 7 minutes away, and that he is scheduled to do announcements.

"Drew I think they might wait for you, but I'm not sure."

He hangs his head in disappointment.

We sit through two red different lights...

"I can't believe I didn't see those keys when I grabbed my purse, we could've probably made it just after the bell rang. We would've at least been close."

Drew so sweetly says, "Yeah, maybe I should've gone in to look, cuz, you know, I eat LOTS of carrots!" He peeks his head around the back of the headrest and smiles at Anna.  "Anna, you didn't laugh!?! BUT that was funny."

"Thanks, Drew, for making me smile too."

I park the van and we run to the front door (well, poor Anna bounces). The secretary buzzes us in and I see the principal watching for us from behind the counter.  I smile and mouth "Thank You!"

He says, "We are ready for you Drew." I pat Drew on the shoulder and he disappears down the hall.

I sign them in, the clock reads exactly 8:00.

I exit the office and sit down on the bench outside.

I hear a sweet, sweet voice...

"Good Morning.  This is Drew K and ____ with the announcements for Friday, March 15th...where we practice the life goal of "treat people right and do the right thing."....Lunch today...Now, let's take a moment of silence before we start the day..."

Yes, Thanks Lord, for THIS day. For giving me opportunities to show grace and peace to my kids when I really just want to yell and throw the silly tic-tacs because things aren't going my way.  Thanks that Drew can read the announcements in front of the whole school...when, because of me, he almost missed his opportunity. Maybe he'll get to share and show his friends Your grace and peace today. I pray that we ALL do it more.

9 months

A lot has happened in the last two weeks! Anna started crawling 3 days before she turned 9 months.  She also started eating snack puffs on her own.  She has been picking them up for a while, but now she is able to put them in her mouth! We have also been working on giving her a sippy cup.  She usually just chews on the spout, but I think she has finally realized that she can get a drink.  Love watching her learn and grow...she crawls to her toys now and really interacts with them...of course, she loves the noisy-light-up ones the best.

I've enjoyed picking the boys up from school lately.  Anna gets so excited to see her brothers.  I love driving down the road and hearing laughter in the back seat...Drew can really get her to giggle! Boy do they adore each other...see what I mean...