Happy Birthday, Em!

Sweet Em is 1 year old today! It's crazy how fast the year has gone. It's been a full year for our family. She's such a blessing and we are so lucky to have her! Here's a photo anthology of her first year.....

Her very first moment in this world...

Ready to go home.

First time big brother got to hold her and give her a kiss.

First bath at home.

It's been a very joy filled year with our sweet little Em!

Happy Birthday, big girl!

We've been having a great September. We are looking forward to celebrating Em's first birthday!!! We went to Hillfest a couple of weeks ago and J had a ball on the inflateable obsticle courses. He also enjoyed riding the ponies, which he's been doing for that last 3 years or so.

Em and Gam.

Happier without the hat on.
J loved the ponies. He called this one Blackie...very creative.

Here's J in the inflated obsticle courses...he was pretty good at it!

Em was very intersted in daddy's guitar playing.

Some of her dance moves...and early steps.

Em is growing taller and can now see out the windows with ease. She stood here and watched her daddy mow the lawn for the longest time.

Stay tuned for pictures of Em's birthday....

Fun at the park...on the most beautiful day!

We spent a fun evening with friends at an amazing park that we'd never been to.

First we had to road trip south...just kidding Amos and Crystal!

It was so much fun. We had a pizza picnic and then the kids played...hard on the great playground. The weather was perfect and it felt like fall!! Which is probably why I thought it was perfect.

This is the moment I realized Em was probably going to be a fearless climber unlike her bro who is very cautious....
step 1...start climbing.

Step 2: check to see if mommy's watching...
Ta Da!
J LOVED the big slides...there were so many to choose from.

This park had it all.

Em absolutely loves to swing.

J and LA on the wavy slides. LA is growing up fast and is getting pretty good at playing with the big kids. I've found that J is great at making new friends...he ran around with the little guy for a while...didn't know his name so he just called him "friend"

What a great evening!

Summer's winding down..

Well, summer is winding down. (I must say, I'm ready. Ready for fall and pumpkins and mums...but that's another subject entirely.) It's been a great summer. We've loved swimming at the neighborhood pool and all the fun that summer offers. Here are a few of the last pictures of summer....

I love Em in these pics...her cute leggies.

(so plump. don't you just wish you reach over and squeeze them?

Thank God I get to squeeze them every day!)

She's sure to be walking soon, and soon enough we'll be trading in that baba for a big girl sippy cup. The time goes by so fast.

(thanks Gam and Papaw for this adorable outfit!)

Big girl dinner. She's done with babyfood, so we're on to the big girl stuff. This looks like it might have been spaghetti.

(by the way, I'm looking for suggestions on good foods for this age. Anyone out there want to share a favorite suggestion?)

Stylish in mommie's sunnies....

They look pretty good on boys too....

J started preschool today. This is him in his classroom. In the background you can see the class pets...2 turtles named Addie and Louie. He is SO EXCITED about the turtles. He couldn't wait to start school. I'm sure he'll miss his good old buddies from his previous school, but I'm sure he'll be making new friends with that natural ease kids have with one another.

This is his teacher Mrs. Michelle. The main thing he had to say about Mrs. Michelle today is that she was wearing a different shirt than at back to school night. Observant.

They grow up so fast...too fast.

A few short clips of the kids....

I love this picture of Em and my sister Erin.

Me and my J.

Em's hair is getting longer...with the help of a little sunscreen, she sports a punky mohawk.

"I pitty the fool..."

I caught Em sneeking some of big brother's dry chex. She seemed to really like the big kid cereal. I guess I'll add it to the new food line up. This incident also gave me a good excuse to vacuum.

Be a Blessing.

A little over a week ago we got to be a part of something amazing....along with our brothers and sisters at The Well, we gave away a car. Through a series of events, we were able donate our Saturn sedan to The Well. (It had been a great car...reliable. And thanks to a very generous mechanic who gave sacrificially of his own time to fix the car up, it should continue to be a reliable car for it's new owner.)

Jesus taught us that in His Kingdom, we take care of one another when needs exist among us. We wanted to bless someone in our community with this car, so we asked our friend Elaine from Healthy Families of Hamilton Co. if she knew of anyone who really needed a vehicle. That's how we were connected with a great mom who lives here in our community who really needed a way to get to work and get her kids to daycare.

We decided to surprise her by meeting her for breakfast and presenting her with this car. It was a great moment...maybe a little strange for her when a group of strangers showed up to her breakfast with Elaine and gave her a car but she truly seemed blessed and so thankful. We gave her the car and then ate breakfast with her and her 2 little sweeties.

We hope to maintain contact with her in the future. I don't know if this mom knows Christ, but I do know that she has at least met him in a group of strangers who crashed her breakfast and showed her His love in a tangible way with no strings attached.
I know we can't always give away cars, but there are needs all around us, needs that we as disciples of Christ must be seeking out and meeting. It's what Jesus calls us to do so that His will may be done "on earth as it is in Heaven." Be a blessing. ~S

Updated...finally.

My excuses for not updating the blog aren't very original. I've been busy...very busy.

Here's a look at what we've been up to for the last month or so.

A glimpse of the cuteness that is Em. She's growing up too fast. She keeps us smiling and laughing. What a gift it is to be her mommy.

This kids and I traveled home to Missouri for a visit with my family. It was a great time. We got to see Grandpa Sonny and Nanny and play play play with all the MO cousins. He's so used to us talking about "the twins" here at home that I think he equates the word "twins" with girl cousins because he kept referring to his 2 little girl cousins in Missouri as "my twins" as in "I want my twins to come and play." It was so cute.

We are looking forward to J staring up a new year of preschool after Labor Day and I am SO looking forward to fall.