Encouragement for Today

In my inbox this morning, I found a great piece of encouragement and a reminder about these fleeting days and how they will be gone before I know it!

I'm so thankful for these precious children and know that the Lord will give me exactly what I need to push through the hard days. 

Nine

Sweet baby turned a big nine months old yesterday! It always hits me when we reach the point that she's been "out" longer than she was "in" and we are quickly approaching that mark with Emma Ann.

She continues to be an easy and go with the flow baby. We are noticing her personality start to come out and she's got some spunk in there for sure!

Dare I say it, but her hair has a definite red tint. I'm just hoping it might stick around and "win out" in the end.

As is documented in this picture, she is fiercely loved and cared for by her sisters.  They both think she hung the moon and are so sweet to her. 

 

She's a baby on the go.....although sometimes she can't quite figure out just how to get going....

And she ends up in the plank position.

But she eventually figures it out and gets around just fine.

And she can always get to what she wants!

We love you baby girl and just cannot imagine our life without you!

Cut from the Same Mold?

What do you think?

I promise I didn't ask them to all open their mouths at the same time like that!

Celebrating Mimi

Two weekends ago we celebrated Mimi's Birthday.  Mom and her sister (who the kids call Aunt Shashe) had been planning for months to come down to Fairhope for the Arts and Crafts Festival.  When it dawned on me how close it was to her Birthday, I decided we needed to turn it into a Birthday Party for her.  I knew the celebration wouldn't be complete without Emily and AJ, so they quickly made plans to fly in for the weekend.  Papa John made plans to come down too.  Mom had no idea they were coming.....it was such a fun surprise.  I wish I would have had my camera to take her picture when she saw them!

We had such a fun weekend.  Makes me wish they all lived closer and weekends like that one could be a normal occurence! 

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking to show how we spent our time.   

We acted silly

We laughed...ALOT

We played dress-up

We ALL played dress-up, even those of us whose Daddy probably wouldn't approve!

We played with the iPad and we shared, but sharing is hard sometimes!

We lounged around

We read books with Mimi

We went to the Arts and Crafts Festival and lunched at Panini Pete's and listened to the live band in the French Quarter

We saw an antique firetruck, much to the delight of this firetruck loving boy!  Much more suitable than pink tutus!

We had dinner for Mimi's Birthday

We followed up dinner with some yummy cupcakes

Then we went to the beach.....see the next post.

In general, we just had a great time.  I vote that we make this annual tradition!

The Beach....in March!

We pretty much skipped Spring and it's like Summer down here already.  I'm hoping we'll have a mild Summer like we had a mild Winter! 

We took advantage of the awesome weather and headed to the beach for some fun. 

I came really close to leaving my camera in the condo.....thank goodness I changed my mind!  I got some really great shots of some fun cousin play time!



Hannah Cate leads the charge into the freezing water!





So excited to feel the sand between her toes!



Love this one!  AJ is going to have to be like the brother they will never have!

Ready, Set, Go.....

Now hurry and come back!  Love the joy on all of their faces!

Why are you taking so many pictures??

Oh goodness.....love these girls!



AJ watching over his flock

Little Bit did make the trip, but she stayed up in the condo with Mimi and Aunt Shashe.  Still had to document that she was there!

Happy Birthday Mom!

It's a big birthday for Mom this year.....one that ends in a "0"!  I would say that her body has failed her in the last 10 years, but I've never seen someone that has been able to push through the hard stuff with hardly a complaint and just continue to seek out the good....with a great sense of humor to boot!  

A big part of the good are the four little people that surround her in this picture. 

We love you Mom and are so thankful to celebrate this big day with you!

Happy Valentines Day!

We hope your day has been full of love and spent with the ones you love!

Valentines card idea found on Pinterest via this blog. Thank goodness for Pinterest!