The Averitt Fam

The Voice...

2012-01-26T10:07:00.000-08:00

I'm a stay-at-home Mom and I love it. I'm thankful God has allowed me to be home with our children. I know this is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing and there's peace in that, but one of the things I've been struggling with over the past few months is this little voice in my head. It's saying things like: "Am I doing enough with Amelia?" "Is she bored??" "She needs to be around other children on a regular basis." "Should I put her in MDO??" "What about Little Gym??" "Art classes would be good!!"

Bless Alex's heart, I'm sure he's tired of me talking about these things and he has been so patient with me as I have prayed and talked and talked and prayed and finally realized what God has been trying to tell me in all of this.

I'm a homebody and really enjoy just being here at the house with Amelia. We can go a full week without going anywhere. That's why a tank of gas will last over 2 weeks in my car. I have zero desire to fill up a calendar with social events for my 2 year old. I'm not huge on regular play dates, not that there's anything wrong with them, I just don't like to commit to being at play dates twice a week or even once a week. We have commitments to our church twice a week and she gets to play with other children at that time, but "the voice" came to a point of really getting on my nerves and I needed to take care of it.

I've looked into taking her to The Little Gym or to art classes or to ballet and everything I've looked into tells me she's too young. Three years old seems to be the age all that starts. Little Gym takes younger kiddos but the parent has to be right there and able to run and chase them.

I'm 8 weeks from having a baby - no one wants to see me chasing after my toddler right now.

After reading THIS BLOG, which has been such a blessing to me as a pastor's wife, I realized that there's nothing wrong with spending more time at home. There's nothing wrong with my child not being involved in numerous activities outside of the home. There's nothing wrong with just being still. Being quiet.

God's Word actually encourages it.

I say to Amelia a lot, "be still." I say this because I'm trying to get her to be still long enough for me to speak to her and her actually hear what I'm saying.

I've always said that I have my most meaningful conversations with my Heavenly Father when I'm in the car or in the shower...times that I have to be still. Those quiet moments where Dora the Explorer isn't in the background...Amelia isn't saying, "Mommy, I want jello!"...my phone isn't ringing...my computer isn't in front of my face...and on and on and on.

It's so easy to look at others and feel like I'm not doing enough with my child. I'm not keeping her busy enough. Truth is, I don't want to keep her busy for the sake of saying our calendar is full, or to give myself a certain amount of "free-time" every day. She really needs time with me and her Daddy more than anyone else right now. The next 16-18 years are some important ones and though I do hope to see my little girls in a sweet tutu and ballet shoes someday, bi-weekly play dates, ballet classes, and mothers-day-out are not what will shape my children into what I pray they will be one day.

Young women who can be still.
Young women who can be quiet.
Young women who can hear God and truly KNOW WHO HE IS.
Young women who could care less what the world says is important.
Young women who are sold out for Jesus and make others want what they have in HIM.

That's what I pray over Amelia and Sydney.

And it's my and Alex's job to teach them these things - no one else's.

I have a hard enough time hearing others and being attentive in my relationships above all the noise that every day life brings. I sure can't hear my Heavenly Father if I'm always on the go. If I'm never in His Word. If I'm never still/quiet enough to know exactly what He's telling me to do - telling me what not to do - telling me what to say - telling me what NOT to say.

I love where she says:
"Religion has accepted the monstrous heresy that noise, size, activity, and bluster make a man dear to God. But we may take heart. To a people caught in the tempest of the last great conflict God says, “Be still and know that I am God,” and still He says it, as if He means to tell us that our strength and safety lie not in noise but in silence."

"Life is in the silence because God is there. If we will just listen."

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
-John 16:6

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
-Psalm 46:10

I don't ever want to get to a point of constant wishing for more hours in a day because I've filled mine to the max. God knew exactly how many hours I need in my day to accomplish what truly needs to be accomplished.

I'm thankful to say...the voice is gone.

Love to all,

Amelia's 3rd Verse...

2012-01-26T07:05:00.000-08:00

This is Amelia's 3rd verse out of her ABC scripture memory book.

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
-Psalm 51:10

I'm really loving teaching her scripture verses because I'm learning them as well! :)

Love to all,

A Baby Shower For Sydney...

2012-01-25T10:55:00.000-08:00

My sweet LG gals gave me a baby shower on Monday evening. They brought Sydney some diapers, wipes, lotions, baby wash, etc.

My friend, Heather, made this cute onesie and tutu...I just love it!!

They also made this book and each person wrote something to Sydney in it - such sweet words and prayers for our baby girl. So special. I love this group of ladies so much. We share our lives with each other, pray for one another, encourage each other, laugh at/with each other. They're a blessing in my life. I'm very thankful for sweet/thoughtful friends.

I made buffalo chicken tacos again last night...they're just so good and easy to make. We'll probably have these every week. :)

I tried a new recipe for Apple Cherry Oat Bars. I've been wanting to make these for a couple of weeks now. They were yummy! A few changes I made/will make next time: I only used all purpose flour in the recipe because the two stores I went to didn't have almond flour, I added fresh lemon zest to the recipe, and I will leave out the allspice all together next time - it's just too strong for my liking. The bottom and topping were SO GOOD and I loved the tartness of the dried cherries in the filling. I'll make these again and will probably change up the filling every so often too...you could use any fruit that you like best.

Happy Wednesday!

Love to all,

A New Look & A New Recipe...

2012-01-23T14:50:00.000-08:00

My sweet friend, Faith, gave my blog a face lift and I love it! If you're interested in a new blog look for the New Year - click on her button on my sidebar. She's the best!

I tried a couple of new recipes over the weekend - both from Evil Shenanigans. I made the Soft Taco Stack for Alex on Saturday evening and he really liked it. The only thing I added was chopped jalapeno (the kind out of the jar) to give it a little more heat. I loved this recipe because it's for 4-6 people, so we can have leftovers for lunch/dinner the next day if we want. I'll be adding this to our regular menu!

The other one I tried was the Big Evil Cheeseburgers. My parents came into town, so I made these for them last night. They were ok. It was a cheeseburger. Nothing too special about it. I wasn't crazy about the special sauce that went on them. To be honest - I probably won't make these again - I'll just stick to making our usual cheeseburgers. This isn't to say you shouldn't try them - I just won't be adding them to our regular menu.

My parents are here for a couple of days - which I love! I'm pretty tired these days so it's nice to have help. I know it's silly but something as simple as cleaning the kitchen makes me feel so spoiled. Mama also helped me clean out Sydney's closet and room - it's not near as overwhelming to me now. Parents are the best. Amelia loves having them here too. She loves company and thinks everyone is here to see her. :) She also loves her Granny's reading glasses. She wants to wear them all the time. I'm hoping she doesn't need to wear glasses when she's older because she wore reading glasses too much as a small child. (HA!)

Love to all,

Date Night At Home...

2012-01-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

When sitting down to discuss our goals for the New Year, Alex and I wanted to make sure we did a better job of having date nights. We had that on our goals for last year and sadly, it just didn't happen as often as we would have liked. We promised that this year we would have a date night at least once a month. You wouldn't think that would be very hard but when you have small kiddos - it's harder than you would think. I don't know why but I hate asking people to babysit...I feel like it's a lot to ask. I take Amelia to all of my doctor's appointments so I don't have to ask for a babysitter. There will definitely be times this year that I ask someone to babysit so we can get out of the house, but we both agreed that date nights at home would be fun too. So after putting Amelia to bed last night, we had dessert and a movie!

I wanted to fix a meal that would be special for Alex since it was date night and all. I made buffalo chicken tacos. He LOVES buffalo wings so I knew he would love this. I found the recipe HERE. They were very tasty and easy to make! The only thing I did differently was salt the chicken as I was frying it - the recipe didn't call for any salt and needed it in my opinion. I'll be adding these to our menu calendar for sure. I'm excited to try some other recipes from this site as well.

I also made Pioneer Woman's flat apple pie. We watched her make this pie on her show last Saturday. Alex mentioned that it looked SO GOOD and that it wouldn't hurt his feelings if I decided to try that recipe out...or something subtle like that. I usually make a no-sugar added apple pie and let me tell you - this is most definitely NOT sugar free. I didn't have shortening for the crust so I made it with butter. So that = almost 3 sticks of butter in this pie. It was AMAZING. I don't know if I'll ever buy a pre-made crust again. Or make no-sugar added apple pie ever again.

Or be my pre-pregnancy size ever again.

It was nice to put the computers/phones away and just spend time together. Even if it was in our living room and not a fancy restaurant and movie theatre. I just need time with my sweet man.

Love to all,

Meal Planning, Recipes, Etc.

2012-01-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

One of the things on my list of goals for the New Year is to meal plan and cook at home more than I did last year. I'm happy to say that I sat down and planned two weeks worth of meals while Amelia was napping and then went on the longest grocery shopping trip of my life.

That last part about the grocery store wasn't the happy part.

Thanks to my sis, Joy, for watching Amelia! I'm not sure she would have enjoyed sitting in the grocery cart for that long and it made it a lot easier on me. Joy gave me a notepad that's made for meal planning - it even has a place for your grocery list off to the side that you can tear off and take with you. Except I used a notepad because my grocery list was 5 pages long.

Don't judge the lack of nutrition on my calendar for this week.

Maybe that will be a goal for next year.

Plan more nutritious meals.

Or maybe not.

I make cinnamon rolls every Saturday morning and we have donuts every Sunday at church. I see no reason to change tradition.

One area I would like to change is lunch/dinner for Amelia. Girlfriend is quite picky these days. I need some more ideas on getting her to eat different veggies. She likes green beans. Sometimes she'll eat raw carrots. She loves tomatoes. And that's about it.

It was so much easier when I could just feed her baby food. :)

See this happy girl in the picture? Remember how I told you she was doing so well in her big girl bed? Well she's still doing well - she sleeps all night - BUT she has started realizing that big girl bed = I can get up whenever I want. And she wants to get up at 6am! Or sometimes 3am, in the middle of the night, just to come in and take her Daddy's hand to say hello in a soft (semi-creepy) voice. She walked into our room this morning at 6am and said (in the loudest voice possible) "Mommy, have you seen my rabbit!??? I need my rabbit!!!"

I jokingly told Alex that if she's going to wake me up that early, the least she can do is learn to make a cup of coffee (we have a Keurig - it wouldn't be that hard) and bring it to my bedside.

And greet me with a softer tone. That would be nice.

I can just tell she needs more sleep than what's she's getting. She has always been all smiles in the morning and now she's waking up a cranky-britches. We just can't have that. I'm having to sing Psalm 118:24 to her several times a day - so things obviously have to change. I'm so thankful my parents sang scripture verses to me. They're coming in quite handy now that I'm a parent.

So we're still in the transition stage of the big girl bed and I'm so glad we started this process early. Way before Sydney arrives.

I was going to make strawberry muffins this morning but Amelia's mood called for something extra special, so I made applesauce puffs. These things are so easy to make and aren't too bad for you - until you dip them in melted butter and cinnamon sugar.

Look at the joy on her face. Can you say, "early nap time is a comin'?"

I'm trying out some new recipes over the next few weeks. Last night was the Queso Chicken Pasta from Evil Shenanigans. It was DELICIOUS. I think next time I'll make half with chicken (for Alex) and I'll just have the pasta with sauce. The sauce was amazing. I'll also use two jalapenos next time instead of just one. You should definitely try this recipe!

Love to all,

A Valentine Party...

2012-01-16T07:39:00.000-08:00

I asked Amelia a couple of weeks ago if she would want to have a Valentine party. Her answer was quickly "YES!" She has no clue what Valentine's Day is but she knows very well what PARTY means. Party to Amelia = CAKE. (LOL) I thought it would be fun to invite a few of her cousins and little friends over to eat/craft/play for a couple of hours and who doesn't love a holiday that's all about love/hearts/pink/red things??? So we asked Alex if we could throw a party and with a smile on his face (because he knows this is just as much fun for me as it is for Amelia), he said yes!

I love Valentine's Day because you can be super cheesy and use paper hearts, balloons, go all out pink and red, and all that fun stuff. I've let Amelia choose the plates, napkins, invitations, etc. I give 4 or 5 choices and let her choose which one she likes best. She has even told me some of the food she'd like to have at the party. :) She picked out valentines on Saturday to give to her guests...I think she would have slept with them if I had allowed it. Now when she spots anything valentine-related in the stores, she says, "I need that for my Balentine party!" She can't say the "V" sound just yet.

All of the images below were found on Pinterest.

I've found so many cute printables online and there are lots of parties to draw inspiration from. I hadn't been on Pinterest in quite a while but have been on there at some point every day over the last week, looking at the cute Valentine ideas.

I found this printable HERE.

Amelia asks at some point every day, "is it time for my Balentine party?" We're keeping a countdown - we can't wait!!

Love to all,

Amelia's 2nd Verse...

2012-01-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

"Be kind to one another and build each other up."
I Thessalonians 5:11

New Year's Goals & Hopes...

2012-01-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

Alex and I sat down and discussed our goals as a family and individually over the weekend. We went over our goals for 2011 and realized we met 50% of them...not too shabby! :) I'm really excited about a few of the goals we've set this year. I thought I would share a few of my personal goals for 2012.

1. Read through my Bible. I've tried this before and seem to get behind at some point and then fail to try to catch up. Not this year!

2. Stay in a devotional all year. I'm currently reading Jesus Calling. It's perfect for the season I find myself in as a Mama to a toddler and soon to be Mama to a newborn. Hours of "homework" in a Bible study just isn't realistic for me right now. I just desperately need that one-on-one time with Jesus in my day. That may be while sitting and reading my Bible/devotional. It may be while loading the dishwasher or folding towels. It may be while feeding Sydney at 1am. My heart just desires to have that time with Him and this year I'm not putting it on the back burner because I'm too busy or because I'm behind in my reading. I'm keeping it on the forefront of my mind at all times.

3. Make special time with Alex each evening. It's amazing how fast our evenings fly by. Once Alex gets home from work: we have dinner, he spends one-on-one time with Amelia, bath time for Amelia, read/pray/rock Amelia to sleep. By this time, we're both tired and ready for bed. I've realized it doesn't have to be a date night (though we're going to do better about having those once a month this year), it doesn't even have to be an hour together. It can simply be lying on the couch, talking about our day for as long as we can stay awake. :) It's just important that we stay connected on every level - it's what makes our marriage a happy, healthy marriage.

4. Record sweet memories in my Mom's One Line A Day journal. It's so easy to forget the cute/funny/sweet/silly/precious things that Amelia says each day. And these days it's EVERY DAY that she makes me laugh for some reason or another. She says the funniest things.

5. Respond to Amelia with soft speech. I actually started making a conscious effort last year to respond to Amelia softly. I would watch 19 Kids & Counting and was constantly amazed at how Michelle Duggar responded to her children. Always with a soft, loving, calm voice. I don't yell at Amelia but her delayed obedience (which is direct disobedience in our home) would bring me to a point of raising my voice and I didn't like that.

The Bible speaks quite a bit about our tongue/speech, so it's obviously important:

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue..." Proverbs 18:21

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." Ephesians 4:29

"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
Proverbs 15:1

"A gentle tongue is a tree of life..." Proverbs 15:4

I always want to stay calm with her and I can honestly say her response to soft speech vs. raised voice is like NIGHT & DAY. It has become natural for me to respond to her in that way now and I like that. I also want her to respond to us and others with soft speech and she will only do that if we teach her through our actions.

6. Have more friends into our home. I didn't do a great job with this last year and I'm not sure why. I know this year will be crazy with having a newborn but as long as my friends/family don't care to come over to a dusty house - I still want to entertain on some level. Sharing a meal with someone in your home is where true friendships/relationships begin.

7. Do at least one fun project with Amelia each week. She needs this - especially after Sydney arrives. It can be the most simple thing in the world - she could care less. She just needs that one-on-one time and I plan on making it a priority.

8. Cook at least 4 times a week. Now this may mean sandwiches and soup some nights but I live with the least picky man in the world. In the way of - he will eat the same thing every night if that's what I choose to fix. He doesn't have to have a four course meal every night - he just needs me to take care of him in the way of planning/fixing our meals. He's good to me and always takes us out to eat on the weekends. I'm thankful for that break and the least I can do is cook the rest of the week.

9. Show love/encouragement in some way to someone every day. I have lots of friends/family that are all going through different things in their lives. I want to love on them whenever possible.

10. Stick with the budget. I'm excited to say we're going to the cash system in 2012! I think this will be great for our family and allow us to save more than ever before. I want to be the best steward of the money God has given us and I truly believe this is going to be GREAT for our family. I just have to be diligent in sticking with it.

11. Watch less television. I made a point to start this last year and also made a point to cut out any "reality" television that was on my DVR. God just kept convicting me of what I was allowing in my mind and home. I have a little girl that watches everything I do. I want to set the best example possible for her and I had no business allowing that junk/attitudes/drama/language into our home.

12. Give more. We give our tithe and to charities but I don't just want to give more in the area of money, I want to give more of my time and attention as well.

I was reading Passionate Homemaking which led me over to girltalk where Nicole was talking about New Year's Resolutions: things we want to change. She also talked about New Year's Hopes: things we can't change but are hoping and praying that God will allow to happen in the New Year. I encourage you to go read, especially if you have some New Year's Hopes of your own...a baby, a husband, a new home...you'll be encouraged and blessed...go read. :)

Love to all,

Big Girl Bed...

2012-01-08T20:58:00.000-08:00

This was the weekend for Amelia to start sleeping in her big girl bed. We went back and forth on what to do - keep her in her crib/buy another crib for Sydney, make her crib into toddler bed/buy another crib for Sydney. She climbed out of her crib twice and Alex feared her trying to do it again and potentially hurting herself. And the thought of a little toddler bed wasn't appealing to me - it would look so small next to the other furniture in her room. We finally decided it would be best to give Amelia the queen size bed that we already had in storage. It also goes with the other furniture in Amelia's room. Alex took the crib apart on Saturday and put the new bed up while she was watching tv/playing in the living room. We told her that we had a surprise and she came running.

She LOVES it.

She took a 2 hour nap on Saturday afternoon and slept 12 hours on Saturday night. *HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF*

She insisted on sleeping with rabbit and "big baby" the first night. Amelia names her babies by size. Big baby, little baby, teeny-tiny baby, etc.

She makes me laugh.

She has asked about her crib the past two nights and always comes to the point of saying, "Sydney going to sleep in my crib?" I tell her yes and thank her for being such a great big sister and giving her crib to Sydney. Oh to know what's going through that mind of hers. She is so precious to me and will always be my baby.

We're still waiting on her new duvet and shams. I'll be doing a few new things in her room but everything else will pretty much stay the same. I'll post pictures as soon as it's all finished.

This has been a much easier transition than I thought it would be - for Amelia and for us. So thankful for that! :)

Love to all,

As For Me And My House...

2012-01-05T15:28:00.000-08:00

I started my One Year Chronological Bible on January 1st. I'm determined to read my Bible the entire way through this year. Alex reads through his at least once (if not twice) a year. The man reads way faster than me. I also started a book called Jesus Calling - it's a short devotional for each day. Joy bought me this for Christmas and I LOVE IT. If you don't have it - I highly recommend it. Or if you do have it - buy it for some of your friends and family. What a great gift idea!

Another thing we're doing in the new year is teaching Amelia scripture. She's at an age where she soaks everything up and remembers EVERYTHING. If she can remember the words to "Jesus Loves Me" - she can definitely memorize Bible verses. I want to make it fun for her, so I put little motions with it which helps her remember. Her Aunt Sara made her an ABC scripture book for her birthday - there's a verse for every letter in the alphabet - cutest idea. We've been working with her for five days and she has already memorized her first scripture verse! Our goal will be to make it to the letter Z by the end of the year. If you're interested in printing a set of ABC scripture cards for your little one - you can find them at www.icanteachmychild.com No better gift you can give your child than the gift of God's Word.

"So love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. Memorize his laws and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning." -Deuteronomy 6:5-7

I videoed her quoting Joshua 24:15. Her first scripture verse. :)

"How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." -Psalm 119:9-11

Love to all,

27 weeks...

2012-01-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe I'm in my 3rd trimester already! I've started shopping for crib bedding. I've found a few that I like. I'm not going custom made this time around. I don't have the energy to go to the fabric store. That was one of the hardest decisions of my life - choosing fabrics for Amelia's nursery. Too many choices...too many options.

We'll start cleaning out Sydney's room (currently the guest room) this month. We're having the crib painted. It has several teeth marks on it from our sweet Amelia. :) Amelia will move to a queen size bed. I'm just praying she loves it. She keeps asking for her "big girl bed" and seems excited.

I'm thinking I'll keep the color in the guest room the same for the nursery and just give it a fresh coat.

Or I'll paint it gray.

But probably not.

I love color. I don't know that I could walk into Sydney's room every day if there weren't color on the walls.

I have a look in my head that I want for her room and I'm determined to do it on a budget.

The only thing Alex has requested is a comfortable chair. He loves to read to Amelia and rock her to sleep every night. He has spent HOURS UPON HOURS in the chair that's in her room. It's not the most comfortable - so he's requested no matter the money - it must feel like a LA-Z-BOY.

I need it to be cute.

So we'll see if we can find something that meets both our needs.

I still can't imagine her being here with us. Outside of my belly. She kicks so hard and so often and with each kick I think to myself, "we're going to have another baby!" Yet it's hard to imagine her actually here. I'm excited though. I can't wait to see Amelia with her. She has started calling her Baby Faith and talks to her and gives her kisses. Pure sweetness. We talk about her helping me feed Sydney and helping me change her diapers. I want her to feel a part of the whole process. I told her that Sydney would be arriving at the hospital and Aunt Joy would bring her to see us while we were there. She thought for a minute and said, "is Sydney ok?" We have spent many hours at hospitals over the past several months, seeing family members who were there for quite some time. We would tell her they are sick and we were going to the hospital to see them. I think she immediately put that together and was concerned about our new baby. I'm amazed at how much she understands. She's going to be a wonderful big sister - I have no doubt.

Lots to do in January. Let the room transformation begin!

Love to all,

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

We brought in the New Year watching "While You Were Sleeping", "The Santa Clause", and "Caillou." We also ate, played on the ipad, napped, and ate some more.

All while wearing a tutu.

Around 11:00, we went ahead and toasted the New Year with our non-alcoholic sparkling peach beverage. Amelia didn't make it much later than 11:15, Alex went to bed around 11:30, and I watched the ball drop at midnight.

I'm not big on resolutions but Alex and I are big on goals. We sit down together at the beginning of the New Year and list our goals as a family. I went over our goals from last year and there were several we reached - several we did not. I'm sure several of the 2011 goals will end up on the 2012 list as well.

I'm always excited for a new year and this year is no different.

I'm excited to meet our new baby girl in March 2012 - not very far away.

I'm excited to clean/organize house to prepare for her arrival.

I've been praying about my goals for the new year. I know life will be busy with a new baby but I want Him to be my focus in 2012, even with a new little one who will need much of my attention and time.

He has already laid a couple of people on my heart that I know I'm supposed to reach out to...show them His love every chance I can get. I find it so easy to get caught up in my wants, my needs, me-time, me, me, me. We're naturally self-absorbed, but living for self goes against everything His Word teaches. I don't just want to talk about wanting to spend more time in His Word or wanting to live a life that honors Him. I want to HAVE it and LIVE it daily. I have a vital role in how much I grow in the Lord...that's all on me...no one else.

My brother-in-law preached his father's funeral last week and part of what he spoke on was dying to self.

Dying to self leads to LIFE...an abundant life.

I want the first thing on my mind to be someone else other than myself when I wake up in the mornings. What can I do for someone else today?

Many days it will simply be what I can do for my husband and daughter. Just putting my own wants/desires aside and putting them first. As much as I love Alex and Amelia, some days are easier to do that than others. Usually the days that I'm really tired are the days that it's hard.

This season of life that I'm in brings a larger size than I care to wear, dark circles under my eyes, unmanicured nails, untweezed eyebrows, super-sized amounts of coffee to function, and when Sydney arrives - very little sleep. But this I know...I can still reflect Jesus to my family and those around me during this season. It's not always easy but it's what pleases Him.

To live the life of Christ and not my own...that will be my #1 goal.

Wishing you a blessed New Year!

Love to all,

Weaver Christmas...

2011-12-31T15:52:00.000-08:00

On the afternoon of the 25th, we loaded up and headed to my parents. They live about 3 hours away. Someone was in a good mood and ready to see her Papa & Granny! She took a nap and then watched her Strawberry Shortcake movie the rest of the way.

My Mama had her entire home decorated so pretty. Every room had a touch of Christmas. She and Daddy made it a special time for us all. These are her trees in the dining room and den. She brought out the stockings that she made us when we were little and added new ones for in-laws and grand kids that have since joined our family. Every window was lined with filled stockings!

We started eating as soon as everyone arrived. We had lots of finger foods like brisket & ham on rolls, potato wedges, sausage balls, spinach dip, cocktail smokies...I could go on and on. It was so good.

After filling our bellies - we gathered in the den where Daddy read The Christmas Story from the Bible.

And then it was time for presents!

It's always fun to watch the kiddos open their gifts.

All of my siblings and their spouses draw names and we fill a stocking for that person, which is always fun. Daddy and Mama gave us all gift cards and filled our stockings with goodies!

Daddy gave Mama her first iphone!

We were all looking forward to gift time because we had a big surprise for our oldest brother. We knew he wanted an ipad2, so the entire family went in on it and it was so much fun to see his face when he opened the box! There may or may not have been a few tears. :)

After gifts - everyone put on their pajamas...

And it was time to play!! The kids played the kinect for HOURS. The oldest nephews/nieces stayed up until 3am. Everyone stayed the night (except my brother-in-law, Gerry. We missed him a lot but he was exactly where he needed to be...with his Mom). There were 22 of us at my parents house. It was a huge sleep over and so much fun.

We headed home on the evening of the 26th. Our little girl was worn out. We hadn't been in the car for more than 5 minutes and she was out.

This was one of the most relaxing, laid back, meaningful Christmases I can remember in quite some time. I made a point of keeping things simple at the very beginning of the holiday season and I'm so glad I did. We were able to make wonderful memories with Amelia. She's at such a fun age. We would ask her what Christmas is all about and she would go back and forth from saying "Jesus' tay-tay" and "presents." We always want her to know the true meaning of the season. We want her to enjoy giving as much as receiving. We also want her to look forward to Christmas morning with excitement just like every kid should.

It was truly a very Merry Christmas for The Averitt Fam!

Love to all,

Christmas Morning...

2011-12-31T15:01:00.000-08:00

Even though we went to bed at 2am, Alex and I were so excited to see Amelia's face on Christmas morning! We both woke up before her and waited a good two hours for her to wake up. It gave us time to get her gifts ready and for me to bake her some cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

It also gave us time to have breakfast together, just the two of us. I found a blog that had these yummy breakfast sandwiches and knew immediately that's what I would make for Alex on Christmas morning. They had a fried egg, crispy bacon, and pepper jack cheese on a kaiser roll. I had one too and added tomato...they were so good! I ended up making up several and freezing them. Alex has taken one to work every day this week. We also opened our stockings while waiting on Amelia to wake up. We don't really do big gifts for each other, so it's always fun to fill the other's stocking with anything from gift cards to candy.

As soon as we heard the first peep of Amelia waking up over the monitor, we ran in to get her! We told her it was Christmas morning and time to open presents...her eyes LIT UP. She came running into the living room - so excited!

She immediately went for her cozy coupe...that thing is going to be hours of fun. She also received a bed for her baby dolls and a shopping cart.

While she played with her new toys, her Daddy brought her kitchen into her room so we could surprise her. She immediately whipped us up something delicious to eat.

She opened her stocking in her room and was Ooh-ing and Aww-ing over every little thing. Some of her favorite stocking items...chapstick, ice cream cone popper, and a light up snoopy toy.

Amelia also gave Daddy his gift from her. She made a calendar for him and her grandparents...with a little help from Mommy.

This was definitely Alex's favorite gift. Each month has a picture of Amelia from each month in 2011. She has grown so much. He took it to work and put it on his desk as soon as he returned to work.

We enjoyed having the entire morning at home with Amelia. We made the decision before ever having kiddos that they would wake up at their own home, opening presents under our tree, special breakfast made by Mommy, having our own time as a family. We will never regret that decision. Amelia had time to play with all of her new things and we had time to just be lazy and get ready for Christmas with my family that evening. It was lovely.

Love to all,

Christmas Eve...

2011-12-31T13:50:00.000-08:00

We started out Christmas Eve by delivering Christmas goodies and gifts to our neighbors. Just for the record, it was so cold outside and Amelia dressed appropriately (she insisted on mittens & hat). Her Daddy on the other hand was dressed like it was 80 degrees outside. The man loves him some flip-flops. :) After delivering gifts, we came back to the house and Amelia played with some of her gifts from the night before. She has been coloring a lot in her Strawberry Shortcake coloring book.

While Daddy & Amelia colored, I made the dough for our candy cane cookies. I think this was my favorite of all the things we did with Amelia this year. I love to bake and to be in the kitchen. I plan on having her in the kitchen with me as much as possible so she will hopefully love it the same. My Mama made these at Christmas when we were little and it's one of my fondest memories. You know how there are certain things that you only make once a year? Certain holidays mean certain foods/goodies. This is something I want my kiddos to always associate with Christmas time. Making these cookies with their Mama. This was the first time I've ever made them. And to make them with my little girl...even more special.

We were so proud of our work! They're almond flavored cookies and tasted delicious.

Another tradition we have is our Christmas Eve service at church. It starts at 11:30pm and ends at midnight.

The kiddos wear their pajamas and have cookies & cocoa. Amelia thought it was so neat that she was wearing her pajamas to church! Here are some of our sweet church family. We love living/sharing our lives with these folks!

I made homemade cocoa & marshmallows for our church members this year. I know it's nothing big but I wanted to give them something to show our love and appreciation for all they do for our church. They love and accept us and each other so well. A true blessing. I ordered little labels with Amelia's picture on them. I was pleased with how they turned out and everyone said they loved the cocoa and marshmallows!

Here's our family of three on Christmas Eve.

We arrived home after 1am and went to bed around 2am. I couldn't do this every night, being a girl who needs 10 hours of sleep and all, but I have to say there's no place I'd rather be on Christmas morning than church. It's always a special time as a church family.

Love to all,

December 23rd...

2011-12-27T21:27:00.000-08:00

Time to start posting pictures of Christmas 2011! I'll start with our Christmas with Alex's family - we always celebrate on December 23rd.

Yes, that first picture is of Amelia riding an English Mastiff. (LOL) He's my SIL's dog and is huge. I looked up and Amelia's was riding into the living room on him. They asked Amelia if she wanted a dog like him at her house and she quickly said, "YES!"

A few pics of the family opening gifts.

Each grandchild took turns opening their gifts. Amelia was so serious at first! Not sure what was going through her head. She loved her gifts though. She received a doctor's kit from her Daddygrand & Nana. She also received play-doh and a Strawberry Shortcake movie/coloring book from her cousin. She LOVES her Strawberry Shortcake movie - her eyes are glued to the TV through the entire thing.

Our family of 3.

Love to all,

On the 12th Day of Christmas...

2011-12-24T09:30:00.001-08:00

Today is the last day of the 12 Days of Christmas for Alex. He told me his favorite gifts of the 12 days were the post-it love notes & the 7 prayers over his work week. Gifts that didn't cost a dime...only my time.

I hope you will find ways to make your husband feel special, not just over the Christmas holiday, but over the entire year. It will really make a difference in you, your spouse, and your marriage.

"Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life." -Proverbs 31:11-12

Love to all,

On the 11th Day of Christmas...

2011-12-23T21:31:00.000-08:00

Love,

On the 10th Day of Christmas...

2011-12-22T22:38:00.002-08:00

Love,

Our Candy Cottage...

2011-12-21T22:22:00.000-08:00

One of our family traditions (since before having children) is to build a gingerbread house every Christmas. It used to be just the two of us, but now that we have Amelia, it's even more fun.

My friend, Erin, told us about The Candy Cottage and as soon as I read about it, I knew this would take the place of our gingerbread house. Reasons why...

-It snaps together within seconds.
-It's re-usable.
-It can be thrown in the dishwasher when you're tired of looking at your creation.
-It's not just for Christmas...we can make a candy cottage for every holiday or occasion!

Alex (being the one that had to put the gingerbread house together every year) thought this was a genius idea.

Here are my partners - putting the cottage together and testing the icing.

I think Amelia consumed more icing than we put on the cottage. She went to bed with a belly full. We'll probably pay for that tomorrow. :)

We had icing all over us!

But boy did we have a good time!!

Love to all,

On the 9th Day of Christmas...

2011-12-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

Alex loves to go fly fishing on the Little Red River...it's his favorite thing to do. Amelia and I decided for the 9th Day of Christmas, we would pick out some special flies for his next trip. I'm sure he'll catch lots of pretty fish with the pink fly Amelia chose! :)

Love,

8th Day of Christmas...

2011-12-20T08:25:00.000-08:00

Love,

On the 7th Day of Christmas...

2011-12-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

I find it a privilege and my responsibility to pray for Alex. I read one time that Satan desires to destroy your husband, especially his character and his leadership in your relationship. It encouraged wives to trust God through prayer as we daily surrender our husband and marriage to the Lord’s wise, loving care. I encourage you to bless your husband by praying for him!

On the 7th Day of Christmas, I wrote out 7 prayers for his week inside a card along with scripture that went with each prayer.

Love,

On the 6th Day of Christmas...

2011-12-18T18:36:00.001-08:00

6 post-it notes stuck to the bathroom mirror. Each one had a reason why I love him!

Love,

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

2011-12-17T21:45:00.001-08:00

His favorite candy! :)

Love,

On the 4th Day of Christmas...

2011-12-16T04:54:00.000-08:00

I like my man clean shaven. :)

Love,

On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

2011-12-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

Alex told me this morning that he's really loving the 12 Days of Christmas. I love it too! I've been leaving his gifts all throughout the house for him to find in the morning.

One the 3rd Day of Christmas, I gave my sweetie pie...

Love,

24 weeks...

2011-12-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

So I'm 6 months along in this pregnancy and as of right now, I feel amazing! I continue to say how much easier this pregnancy has been on my body than my first pregnancy. It has been a nice surprise. We have several things to do to prepare for Sydney's arrival but have plans to start working on that list in the new year. By this time in my first pregnancy - I knew the color of the room, the bedding was on order, and I was purchasing little outfits to put on my baby girl. This time around, I realized Amelia didn't even sleep in her room for the first 7 months of her life and neither will Sydney. I'm more concerned with having a good double stroller so I can leave the house with my girls and the only other necessity I can think of is diapers. I plan on purchasing some special little things for Sydney and we do have plans for her room but I guess I'm just more laid back this time around.

Sydney, we can't wait to see your sweet face. I've started imagining who you might look like. Your sister looked SO MUCH like her Daddy when she was born...maybe you'll look your Mama? We'll just have to wait and see. Love you, sweet girl.

Love to all,

On the 2nd Day of Christmas...

2011-12-14T09:36:00.000-08:00

Love you, babe! :)

Christmas Card Carousel...

2011-12-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

My sweet friend, Faith, is hosting her annual Christmas Card Carousel! Click on the image below and link up!

I love going to the mailbox this time of year and opening cards from friends and family. I've received some of the cutest cards this year! I think this is the most simple of cards I've ever sent out, but it's also one of my favorites, and simple goes right along with how I've kept things this Christmas season. We had a little photo shoot with my SIL, Sara, right after Thanksgiving. I think she did a great job and we got some really cute pics of our sweet girl. I'm sure some of my cards are still in transit - so for my family and friends that haven't received yours yet - this will be what you find in your mailbox any day now. Click on card to enlarge.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas from The Averitt Fam!

Love to all,

Twelve Days...

2011-12-13T08:59:00.001-08:00

I read this blog on a regular basis. I love it because she reminds me to keep things simple and to make the most of the "ordinary" moments with my family.

I loved the idea she gave about adding my husband to my Christmas list this year. Yes, he's already on my list but she encouraged her readers to do a little something extra for their husbands this year. As she put it, "is there a way you can keep this most important relationship – this man God has given you, in the forefront of your thoughts, maintaining your friendship even in this hectic season?"

Alex is my heart. He is my best friend. He loves me better than anyone else ever could. He works so very hard for our family and I want nothing more than to make him feel loved every single day, but especially over the holidays when things can get a little stressful/hectic. I want him to know that my relationship with him is more important than finishing my shopping, baking for neighbors, lunch with friends, etc.

She calls it “Twelve Days” but it has nothing to do with Partridges and Pear Trees. The idea is that I give him a little gift on each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas. The gifts are not big, often just a favorite cookie or candy (or on this day - our favorite gum), but the value of the gift lies in that I’ve thought of him. So I'm adopting this tradition and today is the first day!

On the First Day of Christmas, I Gave My Sweetie Pie...

I love you, Alex!

Time...

2011-12-09T15:09:00.001-08:00

This time of year is when I want to just slow down. I want time to stand still. Though everything about the season seems to make it pass so quickly.

I made a point this year to mark our calendar with everything we wanted to do with Amelia over the Christmas season. I knew if we didn't - our days would be filled with so many other things and we would miss out on making sweet memories with our girl.

So far we've...

-Shopped and packed shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

Started our Advent Calendar. On-going through the month of December!

-Traveled to my parents for Living Bethlehem at their church. This was Amelia's 3rd year...we bundled her up at less than 2 months old and took her. I love that we've done this since she was born.

-Evening with Charlie Brown Christmas and hot cocoa.

Still on the list:
-Christmas at Garvan Woodland Gardens
-Make her 2011 Christmas ornament at The Painted Pig
-Build our gingerbread house
-Holiday lights in Burns Park
-Baking candy cane cookies with Mama
-Take neighbors Christmas goodies

I read a tradition this week that I love and that we plan on adding to ours as well. I've started receiving lots of Christmas cards from my beautiful friends and family. We'll take one card each night and pray for that family specifically.

None of these things cost a lot of money. Most just cost us our time. Something that's much more precious than any amount of money.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...and I plan on enjoying every single minute of it.

Love to all,

Christmas Time Is Here...

2011-12-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

This is a recent pic of Amelia that I love. My girl loves to wear hats. Sometimes it's her Daddy's ball cap or a straw hat w/a large flower, but thankfully on this day it was a sweet, girly hat. :)

I had an EARLY doctor's appointment this week and woke up to snow! It was just a dusting of snow, not enough to play in, but pretty to look at and enough for Amelia to make a tiny snowman to keep in the freezer. It's still in there...she goes to the freezer to visit him every day. (LOL)

We had a special movie night this week. After bath time we made hot cocoa, turned off the lights, and watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. Amelia was glued. Her favorite character was Snoopy. I loved just watching her face the entire time.

Alex put up our tree several days ago but I just got around to putting the ornaments on this afternoon. I wanted to surprise Amelia when she woke from her nap. We came around the corner and she said, "OH WOW!!"

I took part in an ornament exchange hosted by several bloggers. I received the prettiest ornaments from my partner, Jenn! She sent me this "A" and snowflake ornament and a pretty frame ornament that I still need to put a pic in. Thank you so much, Jenn. I'll think of you every time I look at them.

I put a special ornament on the tree for Amelia. It's the one she can play with and touch as much as she wants. It has a button that she can push and it sings "Hark the Hearald Angels Sing." I'm hoping this will keep her from touching/breaking all of the other ornaments. We'll see. So far so good. :)

We accomplished a little decorating today. I'm not going all out like I usually do but have a few things I definitely want out. I love seeing my girl's names on their stockings. :)

Christmas is only 17 days away. Can you believe it!???

Love to all,

Happy Tay-Tay...

2011-12-03T21:01:00.000-08:00

Today was my 35th birthday. I celebrated with my two loves and had the best day. We started the day with brunch at Mimi's, our favorite weekend spot.

Our bellies were full so we headed out to do a little shopping. We forgot Amelia's stroller so girlfriend had to walk the entire day. I hadn't really thought about it until today (because she's always in a stroller when we are out) but she has never been on an escalator. She was a fan and asked to ride it in every store.

After a little shopping, it was time for a cupcake break. I chose red velvet and Amelia chose vanilla with sprinkles. She ate the entire thing along with a cup of milk. She was one happy girl!

Alex and Amelia gave me a pair of boots for my birthday that I just love! My girl loves shoes...we shopped a few shoe stores today and she was taking off her boots and trying on heels before I could stop her!

We ended the day with dinner at Big Orange.

We had a little wait so we snuggled up by the outdoor fireplace with our girl.

Once inside I ordered my most recent craving and favorite drink. They make fresh lemon-limeades and they are DELICIOUS. I had two with my dinner!

Little Miss stayed busy with her "magnet girl" as we waited for our food. She can take the magnets and change the girl's clothes...she just loves it. I bought this especially for restaurants and really don't let her play with it at home. I always keep it in my purse for when we're out to eat. If I see she's getting antsy, I pull it out and it keeps her attention the entire time. I bought it at Cracker Barrel...best $7 I've ever spent.

It was such a fun day. We had Amelia out for 9 hours and she was pure joy the entire time. I think my favorite part of the day was when Amelia sang "Happy Tay-Tay" to me. It's the cutest thing ever to hear her sing. She also answered us with "yes, sir" and "yes, ma'am" without being told. We've been working on this because she usually answers with "yeah." I cringe every time I hear her say it. It just made my day that she has been listening and is starting to remember what we're trying to teach her.

And I have to say, my husband gave me the best birthday present of all. He had planned a wonderful trip for us to take for my birthday, but since I'm almost 6 months pregnant, we decided right now isn't the best time. So instead of just cancelling vacation - he's taking off an entire week to be at home with me. I'm so excited to have him at home all week!!

I'm a blessed girl. Happy "Tay-Tay" to me. :)

Love to all,

Hello December...

2011-12-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

I went to my first Christmas party of the season last night! It was so much fun. I love my LG gals. We meet twice a month and these girls are some of my best friends. We laugh so hard when we're together...like until we cry...it's the best. It's always appetizer potluck and we had some yummy food! I took sausage balls, Trio's spinach dip w/homemade tortilla chips, cheese ball w/crackers, and chocolate covered peanut butter balls.

Me and Jen

Vicki, Alicia, Amy, Heather, Heather, Belinda

I'll post our group shot as soon as I receive it. Or maybe I'll just post the outtakes. Those are the best.

I can't believe it's December 1st. We started a new tradition with Amelia this evening. It's a magnetic Advent calendar where she can move the star leading up to Christmas day.

We also have a book that Alex reads from each night and then we pray together at the very end. It's geared towards children so we don't lose Amelia's attention.

I went to the store looking for Elf on a Shelf. I didn't really know what it was all about and it seems to be all the rage, so I asked the sales clerk to tell me about it. After he told me what it was, we decided that we wouldn't be adding this to our Christmas traditions. It's a cute idea but not exactly what I thought it was going to be. Our main issue was telling our child she should obey because an elf with secret powers is watching her. (LOL) We do tell Amelia she should obey because someone is watching her - and that's someone with the Utmost power. Even when no one else can see what she's doing - we want her to always know God can see. We just always want to tell her the truth, even at a young age. Christmas can still be fun without believing in Santa and elves. I do know that. The movies are fun to watch and she has even started asking who Santa is when she sees him on the television or in stores. I need to brush up on the true story of Saint Nicholas. He was a real man, a good man, and I intend on telling her all about him. :)

I just love this time of year! I'm looking forward to lots of baking, candy making, spending as much time as possible with family, and teaching Amelia what the Christmas season is truly all about. I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible. A friend of mine posted this and it really hit home. I tend to stress at some point during the holidays and I'm going to do my best to remember this. If you follow this link there's an entire article written by Ann Voskamp on this subject:

"Whenever Christmas begins to burden, it’s a sign that I’ve taken on something of the world and not of Christ." -Ann Voskamp

Love to all,

Thanksgiving 2011...

2011-11-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving with my side of the family this year. Amelia and I headed to my parents on Tuesday and Alex joined us on Wednesday evening. I wanted to be there to help Mama with food. She has been working so hard to get her house ready, they moved right before Thanksgiving, so I wanted to be there to help with whatever I could. I've been hosting Thanksgiving for the past few years, after my parents moved 3 hours away. I was so excited to have it at their house this year. I love hosting but being 5 months pregnant and having a toddler - I chose to hand the Thanksgiving & Christmas hosting back over to our Mamas this year! :) I made an apple pie, fudge pie, and almond green beans. I brought fresh cranberries and oranges intending on making cranberry sauce. My SIL, Sara, volunteered to do it for me and it was SO GOOD! It was Rachel Ray's recipe. So easy and delicious.

Here's Amelia posing. Her Aunt Sara was trying to show her how to stand and this was her interpretation of that. (LOL) She wore this sweet little outfit that I ordered from HERE. I actually ordered it for her birthday but since we didn't have a party, I just saved it for Thanksgiving!

I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked. We had a moment of defiance at the dinner table (over sitting in a highchair) and I didn't think to pick up my camera after that. I'm happy to say that we made it through the meltdown after 3 trips to the bedroom and were able to have a happy Thanksgiving with family. (LOL) Amelia enjoyed the time with her family, especially with her cousins, even though she was sick with her first (and hopefully last) UTI over the holiday. I had these as a child and as an adult and they are NO FUN. I felt so bad for her. She's much better now and I'm so thankful for that!

Our family of three.

Here's the entire gang! My favorite part of Thanksgiving is when we write down what we're thankful for and share at the end of the night. It's neat to see my nephews and nieces mature and go from being thankful for toys and food (both wonderful things) to being thankful for Jesus and eternal life (the best thing ever)! I look forward to hearing my girls share every year as they get older. It was a Happy Thanksgiving, indeed.

O Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth; The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. -Psalm 95:1-6

Love to all,

Jesus Loves Me This I Know...

2011-11-21T10:48:00.000-08:00

I don't put a lot of videos on the blog but Amelia has started singing and I just love it! I thought I would share a video of her singing the newest song that her Granny taught her.

"Jesus Loves Me This I Know."

Love to all,

Sweet moments...

2011-11-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

Amelia and I just arrived home last night. We've been at my parent's home since Sunday evening. We had a fun week!

We took Papa to physical therapy on Tuesday. He's making progress and getting stronger every day. I'm so proud of him! He was doing little projects around the house and was sweet to let Amelia help. Lord knows it took longer with her helping but she loved that time with her Papa.

My Mom seems to teach Amelia a new word or song every time we visit. She taught her "Jesus Loves Me This I Know" and can I just say, it's the sweetest sound to my ears to hear her singing those words!!

We made a trip to the mall. Amelia took a sweet ride on the ice cream truck!

We played with cousins. We don't get to see Jackson and Millie very often so it was a sweet time to spend a couple of days with them!

We helped unpack boxes at the new house. My parents have a wonderful yard now. I could just close the front gates and watch Amelia play from the kitchen window. My sweet girl thought she was so big playing outside by herself!

Amelia was exhausted and slept the entire 3 hours home. A nice, quiet drive home. This was a sweet time for Mommy.

We enjoyed our first Thanksgiving meal with our homegroup last night. Oh it was SO GOOD! Thanks to leftovers, I'll be having Thanksgiving again today. Amelia had both of her Great Grandmothers (my Grandma & Alex's Mimi) at homegroup last night! We just had to get a picture. How sweet and special is that!?

I hit the 20 week mark while at my parents. Sydney is moving all the time and I just love it. I feel like my belly doubled in size over the last 2 weeks. Could be from all the sweets I've been craving. I'll be interested to see how much I've gained. The nurse told me (at my November appointment) that I've gained 7 pounds so far in this pregnancy. I was pleased with that. I'm fairly certain that number will go up to at least 10 pounds after Thanksgiving.

We arrived home to such a sweet surprise. Alex put up our Christmas tree!!! Amelia LOVES it. She rounded the corner this morning and it was like she was seeing it for the first time all over again. She literally gasped as if it took her breath away and ran to touch it. She keeps saying, "it pretty, Mommy." She sits behind it until I make her come out. I think she's going to have the same love for Christmas as her Mommy. We'll put the ornaments on this weekend!

So that's what we've been up to! We're gearing up for the holidays and can't wait to spend lots of time with our sweet families.

Love to all,

Christmas Shopping...

2011-11-08T15:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas music is playing in the background, there's talk of the Christmas tree going up this weekend, and I've officially started my Christmas shopping. Amelia is at such a fun age. I can tell I'm going to have to show some restraint when it comes to buying for her this year.

We didn't really buy her anything for her birthday. We cancelled the party so we could spend time at my parents after Daddy's surgery. We were actually at the hospital on her birthday, so we took her out to eat and she did receive a baby doll and some super cute house shoes. She was happy as can be! :)

I start making a list for her early in the year. A list of things I think she would enjoy. I received several great suggestions from blog friends last year. So if you have any suggestions for a 2 year old, feel free to leave me a comment.

This is what I have in mind for her big presents this year. A couple of her cousins have this and Amelia loves it. She usually cries when she has to leave this thing. It's the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe.

Amelia loves to play the piano at her Granny's house. There's also a local toy store that has a couple of these out for the kiddos to play and she goes straight to it every time. I'm going to watch Zulily for one of these. They had them at a great price last Christmas! It's the Traditional Spinet Piano in Black 25 Key by Schoenhut.

I was looking for a kitchen and this is the one my friend, Annalee, recommended. She told me about a certain toy last year and it was the best gift ever. Amelia still plays with it daily! This is the KidKraft Pink Retro Play Kitchen and Refrigerator.

So how about you? Have you started your Christmas shopping? Do you have any gift ideas for a 2 year old? Feel free to share!

Love to all,

I refuse...

2011-11-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

I've had so much on my heart the past couple of months but every time I would sit down to write on my blog - I just couldn't. I took that as I should just wait...that He's still teaching me something in those areas...or that some of it will just stay between me and Him.

One of the things that I feel I can finally write about is this.

Blogging.

I read so many blogs in regards to this same subject and I honestly think it's the enemies way of getting in and trying to stir up strife. He just loves to see Godly women tear each other down, or respond in a non-loving way to one another, or see them harbor jealousy in their hearts towards one another, or make them feel inferior because their "follower" number over on their sidebar dropped this week. There was a time that I found myself looking at that number like it actually meant something...and ya know what...it doesn't.

My self worth can't come from how many people read my blog or how many people comment on my blog posts. That's insane.

I know that sounds silly but it's something I read A LOT. Women with hurt feelings because they lost a follower or because they never receive comments. If you fight looking at that number constantly, you know the best way to stop struggling with it? Take your follower button and comments section down. We need to stop looking for our self worth in positive comments from others and look for it in the only One that can fill us up. We need to look UP. He's the only one that can fill that need.

My brother-in-law is currently watching his Dad fight an incurable cancer. A cancer that will take his life unless God sees fit to perform a miracle. Every time I think of it, all I can do is cry and pray for that miracle.

I've been going to my parents since my Daddy had his surgery and though I'm exhausted by the time I return home - I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Serving my parents is a privilege. Many would give anything to have their parents back, just so they could serve them and take care of them. While I'm there we watch things like Little House on the Prairie, Wind at my Back, and The Walton's.

Clean television.

Shows about families spending time together and enjoying the most simple moments. Shows without drama and that lift the spirit.

Alex has been preaching a series called "Building Up The Believer" and it has been so convicting. This last week the Father revealed to me that I must guard my mind and home from the trash that the television brings into our home. THAT I ALLOW IN MY HOME. We can make excuses all day long as to why we watch certain programs but when it comes right down to it, it's either clean or not. There's very little good on television.

I love to write about what my baby girl is up to and love having those memories to come back and read at any time. I have no doubt that I will cherish my blog for that very reason.

I just refuse to miss opportunities with my family because I'm on my computer, phone, or watching a program that shouldn't even be on my television at all.

I refuse to miss opportunities to encourage and edify another believer because I'm so blinded with jealousy.

I refuse to fight insecurity because someone else has a larger following or receives more comments.

I refuse to miss an opportunity to be a servant to someone else because I'm so wrapped up in myself.

Do you hear that devil? I refuse.

He wants us to love like He loves. -John 15:12

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord." Ephesians 5:15-19

Love to all,

19 weeks...

2011-11-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

Our sweet baby currently measures 6 inches (about the size of a large heirloom tomato) and weighs about 8 1/2 ounces. :)

Love to all,

Pink or Blue...

2011-11-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

We headed to the doctor this afternoon for a big appointment. Today we found out if we're having a boy or a girl! Even more importantly, we were able to see if everything was okay with our sweet baby and from all they can see on ultrasound, our little one is 100% healthy!!

When we've asked Amelia if she's having a brother or a sister, she always says "boy." We've never prompted her - this is just always her answer. I've felt from the beginning that it was a boy and was eager to see if I was correct.

Well.......we're proud to announce that in March 2012, we'll be welcoming a baby GIRL!!!! Amelia is going to have a sister! We're so excited and are thankful that all is well with our sweet girl. She refused to look our way and stayed face down the entire time. She's going to have to get used to having her picture taken but there's plenty of time for that, I suppose.

We're almost 100% certain on her name. We'll share it soon! When we ask Amelia what we should name her baby sister, she says, "boy." HAHA! I think we can come up with something better than that. :)

Love to all,

Harvest Fest 2011...

2011-10-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

Our church decided to have a Harvest Fest this year. This was our first year to do anything like this - the kids had such a great time.

I had a great time too.

I may or may not have eaten 2 bags of cotton candy.

I love things like this because it's an alternative to going door-to-door to trick-or-treat. Trick-or-treating is so weird to me. Taking Amelia to a strangers home and asking for candy - no thanks. (LOL) Anyway, Amelia LOVED Harvest Fest. She played non-stop and was worn out by the time the night was over. Her favorite thing was the bouncy house.

I went back and forth on what she should be this year. I loved her Amelia Earhart costume last year and wanted something unique this year as well. After seeing this little dress on etsy, I knew she had to be Audrey Hepburn. I LOVE Audrey Hepburn movies. Sabrina is my all-time favorite and then Breakfast at Tiffany's. Here she is all dolled up!

My sister-in-law found the mini tiara in the Walmart party section for $1.00. It worked perfectly! We couldn't find solid black sunglasses so she just wore her animal print ones from Gap. The pearls were $1.00 from Accessory City and we already had the shoes. It was an easy costume and I thought she looked adorable.

She played the fishing game, the cake walk, and made a bracelet too!

She told us she didn't even want a bath when we arrived home, though she still received one. :) She was so sticky from the 12 suckers she had over the course of the night. She never finished one. She just carried them around, licked on them, and then handed them to random people to discard for her. HA! Little Ms. Audrey was spotted all throughout the evening, rummaging through the candy buckets, filling her bag. She didn't really grasp the concept of getting all the candy she could though because she would walk back over and empty her bag. She ended up bringing home about 10 pieces of candy - thank goodness!

Eating her candy...

It was a fun night for all!

Love to all,

18 weeks...

2011-10-31T06:43:00.001-07:00

I'm 18 weeks today! This pregnancy seems to be flying by. I've been thinking about names...mainly girl names...just in case my feeling of BLUE is incorrect. Alex and I both come from families with six children. There are 3 boys and 3 girls in each of our families, so the thought of Amelia having a brother or a sister makes me extremely happy!

I've starting feeling things but still unsure if it's the baby. You would think I would know since I've been pregnant before but I really have no clue. Maybe in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to tell if it's the baby or just my food digesting.

Our sweet baby currently measures 5 1/2 inches (about the length of a bell pepper) and weighs almost 7 ounces. :)

Love to all,

All About Amelia - 2 Years Old!

2011-10-22T01:01:00.000-07:00

Amelia,

As I sit here thinking about the fact that my baby is 2 YEARS OLD, my mind immediately goes back to October 22nd, 2009. 1:01AM.

Silence.

No crying.

No kicking and screaming.

Just silence.

They rushed you by me and I didn't see your sweet face until 12 hours later.

Even then, I still couldn't hold you. I couldn't believe how small you were and how much you looked like your Daddy! You did have my lips though. :)

I remember sitting down in that rocking chair and holding you for the very first time. You were a day old. My heart felt so incredibly full. I laughed. I cried. It was such a happy day...the day God's promise was fulfilled. I was holding MY baby. I prayed for you for over 3 years and there you were in my arms...my answered prayer.

I remember thinking I would have to go home without you. I would cry every night in the hospital - the thought of leaving you there broke my heart. The Lord took care of us though. Something would happen every day that wouldn't allow me to go home. We were able to stay in the hospital with you for that entire week.

The day we brought you home was exciting and scary at the same time. You were so tiny, weighing a little over 5 pounds. You were such a laid back baby from the very start. You fussed when hungry and that was about it.

I feel like you're still pretty laid back. You're content to sit by us and watch a movie or play in the floor on your own. You're affectionate and have such a tender heart. You're always saying "I love you." You're incredibly smart and I think you're the most beautiful thing God ever created.

You are my heart, sweet girl. I can't imagine my world without you.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Amelia Joy!

You will always be my baby.

I love you,
Mommy

Party Planning, Perspective, & Prayer Request...

2011-10-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

My friend, Christie, designed Amelia's birthday invite this year and I just love it! She's so talented...you should check out her SITE.

I've been in party planning mode for a few weeks now. Amelia's 2nd birthday is this Saturday, the 22nd. I decided on an Autumn theme and found lots of cute things! I've really felt behind because I'm usually planning/preparing for many months ahead of time, but with my morning sickness being so bad the first trimester, not much was accomplished. Anyway, I've been wrapping up loose ends and was going to use this entire week finishing things. Alex ended up needing to go out of town on business so that was a little added stress to my already planned week. I love throwing a party but I always let myself get stressed over the details that in the end don't really matter. I have a desire to make it special and unique. Nothing is wrong with that but letting myself get stressed over party planning is ridiculous. It's something that I've had to really work on over the years. I'm getting better at just letting things go and enjoying the party whether everything went as planned or not. Alex can attest to this because he's the one that has to remind me. :)

And there's nothing like a good dose of perspective to make you realize what's truly important. To make you realize it really doesn't matter if you have labels for all of the food, or stickers on the favors, or seating for all 60 of your guests.

I received the call yesterday that my Daddy will have open heart surgery on Wednesday of this week. Needless to say, the party is being postponed. I want to be with my Daddy & Mama. That's WAY MORE IMPORTANT than any birthday party. And I can't even count the number of times my parents have dropped what they had going or had planned to come be with me when I needed them. I called all of the vendors yesterday to let them know I needed to postpone and let everyone on the guest list know they shouldn't show up at my home this Saturday. I'm thinking we'll celebrate early November. Amelia will never know or even care. When we mention her birthday all she ever says is "tay-tay cake??" (LOL) I'm assuming she's saying birthday cake and she will most definitely still have birthday cake on Saturday.

So now I can concentrate on my Daddy and helping Mama in any way I can. Please say a prayer for my Daddy? I know everything will go well and he will feel so much better once he has recovered, but it's major surgery and recovery could be lengthy.

Love to all,

16 weeks...

2011-10-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

I'm 16 weeks today! I'm feeling pretty good. I still have nausea off and on but more than anything, I'm just really tired. I'm back to cooking dinner every night, so that's a huge improvement from how I felt during my first trimester. I feel like I'm showing more every day. I'm wearing all maternity clothes because they fit and are comfortable. I'm not one to try and squeeze myself into regular clothes while pregnant. I need to be able to breathe.

We started discussing baby names. We've had our boy name for years but really weren't sure if it's a girl. To my surprise, we actually came up with a girl name over the weekend that we both agree on! We'll keep discussing but it's nice to have one that we both really like. We won't be sharing the name choice until we find out if we're having a boy or girl. So sometime next month! :)

Our sweet baby currently measures 4 1/2 inches (about the size of an avocado) and weighs 3 1/2 ounces. :)

Love to all,

The Punkin' Patch...

2011-10-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

We've been telling Amelia for a couple of weeks now that we were going to the pumpkin patch this month. This was our first free weekend so today was the day! She was pretty excited. She kept saying, "going to punkin' patch!!"

This was when we first arrived. She was sleepy from the ride and not quite ready for her picture to be taken.

Alex said she needed to feed and pet the animals. Thank the Lord for hand sanitizer :) They had pigs, goats, calves, and ducks. She LOVED feeding the baby goat. We asked her afterwards what animals she saw and she said, "I feed goat grass." She also says she met "Ivia & Ian the pig." She loves the cartoon Olivia. (LOL)

My favorite thing was watching her with the calf. It would lick her hand and she would laugh so hard.

I think about when we took her last year...she couldn't even walk. She has grown so much.

She insisted on walking the entire time - but once she saw Daddy with the wagon - she wanted a ride!

We picked a pretty cinderella pumpkin and let her pick a few little pumpkins as well.

She held her 3 little pumpkins the entire way home and even asked to take a nap with them. How cute is that?

It was such a fun day with our girl. We were talking about next year - we'll have an almost 3 year old and a 7 month old. Can hardly imagine!!

Love to all,

The Great Escape...

2011-10-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

Well...today was the day. I was exhausted from the time I got up and was very much looking forward to nap time today. It was officially a pajama day. We've had lots of these lately. My sis & nephew came over for a little bit. Amelia loves when her Aunt Joy and cousins come to visit. Cody was sweet and read her Goodnight Moon. He really had no choice. Girl was harassing him until he read the book. :)

After Joy and Cody left it was time for a nap. I put Amelia in her crib and then went to my room to lie down. I could hear her over the monitor, she was counting to 6 over and over. And then she got quiet. Sleep...sweet sleep.

Nope.

I saw a shadow coming towards my bedroom door and then what do you know...Amelia walked through the door. She said, "hi, Mommy." She was very cool about it, as though she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

I on the other hand was having a slight heart attack. I could barely form a sentence. How on earth did she get out of her crib?

I took her back to her room and asked her to show me how she climbed out.

She gladly demonstrated.

This is when I almost had a panic attack. She got up on her tiptoes (she has extremely long legs) and threw her leg over the crib.

After throwing one leg over, she slowly lifted her tummy up on the rail and threw her other leg over. And then she mission-impossibled it down the crib. I had to stop taking pictures and go spot her because I was so scared she would fall on her head. She was so high in the air!

I still can't believe she tried this and I fear she'll try it again.

I'm bummed because I really wanted to keep her in the crib until she was at least 3 or until her legs were just too long for it. (LOL) We were planning on buying another crib for the baby on the way, so Amelia could stay in her bed. I'm just not one to rush anything. I usually have to be told by her pediatrician that it's time to try something new or change something. She sleeps SO WELL in her crib...I guess I'll just pray she'll do the same in a toddler bed. I certainly can't go through the panic of seeing her climb out again. Heaven help.

Guess we're going toddler bed shopping.

Love to all,

14 weeks...

2011-10-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

This is the first pregnancy post I've done since announcing my pregnancy. The second time around truly is different. For me anyway. I took weekly pictures starting very early on in my first pregnancy but haven't felt like it this time around. I think being sick along with chasing my almost 2 year old around every day has something to do with it. I'm just tired by the time Alex gets home and haven't thought about having him take a picture. But since I'm officially in my 2nd trimester now, I decided it was time to start posting! I took a picture of myself in the bathroom mirror so it's not the greatest pic but it shows the belly. That's all anyone cares about anyway. How big is the belly getting!??

I thought I would do something different this time around and share different things each week, other than the size of the baby. I found this idea on Pinterest (one of my favorite sites) way before I was pregnant and thought it was a neat idea. This week I'm sharing what I've been craving over the past 14 weeks!

Our sweet baby currently measures 3 1/2 inches (about the size of a lemon) and weighs 1 1/2 ounces. :)

Love to all,

Food Trucks & Football...

2011-10-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

Our weekend was centered around food & football. Needless to say, it was a FUN weekend!!

Alex had the opportunity to have a guys weekend in Dallas. They had awesome tickets to a luxury suite at Cowboys Stadium to watch the Hogs beat A&M! He came home barely able to talk...I think he screamed the entire game. I was happy he was able to go...he deserves some downtime from all the other stuff he has to do. He had a blast which made me happy! :)

Amelia and I started our day over breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. I enjoyed a mocha latte, which is more mocha than latte, but it sure was delicious. I'm trying to get my love for coffee back. Morning sickness ruined it for me but I'm finally over that and starting to enjoy it again!

After breakfast we ran some errands with Aunt Joy and then headed to the Food Truck Festival downtown. I was so excited for this! I watch The Great Food Truck Race on Food Network religiously. I was hoping for some gourmet cuisine like Hodge Podge or The Lime Truck offered but it wasn't really like that.

This is Hot Dog Mike. He's a local celebrity around these parts. He makes the best hot dog on the planet. He also offers veggie dogs for all you folks who hate meat.

I enjoyed a frito chili pie dog.

Oh my.

It was delicious.

FYI: pimento cheese has made a comeback. We split a grilled pimento cheese sandwich by Green Cuisine.

It rocked my world.

We had a great time and came home with full bellies.

I must now clean my kitchen and do some laundry.

It's the hard-knock life.

Love to all,

All About Amelia - 23 months old!

2011-09-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

Amelia, you're 23 months old!

You weigh around 31 pounds.

You wear a size 6 diaper.

When we know you need to be changed, we'll ask you to go get a diaper. You run to your room and get a diaper and wipes from the drawer and come back with a huge grin on your face. You're so proud of yourself!

You wear 2T clothing and a size 6-7 shoe (depending on the brand). You love to try on clothes and shoes. This makes your Mama giddy.

You go to bed between 8-8:30pm and wake between 9-10am. You take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

You've been a picker eater over the last month. Mama needs to come up with some new food options!

You tell Mama when your nails need to be cut. You can't stand to have long nails or a hang nail.

You love to dance. Doesn't matter where we are, if you hear music and feel the need to dance, you're out of your seat! You like to move it...move it!

You've started singing a lot and will make up songs. You also sing "White Christmas" and it's hilarious to watch you. You almost look/sound as though you're in pain when you sing it. It's precious!

Granny played dress-up with you for the first time this month. To say you LOVED IT is an understatement. When she pulled the feather boa out of the box, your mouth dropped open like it was the most beautiful thing you'd ever laid eyes on! It's obvious by this picture that when it comes to accessorizing...you believe MORE is MORE.

You check your baby's blood pressure constantly. We have an old bp cuff and you wrap it around the baby and say, "check your bud pessure, baby." You also like to say, "oh no, the baby nose running"..."oh no, baby dirty"..."oh no, wash the baby."

You love to have tea parties. You pour us a cup of tea, lift your cup to tap ours, and say, "CHEERS!"

You've learned to call the Hogs. We hear you over the monitor after laying you in your crib at night or even after waking up in the morning and you'll be saying, "Wooo...Pig...Sooie." (LOL)

A few new things you're saying lately:

"A-mile-ya Joy" (when we ask your name)
"TWO" (when we ask your age)
"Watcha doin'?" (this is your new favorite question)
"Read story" (as you bring us a book)
"Rub back" (as you lift up the back of your shirt)
"Rock it" (asking us to rock you before nap time or bedtime)

Amelia,

Just when we think you couldn't be any funnier - you learn something new and have us rolling. You have a really good memory...we're always surprised at the things you remember. You're speaking in sentences a lot...it's so much fun to carry on a conversation with you.

We're only a month away from your 2nd birthday, sweet girl!

Time certainly has flown.

We have no clue where time has gone but we do know one thing...we've enjoyed every single minute of it.

We love you,
Daddy & Mommy

Celebrate!!

2011-09-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late on this post (I've been sick since Saturday evening). Morning sickness is better but I have a killer sinus infection/cold. Praying the meds I just started kick in soon.

My parents were in town last week (or an hour away from where I live), so we were excited to celebrate their birthdays as a family. We celebrated on the 15th which is my Daddy's actual birthday and today is my Mama's actual birthday.

Happy Birthday, Mama!!

They live three hours away so family gatherings with the entire family are few and far between and extremely special. I was so happy that all of my brothers and sisters were able to be here. It meant a lot to my parents.

The menu: filet, wedge salad, roasted brussels sprouts, red potatoes, and tomato pie.

For dessert: strawberry shortcake (for Mama) and PW's blackberry cobbler (for Daddy).

I was most excited about the tomato pie. When we told everyone what it was - some were a little iffy.

Until they tasted it.

Oh.my.goodness. There wasn't a piece left! It's the perfect savory side dish. I'll share the recipe soon.

My sis, Joy, came and cooked all of the side dishes and desserts at my house. She really is the best. Alex grilled the steak (all 20 of them!) It was perfect and delicious.

I really had it easy this time around - I didn't have to do a thing!

As soon as Amelia saw her Aunt Joy in an apron, she wanted hers on and wanted to help. She's the best helper in the kitchen.

She loved having her family here and I loved seeing her play and interact with her cousins. They play and fight like brothers & sisters. Just as it should be. :)

Hanging out on the deck with her Papa and baby.

My brother and his fam from Missouri were able to be here too! I miss them so much.

My brother, Chris, w/Daddy & Mama.

My sis, Jayna, w/niece, Joylyn.

We ate, laughed, ate some more, opened gifts, laughed some more, and of course it wouldn't be an evening with the Weaver Fam if we didn't cry at some point. (LOL) I love my family so much. I look forward to the holidays when we'll all be together again.

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. -Desmond Tutu

Love to all,

Football, Food & Family...

2011-09-12T21:53:00.001-07:00

I'm just now writing about our weekend. I've been having computer issues for a while, so that has hindered my blogging. I need a new computer badly. I'm afraid this one is going to bite the dust any day now.

Football season has arrived so that's what our Saturdays will consist of for many weekends ahead.

Amelia sounds so cute calling the Hogs. I will post a video soon. She can't say her "H" sound yet, so Hogs actually comes out as GO DOGS! She has the PIG SOOIE down though. :)

So if you're watching football - you gotta have food! I made this dip that Faith posted on her blog. It was really good! I went to the store to get all of the ingredients and having pregnancy brain - I forgot the scallions! They would have added even more flavor, so next time I'll make sure to put them on my list twice. That way I might remember them.

I also made frito chili pies. Because I love them with all my heart.

And for dessert I made Oreos and Reese's Peanut Butter Footballs. :)

Amelia was invited to a friend's birthday party on Saturday. Here she is mesmerized by Yo-Gabba-Gabba on the big screen. At one point they had music playing and she headed to the front of the room and just had to dance. She could care less that no one else was up there or that people were watching her. She certainly does not get that from me! She had a fun time.

Alex had a business dinner this evening, so Amelia and I had a dinner date of our own. I love going out to eat just the two of us. We went to Panera because I've been craving their french onion soup. We picked up CFA for Amelia because she told me she wanted nuggets, fries, and lemonade. Girl knows what she wants.

After dinner we walked over to Orange Leaf and had dessert. It was a fun night just me and my girl. I seriously love this kid.

We have family in town, so we have two family dinners this week. I'll be hosting one at my house. Joy and I will be trying some new recipes and that always excites me! If they're good - I'll share.

Love to all,

Build-A-Bear...or Rabbit.

2011-09-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

Amelia and I had a fun Friday! We were invited to lunch by these two pretty ladies. This is my Aunt Sandi and our friend, Jen. We had a yummy lunch at Panera Bread. I had their french onion soup for the first time...it's delicious.

Amelia made Aunt Sandi feed her baby a bottle. (LOL)

After lunch we headed to the mall. My girl (who no longer needs a paci) earned a trip to Build-A-Bear!

I thought she was going to choose a Hello Kitty but once she saw the rabbit (or as she calls it, "raggit") she had no interest in looking at anything else.

Here she is picking out a heart. She actually put two of these inside of her "raggit." We also chose a heart that you can feel beating when you touch the rabbit's chest. So this rabbit is good to go...she has three hearts.

Watching her rabbit being filled with fluff. She pushed the pedal once but it sounded like a vacuum, so she had no interest in helping. She just watched.

And here she is putting her paci inside of her rabbit. Alex asked her what's in the rabbit's tummy and she says "paci in raggit tummy."

She brushed her rabbit before leaving and chose a special shirt for GameDay. They even gave her rabbit some bows to match her outfit.

She slept with it last night and had a tea party with her rabbit this morning.

They're best friends.

Love to all,

Wednesday Randomness...

2011-09-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

The weather over the last few days has been near perfect. We were getting ready to get out and enjoy the weather on Monday when Amelia fell and hit her eye on a side table in the living room. It was such a loud bang, I thought she hit her head.

Oh how she cried. :(

I had no clue if it needed stitches or not. She has never had a cut until now. It was right in the crease of her eyelid and luckily, she didn't need stitches. She just needed some extra TLC for the rest of the day. And a cup of pink lemonade.

It's turning all different colors and we expect her to have a cool black-eye in the next few days.

Amelia and I went out for lunch yesterday. We tried a new burger place in town and I loved it! Amelia didn't care for it because she refuses to eat hamburger meat. She liked the fries though. I will be choosing this place over those 5 Guys from here on out...it was that good! Amelia wore these glasses most of the day. People would look at her so funny and it took everything in me not to bust out laughing. I hope she always has such confidence. :)

My girl is back to sleeping until almost 10am and WITHOUT HER PACI. She was waking up earlier at first but is now back to her normal schedule. I've seriously done a little happy dance every morning. I just can't believe it has been this easy. After trying to take it away from her and going through the worst week of our lives without it - it was important to me that she give it up on her own. Thank you to those who suggested cutting a hole in the paci!! We celebrated with powdered donuts for breakfast and will be going to Build-A-Bear this weekend!

I love these last two pictures. She has to make sure her baby has her own seat and food lately. She fed her 3 bottles this morning as well.

I have a feeling she's going to claim this new baby as her own when he/she arrives in March. :) She's going to be the best helper.

Amelia is spending the night at her Daddygrand and Nana's tonight. I know it's silly but I miss her already. Being away from her at night is a huge deal to me. I know she will have the best time...she always does. And Alex and I will get to have an evening just the two of us...those are rare! :)

And I have a quick/random question for those of you who are pregnant or have been pregnant. I've had a couple of times where I'm sitting still and start seeing "sparks" flying around. It's so weird and doesn't last a long time. Have any of you ever experienced this or know what causes it??

Love to all,

What's Going On...

2011-09-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

It has been forever and a day since I last blogged. I've been nauseous. Very, very nauseous. Pretty much from the time I wake up until I go to bed. I've also felt like I could sleep all day long. Taking care of my girl takes every bit of energy that I have right now. I know this will pass, so I'm just trying to make the best of it until it does.

I had a little scare last week. I woke up with bleeding and cramping. My doctor asked me to come in so he could check things out. He couldn't find the heartbeat so he ordered an ultrasound immediately. They found the heartbeat as soon as they started the ultrasound. Music to my ears. The baby was perfect. The ultrasound showed blood under the placenta - that's what's causing the bleeding. No worries. So thankful.

Amelia had her ENT follow-up appointment. She's had her tubes for 6 months now. She wouldn't let the ENT look at her ears until he checked her baby's ears (which he thought was pretty funny). He played along and looked at both of her baby's ears and then she agreed to let him look at hers. Both tubes were still in place - no signs of coming out any time soon. She hasn't had an ear infection since getting them, so I want them to stay in as long as she needs them.

She did so well at the doctor so we celebrated at Mimi's over some scrambled eggs.

After leaving Mimi's we went to Target to pick out a new toy. She chose a Minnie Mouse handbag and glasses. She makes this face every time she wears them. She looks like a little old lady. Makes me laugh.

We made a quick trip to my parents on Friday evening and then drove back on Saturday night for church the next morning. The Hogs played on Saturday and WON!! Amelia wore her Razorback dress to church on Sunday. Sweet girl.

I need to do a pregnancy post...I'll be in my 2nd trimester soon! I feel like I already look 4 months pregnant. Every one has told me this is normal with your second pregnancy. Good to know.

Biggest news of all...Amelia has gone two days without her paci! I decided last week to cut a hole in the top of it. She chews on it and then hands it back to me saying "I no like it." If she goes this entire week without it - she gets to go to Build-A-Bear at the end of the week. I know her paci has been such a comfort to her while sleeping. Now she sleeps with three of her babies and that seems to have taken the place of the paci. My baby is growing up. I'm so proud of her!

Love to all,

All About Amelia - 22 months old!

2011-08-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

Amelia, you're 22 months old!

We have no clue how much you weigh but would guess you're over 30 lbs now.

You wear a size 5 diaper. We tried switching to a 6 but they were way too big.

Your love for the paci runs deep. Real deep. Mommy jokes that she's going to have to send you off to paci rehab when the time comes to take it away. :)

You wear 2T clothing and a size 5.5 - 6 shoe. Speaking of shoes...you love wearing Mommy's high heels and are really good at walking in them!

You have lots of teeth that have come in but won't let us count them! Mommy has tried to count them while brushing your teeth but it's just too much work while trying to keep you happy. You like Daddy to brush your teeth more than Mommy. :)

You go to bed around 8pm and wake between 9-10am. You take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.

Some of your favorite foods/treats right now are: eggs, rice, cheese pizza, golden grahams cereal, and rice krispie treats.

You learned how to open the refrigerator door on vacation and then came home and taught yourself how to open the one at home. We may have to get a padlock. ;)

You love helping Mommy in the kitchen.

You love Veggie Tales (or as you call them "Tale-Tales") and the cartoon, Olivia (or as you call her "Ivia" and "Pig").

Some sweet things you're saying lately:

"side you" (when you want us to come sit beside you)
"bless you" (when we sneeze)
"love you too" (when we say we love you)
"hold it" (when you want us to hold you)
"you funny" (when we make you laugh)
"hand now" (when you want us to hold your hand so you can lead us somewhere)
"baby in belly" (when talking about the new baby)

You've also told your Daddy "I pregnant, see" and lifted your shirt to show him your tummy. (LOL)

Amelia, we're seeing less and less baby and more little girl when we look at you. It's fun and sad at the same time. We miss that chubby-cheek baby girl but love hearing you say and learn new things every day.

We love you to the moon & back, sweet girl.

Daddy & Mommy

Baby on the way...

2011-08-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

I had my first doctor's appointment today! My OB walked into the room with a huge smile on his face and immediately gave me a new name. He said I'm now "Fertile Myrtle." HA! He checked me and said my uterus was larger than with my last pregnancy. His next question was "do twins run in your family?" Little did he know...twins DO RUN IN MY FAMILY. Alex started laughing...he was getting a huge kick out the fact that I was about to have a heart attack. I pretty much held my breath until they took us to ultrasound. And what did we see!??

One little peanut. :)

We were able to see that sweet flutter on the screen. The baby's heart rate was 144 bpm and as soon as I heard it - I cried. The u/s tech asked if this was our first baby. I had the same reaction when I heard Amelia's heartbeat for the first time. Every life is such a miracle. It's just amazing. I measured 7 weeks/2 days.

We met with my doctor after the ultrasound. We discussed possible c-section dates. He gave me a date for the end of March. Of course the closer we get, the date could change. I'm praying for a healthy, uneventful pregnancy this time around. Before leaving he prayed with us. He prayed for us as parents, the baby, and for Amelia. I love my doctor.

Everyone asks if I have a feeling on if it's a boy or girl. As of right now, I really feel like it's a boy. Of course there is no way to know until I'm farther along but as of right now - I'm team blue! :)

Feeling very blessed.

Love to all,

Vacation 2011...

2011-08-16T11:25:00.001-07:00

I thought I should take a minute and update the 'ole blog since I've been absent for awhile. We just arrived home on Sunday from a wonderful vacation to the beach! We were so ready for a week away and even though morning sickness arrived while I was there - I made the best of it and enjoyed the time with family. I haven't taken the pictures off my camera yet but have a few that were taken with my phone that I figured I could post.

I have to brag on my baby girl. She was such a good traveler! It wasn't until the last 30 minutes on the way back home that she lost her mind and was over being in the car seat. And we couldn't blame her...11 hours is a long drive, no matter how many stops you make to stretch your legs.

It was fun to see Amelia at the beach this year. She was so little last year and wasn't able to really play. She hated the sand last year and because of her current need for shoes at all times - it wasn't a surprise that girlfriend didn't care for sand between her toes. She would only play in the sand if sitting on a towel...while wearing shoes. We were surprised that SHE LOVED THE OCEAN. Alex took her out into the waves and she would just laugh when they came crashing over her head.

Sipping on her pineapple juice.

Surfing?

Playing by the pool.

Cooling off with a milkshake.

Donuts at the Donut Hole.

More beach time.

Donut Beignets at Broken Egg Cafe.

If you're going to have morning sickness...it's best to have it while on the beach.

Me and my man.

Jack-n-Jill.

No place like home. We were happy to see this sign!

I'm sure I'll share more pictures soon...once I catch up on laundry...and more laundry.

Love to all,

A day with K...

2011-08-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

We had the pleasure of spending a day with my niece, Kandace. This was actually last week but I'm just getting around to posting a few pics. Amelia was so excited to have company for the day. She kept hugging K so tight and wouldn't let go until I made her. Poor Kandace. (LOL)

We started out with having a little lunch before leaving the house.

After lunch we headed to The Wonder Place. I've been wanting to take Amelia for quite some time and purchased a Groupon awhile back.

They LOVED it. There was so much to do. I think they could have played in that kitchen all day. We stayed for over 2 hours and then went to have ice cream.

When I asked K what kind of ice cream she wanted, she said "PINK!"

Amelia copied everything she said, so she wanted pink ice cream too. :)

After we finished our ice cream, I told them we were going to Sam's. Kandace told me she would rather go home and take a nap. HAHA! So we skipped Sam's and headed home. They both napped for over 2 hours...they were exhausted from playing so hard.

Before we knew it, it was time for K to go home. I made my brother promise to bring her back more often...we enjoyed our time with her. She's such a sweet girl and Amelia loved the time with her.

Nothing like time with cousins and Amelia is blessed to have LOTS of them! :)

Love to all,

3+1=4

2011-07-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

Amelia loves her magnadoodle. She has 3 of them. She brings them to us every day and asks us to write her a "note." As soon as Alex walked through the door yesterday, she said "Daddy, note!" He came over, sat on the couch, flipped the magandoodle over, and was truly SHOCKED at what he saw...

I'm not going to lie - I'm in shock as well.

We decided to stop using birth control at the beginning of July. We've been praying about it and figured it would take awhile to get pregnant on our own.

Um...it didn't.

And because two lines just weren't enough. I needed a digital message that spelled it out for me. It's the infertile in me. I tried eating a chicken sandwich yesterday and couldn't eat it - I had to throw it out. I was the exact same way when pregnant with Amelia. As soon as I threw it out a little voice in my head said "are you pregnant?" According to this little stick...YES...yes,I am.

We rushed to the store to find a big sister shirt before Alex got home from work. I was thinking that's the way I would tell him but then thought to myself...he's not going to even look at what she's wearing...you better write a note on the magnadoodle. Is she not the cutest big sister ever?

So it's official...our family of 3 will have an addition, March 2012. We'll be a family of 4. Unbelievable.

I know lots of people who wouldn't announce a pregnancy this early on, but this baby/pregnancy is in God's care and I want to trust Him with it. We're excited and thanking Him for this miracle baby!

Love to all,

All About Amelia - 21 months old!

2011-07-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

Amelia, you're 21 months old!

We don't have an official weight for this month, but we're thinking you're close to 30 lbs now.

You wear a size 5 diaper.

You're wearing 2T clothing and wear a size 5.5 shoe.

Last time we counted, you have 16 teeth with a few coming through any day now.

Speaking of teeth, brushing yours twice a day had become challenging. You cried the entire time. Not exactly the way we like to start and end the day. :) We bought you an automatic toothbrush and let you decorate it and put your name on it. It has helped A LOT! Mommy usually jumps around and makes you laugh while Daddy brushes them as quickly as possible. It's a great workout for Mommy! The things we do as parents. (LOL)

You go to bed at 8pm and wake between 9:00-10:00 every morning. You usually take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.

You love popcorn.

You're also a fan of Mama's chocolate chip cookies.

You take your baby (which you've named Caillou), your bunny rabbit, and your glow worm every where. You have to have them in your bed when going to sleep.

You try to feed your baby your food or give her your milk. Mama caught you cleaning her ears with a Q-tip the other day. You diaper her, put socks on her feet, and feed her a bottle. You take very good care of your baby.

You've decided you like the grass now. You will lie back but refuse to lay your head in it. You used to not even walk in it, so this is huge!

You love to lie on your back and want us to come join you. We don't know why but you think this is so funny. You say "Daddy...Mama...BACK" while patting the floor. You laugh so hard when we come and join you!

Noah's Ark is your FAVORITE book. You ask Daddy to read it every night before bed. We ask you who the guy with the beard is and you say, "Noah."

You say "please", "thank you", and "sorry."

One of your favorite movies is Father of the Bride. You ask to watch "George."

Mama asks you if you're her baby or big girl and you always say "baby." This makes Mama so happy!! :)

Every day when Mama puts on her deodorant, you ask for "some" and raise your arms. Mama always pretends to put it on you.

You love to play catch!

When we ask what you want Daddy to cook on the grill, you say "dogs." You won't eat a hot dog unless it's grilled!

Some of the new things you're saying now.

"Ewwww, Mama" (when you think something is gross)
"I no like it"
"Love you"
"Hurry, Mama"
"Bye, see you"
"I hear birds" (When we're outside and ask you what you hear)
"Move it" (You just started saying this and get in trouble for it. No clue where you picked this up!)

Amelia, you just get sweeter as the days go by - if that's even possible! We love you so much!!

Daddy & Mommy

15 things I love about him...

2011-07-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

15 years ago today, I said "I DO." It's hard to believe we're celebrating 15 years of marriage! Even though it has been 15 years, I still look at Alex and see that young, gorgeous, dark-haired man I married. Sure, we both have a little grey hair, a few added pounds, and a few more wrinkles, but I still think he's gorgeous and he still has the same huge heart that I fell in love with over 15 years ago. He has always treated me like a princess and now that we have our own little princess, he treats me like a queen. He might love a good deal but when it comes to me, he spares no expense. He makes me feel beautiful and says "I love you" many times a day. We often laugh about how young and naive we were. We had no idea what marriage truly meant. We had very little but that was okay - we were livin' on love!

15 things I love about my sweet husband:

1. I love your love for God and for His Word.

2. I love that you believe in second chances.

3. I love the father you are to Amelia.

4. I love how quickly you forgive.

5. I love your salt & pepper hair.

6. I love that you always open the door for me.

7. I love how smart you are.

8. I love that you can make me laugh like no one else.

9. I love how well you take care of our family.

10. I love that you don't just say "I'm sorry", you say "will you forgive me?"

11. I love that you're patient with me during an argument and speak kindly.

12. I love your gorgeous eyes.

13. I love that you have a heart to serve.

14. I love that you care what God thinks more than what others think.

15. I love that you chose me 15 years ago and still choose me today.

Alex, I love you with all my heart. I've learned so much over the last 15 years. Most importantly, I've learned that our marriage is worth fighting for. YOU are worth fighting for. I'm looking forward to 15+ more wonderful years together. I love that I get to grow old with you by my side. You are my love, my best friend. I'm blessed to be called Mrs. Alex Averitt.

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." -Song of Solomon 6:3

We love the weekend!

2011-07-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday is our favorite day of the week. Love it! We were at church before 10:00am this morning. Amelia helped me set out drinks on the hospitality table. She loves doing that...makes her feel so big. She will carry one drink at a time and then run back to the kitchen to grab another. I think she would make 100 trips if I asked her to do it! I love the thought of teaching her to serve already. It's in a very small way but it's serving her church none-the-less. The fact that she has a huge grin on her face makes it even more fun for me.

We picked up some burgers from Five Guys after church and headed to my SIL's to swim. We were there for several hours. It was a lot of fun. Lots of family there. Amelia was beyond good today. We had the most enjoyable day IN THE POOL! :) We had dinner with my BIL & SIL and then came home. Didn't get home until 9:30. Girlfriend was still in the best mood and she didn't even have a nap! I was just bragging on her at bath time, telling her how proud I was of her behavior and that I had such a fun time with her. She proceeded to wrap her arms around my waist and just hold them there...giving me a tight squeeze.

Excuse me while my heart melts.

I guess Alex was right...my last post was about a rough day. He kept telling me, "Jill, it's just one day - there's always tomorrow - tomorrow will be better." He was right. It's days like today that help me get through those few and far between rough days. :)

Love this girl so much.

Love to all,

Love is patient...

2011-07-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

Amelia and I needed to be at our church by 10:30 this morning. She sleeps in pretty late so getting anywhere by that time is hard - unless I want to wake her up early. I usually just make sure I'm ready and have all of her things laid out and then wake her. We spent a couple of hours at the church, grabbed some CFA for lunch, and then headed to my SIL's house to swim. My friend, Heather was going to be there and I was looking forward to catching up with her. Once we arrived, I slathered Amelia down with sunscreen/put on her swimsuit and we were ready!

Fast forward 10-15 minutes.

What's that you hear?

Oh, that's my 20 month old screaming her head off.

Never mind, she'll stop in a minute.

Except she didn't.

Seriously, she made it 15 minutes in the pool. All she wanted to do was take off her floaties and run around the pool. Of course I told her she couldn't do that. She might fall in the pool and drown or fall and bust her head. She didn't really care for my take on it. She just wanted to "play." At that point I decided that we were leaving. I wasn't going to ruin everyone else's time by my child screaming. I'm sorry I don't have a picture to share. Just imagine my happy child losing her mind.

Can I just say that the closer we get to 2, the more I see this attitude creep out of my child and it exhausts me. I sit here racking my brains thinking, "what on earth am I going to do?" I actually get my feelings hurt when she acts like this and that in itself is comical. I'm the parent. She's 20 months old. She started mouthing something when we got in the car to leave and I just looked at her and said, "Amelia, please lay your head back and stop talking." She obeyed, but then I felt so guilty for saying that to her. I had a bad attitude because we were having to leave. Who's the parent again?

Sigh.

I know there will be lots of days like this but I've been blessed to have very few up to this point. Sometimes I just feel so tired and when I get a little glimpse of "the terrible 2's"...I get scared. Scared I won't have the patience and wisdom that I need to respond in the right way.

Today has been a tough parenting day.

I think we both need a nap.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
-1 Corinthians 13:4–8a

Love to all,

Sweet little wrist...

2011-07-13T12:13:00.001-07:00

Amelia and I are homebodies. We are at home A LOT. She's really good about playing inside and since it's so hot outside right now - that's a good thing. I try to come up with things for her to do - especially now that she's getting older. So today was craft day at The Averitt house!

Amelia LOVES necklaces and bracelets. She's always putting something on her wrist or around her neck (we really have to watch the around the neck thing). I decided we would make a special bracelet and necklace for her to wear today. I sat out the supplies (ribbon and fruit loops) and we went to work!

She watched me add rings to the ribbon and tried so hard to do it herself. She could get the ring to the ribbon but couldn't figure out how to pull it through. Eventually she asked for help. :)

Sweet little wrist. :)

We started on the necklace but at that point - she was more interested in eating the jewelery.

It was a fun craft that we'll definitely make/eat again. She loved it!

Love to all,

Terrific Tuesday!

2011-07-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

I made a sugar free apple pie last night. I can't stop eating it.

The little girl in this picture is getting funnier by the day. I ask her all of the time "do you want to give me a kiss?" She usually says "yes", takes my face in her hands, and then gives me a kiss. Well today she says "yes", takes my face in her hands, and proceeds to LICK ME ON THE MOUTH! No clue what possessed her to do it but I couldn't stop laughing.

We headed out to run errands after Amelia's nap time. Our first stop - the DMV. I tried to go on Friday but there were 50-60 people in line. I walked in and walked right back out. Today wasn't too bad and Amelia was very well behaved. She pretty much stared at people the entire time and gave them this look. HA!

She kept asking for lemonade in the car. Her new fave. It was extremely hot so we headed to the mall and enjoyed a Chick-fil-a lemonade.

We hung out at the mall until Daddy got off work and then went to Cantina Laredo for dinner. We let Amelia eat cheese dip with a spoon. Because that's how you keep your child happy in a restaurant. You let them eat cheese dip by the spoonful.

This picture makes me smile. I think she resembles me as a little girl in this pic. She was cheesing with a mouthful of rice. She LOVED it...ate all of the rice on my plate and was asking for more.

I seriously love her so much...some days I think my heart will burst.

It was a terrific Tuesday!

Love to all,

Wonderful Weekend!

2011-07-11T09:27:00.001-07:00

My weekend started with Alex walking in the door with these! Made my day. :)

We celebrated my nephew, Pryce's 13th birthday on Friday evening. My sister cooked an amazing meal. I think I could eat homemade potato salad until I'm sick. I didn't....but I could. I haven't given an update on my weight loss/calorie counting in a long time. I've lost 12 pounds and would love to lose 12 more. I was out of town quite a bit and fell off the calorie counting wagon. I need to start back. It really helps to keep up with what you're putting in. I feel much better in my clothes and I'm really only one size away from where I want to be.

My MIL cooked a delicious meal after church on Sunday. We had lots of fresh veggies which I could totally live on during the summer. SO GOOD! We headed to the pool after lunch. My Mom pointed out how big Amelia is getting when she saw this picture. She's allowed to eat potato chips now and LOVES them. I have to hide them at home or that's all she would want to eat. She had chips and lemonade for her snack at the pool. She was in heaven. It was obvious that girlfriend needed a nap after some time in the pool. I think that's the grouchiest I've seen her in a long time. She said, "no" and "I don't like it" about a thousand times, which I'm not going to lie - I can't stand to hear her say those words. She needed a nap and kept getting in trouble. It's better to remove her from the situation at that point - otherwise we're just setting her up to get in trouble over and over. I finally took her inside and we watched a movie until time to leave. :)

She fell asleep on the way home and didn't wake up until 8pm (her usual bedtime). She was up for dinner, took a bath, and then it was time to go back to bed. She woke up a little after 9 this morning. She laid in bed talking off and on for about 30 minutes, so I finally went in to see what she was doing. This is how I found her. I love going in to get her in the mornings. She's so happy to see me and ready to start the day!

Monday is our day to stay in our pajamas and just recover from the weekend. I'm doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, and playing with my girl. It's going to be a great week!

Love to all,

Snapshots of Summer...

2011-07-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics of our Summer 2011, so far. Amelia is so much fun - she's saying something new every day and makes us laugh constantly. We have the best time with her!

-click on pics to enlarge-

I hope you're having a super summer!!

Love to all,

All About Amelia - 20 months old!

2011-06-22T07:33:00.001-07:00

Amelia, you're 20 months old!!

You're 28.2 pounds and 34 1/4" long.

You wear a size 5 diaper.

You're wearing 24 month/2T clothing and size 5.5 shoe.

You have 13 teeth. You have 3 that have been trying to come in for the longest time. You aren't cranky but you've started chewing on lots of things which you haven't done since you first started teething. We feel so sorry for you - we know it has to be so painful.

You go to bed at 8pm and wake between 9:00-10:00 every morning.

You no longer let us rock you to sleep. You want us to lay you in your bed and you go right to sleep. This BROKE YOUR DADDY'S HEART. He always rocked you to sleep at bedtime. Another sign that you're growing up.

You love to hold hands.

This seemed to be the month to have junk food for the first time! You had M&M's, chips, lemonade, and a fruit smoothie. You of course loved them all. :)

You love ice. You hear the ice maker and you come running while saying, "ICE!!"

You have so much fun in your little pool. Mama only wishes it were bigger so she could join you for a swim! :)

Daddy gave you an old cell phone and you have "conversations" with people all the time.

You love your closet. We leave the doors open and have now made you a little place in there with pillows and blankets...you go and read your books or work on your puzzles. Sometimes we catch you in there with your paci (that you stole out of your drawer or bed)...like you just need a moment to yourself. HA!

You've started mocking us. You notice that Mama crosses her arms a lot...makes us laugh.

You walk around on your tip-toes until I put shoes on your feet. Even if you're in your pajamas - you want shoes!

You've started trying to jump. Oh how we laugh watching you! You jerk your head back and can't really leave the floor yet - but you think it's so fun!

You've started naming family in pictures around the house.

Your obsession with Caillou continues. We had a very lengthy wait/dining experience on Father's Day so we had to break out the paci and Caillou...instant peace.

You like to play with (pull) Mama's hair and say, "pretty."

You love your baby. You've started wanting her in your crib when you go to bed. You give her a paci, wipe her nose, and brush her bald head. You also tell us that she's gone "poo-poo" and bring us a diaper. So cute.

Since coming back from a trip at Granny & Papa's house - you sometimes call Mommy, "MOM." I don't know why, but it's so funny to hear you call me that!

You now say "thank you" without being prompted. Sometimes Mama will get on to you for something and afterwards you say, "thank you." HAHA!

Though you pretty much repeat everything now...here are a few other words you're saying a lot this month:

"I hold it"
"I do it"
"Wash it"
"Belbo" (Elmo)
"Chocolate"
"Lemonade"
"Sunshine"

Amelia, you just make every day a wonderful day! We love going into your room in the morning to get you out of your crib...you want to lay your head on our shoulder and snuggle while trying to wake up. If we close our eyes while we hold you - we imagine you're still that little baby we brought home almost two years ago. The one we could steal kisses from without worrying she would run away. You're most definitely our heart running around on those two little busy legs of yours. We love you so much.

Daddy & Mommy

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

I called my Daddy on the way to church this morning. I was wishing we lived closer so I could hug his neck. This seems like the first year ever that I haven't seen him on Father's Day. He would rather us be faithful to our church home than to miss just to be with him. He's a pastor - he taught us the importance of such things. :) No matter how old I get - I've always felt like his little girl. I will always be his Jill "Pill." He's one of the smartest men I know (Alex is the other) :) He loves God and shows that love to others. He has a huge heart. He's the only man I know that will drop what he's doing, take all of the money he has in his wallet, and give it to a complete stranger. No questions asked - nothing expected in return - just because the person needed it. He's a Godly man and I'm proud to call him my Daddy!

This was a picture on Father's Day 2010. They made duck tape ties at the restaurant just to get a discount on our meal. HA! Daddy, I love you so much. I hope you had a wonderful day...you truly deserve it!

This was Father's Day 2010. How is this even the same child? She has grown SO MUCH in just a year.

Alex, you are the best Daddy to our sweet girl. You make a point to spend quality time with her on a daily basis. I love watching your relationship with Amelia grow. You're setting the bar very high for the young man that will want to marry our little girl someday. You're the love of her life and mine.

Amelia was surprised to wake up and have Daddy at home with us on a Sunday morning. He usually leaves the house very early to head to church and we come later. She was happy to see him and even happier that we were going to ride in the same car together!

Daddy and his girl.

We headed to Red Lobster after church. Here are the Daddy's with their kiddos. This is my FIL...another Dad that I love so much and appreciate greatly!

We had a pretty long wait but the girls did really well. We waited outside so they could walk around and play.

We came home after lunch and gave Alex his cards and gifts. We gave him a grill cover and grilling utensils. Since Amelia has been sick all week, we had plenty of time at home for a few crafts/projects. This was one of them that I found online - I traced our hand prints and then framed it. I thought it turned out really cute and Alex loved it.

I also took some pics of Amelia for her Daddy, Papa, and Daddygrand. We haven't given Papa his yet, but I'm sure he will love it. :) Amelia was actually running fever and sick when we took these. I was so proud of her for sitting there and giving me a few smiles. As soon as our little photo shoot was over - she wanted back in her pj's and out of the dress and bow! Can't say that I blame her.

Happy Father's Day to all of the Dad's out there!

Love to all,

Sweet Sadie...

2011-06-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

I'm finally blogging about our weekend. My computer has been acting up...or acting like it's going to die actually. Alex worked on it the past few nights and it's working for now!

Alex and I headed out of town on Friday for a relaxing weekend. I was attending Sadie's Sip & See on Saturday afternoon, so we decided to just make a weekend of it! My in-laws were watching Amelia, so we were excited to have some time away - just the two of us. My MIL picked Amelia up on Friday around noon and Alex and I hit the road as soon as he was finished at work. Our plans were to get there and have dinner on Friday evening.

Well....we were on the road no more than 30 minutes and traffic came to a stand still. Needless to say, we didn't make it there in time for dinner. We went straight to the hotel and upon pulling into the hotel parking lot, Alex's truck started making a TERRIBLE noise. His car is the newer of our vehicles...we never dreamed we would have car trouble while out of town! It was dark and we decided to worry about it the next morning. Fast forward to the next morning...Alex woke up with fever and coughing his head off. He sounded like he had tuberculosis. It was bad. We had plans to have breakfast and spend some time together before he dropped me off at the Sip & See.

We were able to spend a few hours together...in the after hours clinic.

They told him he had bronchitis and a sinus infection and called in some meds. We walked out of the after hours clinic, went to pull out, and the truck made an even worse noise than the night before. Alex knew exactly what it was at that point and said if we drove it - the wheel would fall off! It was a wheel hub-a-ma-jig or something like that. We sat there and laughed. It was all we could do. Our little getaway had turned into such a stressful weekend. Thankfully, we were able to get ahold of his Uncle (that lives in the area). He picked us up, dropped me at the Sip & See, and took Alex back to the hotel to rest. Thank you, Uncle Biff!!! Seriously, I saw a halo over his head when he pulled up to that clinic parking lot.

I had a great time at the Sip & See. I felt like I was in somewhat of a daze at that point and thinking back on some conversations - I just hope whatever I said made sense. I hadn't eaten and even more importantly - I had no coffee in my system. I'll just go ahead and apologize in case I was spaced out.

I loved seeing some of my old blogging friends and meeting new ones.

Lots of them brought their sweet babies and I could not get enough of them.

Sadie.

Sweet, sweet Sadie. The reason we were all there! Love her. She is such a beautiful baby and did so well being passed around and loved on by everyone.

Eli.

I'm not going to lie...this baby stole my heart. He totally made me want a baby boy. He just chilled and let me hold him for as long I wanted. I finally gave him back to his Mama, but I would have brought him home with me in a heartbeat.

Jillian. First of all, love her name. :) She has the sweetest little personality/spirit about her. She is so stinkin' cute!

I didn't get to hold all of the babies there - but held just enough to get a low grade baby fever.

Kelly and Laurie did a beautiful job. Everything looked so cute and the food was delicious! Loved the idea of serving fruit in a waffle bowl - totally going to use that someday.

Caroline and her sweet parents took me back to the hotel after the Sip & See. I love her and her family. I'm excited that she's moving to Arkansas and praying her parents will be moving here someday soon as well! :)

We stayed an extra night since the truck and my husband were both broke down. We called a dealership while there but they couldn't get us in to fix it. My FIL and BIL decided to come and help us get the truck back home and we would have it fixed at our local dealership. After finding out the trailer was too small for the truck (because nothing can be that easy) we made a couple of trips to the parts store and they fixed it themselves.

I'm so thankful for my family...don't know what we would have done without them this weekend. My MIL and SIL's helped take care of Amelia while we were away and we finally got back to pick up our girl on Sunday evening. I was so happy to see her face and get to kiss on her. It will be awhile before I can leave her for that many days again. My heart aches being away from her!

It was a crazy one but we had some fun/laughable moments as well! :)

Love to all,

Making memories...

2011-06-05T23:12:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the first time I've opened my computer since my last post. I've really enjoyed just spending time with my girl. She's growing up so incredibly fast. I love writing about Amelia and what's new, but I've felt the need to back away from the blog a little and be fully present with her...to really enjoy the moments and worry less about getting a picture or recording each and every one of them. I'm not sure that makes sense to anyone but me. I still take lots of pictures but so many of them are taken with my phone anymore. Some have asked what we've been up to over the past few weeks - so here's just a little bit of what's going on with The Averitt Fam.

Amelia and I took a road trip to see my parents. We had such a great time with them.

Always makes me wish we lived closer after being with them for a few days.

My oldest nephew, Ty, graduated from high school. I still can't believe he's 18. I remember when I took him to pick out supplies for kindergarten...he chose a Tommy Hilfiger lunch box. That still makes me laugh to this day. I had to fight back the "ugly cry" at his graduation. Didn't need to draw the attention off the graduates and onto my sobbing-self, but man was it emotional to see him up on that stage!

We celebrated the marriage of Clay & Mary Lee!

She was a gorgeous bride and it was a beautiful wedding.

I loved having a reason to dress up and get out of yoga pants for the evening!

We headed to my parents again and celebrated Memorial Day with lots of family!

Amelia was sick for a couple of days.

We've had lunch with friends!

We've played in the pool a lot.

I started a new book!

We had our first snow cone of the season!

And tonight Amelia's favorite buddy is spending the night with us. :)

I've been reading some blogs from my phone but blogger hasn't allowed me to comment lately. I hope to catch up with you all soon! I hope you're staying cool (this heat is brutal) and making lots of memories with your family.

Love to all,

All About Amelia - 19 months old!

2011-05-22T20:22:00.001-07:00

Amelia, you're 19 months old!!

You're close to 28 pounds and you're 32 1/2" long.

You wear a size 5 diaper.

You're wearing 18-24 month clothing and size 5 shoe. We're going shoe shopping this week...you're starting to say "tight" when we put on some of your shoes. Size 6 is too large, so I think it's time to go up a half size!

Your Daddy loves that you give him kisses on the cheek whenever he asks.

You want to dance as soon as Daddy walks in the door in the evening. He has danced with you since we brought you home from the hospital and it's the sweetest thing ever. You say "dance...dance." You love your Daddy so much.

You go to bed at 8pm and wake between 9:00-10:00 every morning.

You've been fighting nap time for over a month but since getting back from Papa & Granny's house - you've started taking an afternoon nap again!

You've started trying to snap your fingers. :)

You're very attached to Daddy & Mommy right now. Leaving you is hard. You cry when we take you to the nursery which you've never done before. Thankfully you don't cry the entire time - just at first.

You love to eat. Ranch dressing is your new favorite thing. You will dip anything and everything in it and now ask for it when we go to a restaurant.

You love tomatoes which makes Mommy very happy. :)

About a week ago, we were on the road and went through a drive-thru for dinner. You tried a hamburger for the first time. You took about four bites, handed it back and said, "no."

You've learned how to drink out of a water bottle.

You're constantly asking me to put shoes on your feet. This trait you received from your Aunt Joy. She can't stand to be barefoot and you seem to be the same way.

You know that 2 comes after 1, that 6 comes after 5, and that 8 comes after 7. You love your numbers and alphabet puzzles. We ask you to spell your name and you say, "A-e-e-i-i-o." Close enough. ;)

You pretend to read a book and it's hilarious. You have your own little language and sound so cute.

Mommy told you to do something while we were at lunch with Granny - you looked at me and said, "no I not." My jaw hit the floor. I couldn't believe you said that or even knew how to say it!

We've found that asking you to lay your head on the table when you start to have a meltdown at restaurants really helps. You don't have these often, but when really tired - it has happened. We rub your back and you sometimes even go to sleep right there at the table!

Since Aunt Joy had surgery, we ask "how is Aunt Joy?" Sometimes you say, "she sick" and sometimes you say, "she better." :)

You hear a sound and immediately mock it. You get this from your Mommy! You love to ring the door bell and mock the sound.

You carry a purse or shopping bag on your arm constantly.

Every Sunday we blare the worship music and sing along. Mommy tells you that we're praising Jesus and you start raising your hands. I think this makes Jesus smile. :)

Your favorite cartoon is Caillou. You constantly ask "where Caillou?" When he's not on TV - we tell you that he went night-night, so now you say "Caillou...nigh-nigh?"

You love bracelets. If it's round and fits - it's on your wrist.

You like to wear sunglasses now. You ask for "cool" when you want us to put them on you.

You say "baby" whenever you see a baby carrier in the store.

You fall a lot right now. You also hit your head a lot. You are the perfect height and seem to run into tables constantly. We may have to buy you a crash helmet if you keep this up! :)

A few other words you're saying:

"Caillou"
"Barney"
"Hit Head"
"Shop"
"Surprise"
"Love"
"Blank" (Blanket)
"Nock" (Milk)

Amelia, we can't believe you're now closer to TWO than you are ONE! No doubt your 2nd birthday will be here before we know it. You bring constant laughter to our home...you're always entertaining us. You have so much energy...you're on the go as soon as your feet hit the floor in the morning! We remember our lives before you were here and wouldn't change it for the world. It's those memories that keep us from taking one day with you for granted.

We love you, sweet girl!
Daddy & Mommy

Picture of the Day...

2011-05-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

My talented friend, Teresa Lee, took photos of Amelia when she was 7 months old. She sent this photograph to Kodak and they chose it for Kodak's Picture of the Day for May 18th, 2011! They also featured it on their Thousand Words Blog.

The day we took these pictures seems like forever ago. I love going back and looking at photos from when she was so little - even though it often brings me to tears. :) She couldn't crawl, couldn't sit up for long on her own, had lots of rolls on her legs and arms. Oh the sweetness!! One of the things that hasn't changed with Amelia is her smile. We get just as many smiles and giggles today as we did at 7 months. She has always been our happy girl.

Thank you so much, Teresa...for capturing this image that I will cherish forever.

Love,

Wedding Shower for Mary Lee...

2011-05-10T08:13:00.001-07:00

Alex's cousin, Clay, is marrying beautiful Mary Lee. I was honored to have the shower at my home. Her save the date was in yellow, grey, & white, so I knew that would be my color scheme immediately. This was the invite that I ordered from Natty Michelle. They have her maiden monogram at the top. I think this is the prettiest invite I've ever used. This isn't the best picture but they turned out so cute.

I ordered cookies from Robin and let me tell you - they were not only the cutest cookies ever - they were delicious! I asked everyone to bring a recipe for Mary Lee since it was a kitchen shower. I wanted to use a recipe box for the recipe cards but the one I ordered was too small. I used a small album instead.

(Click on pics to enlarge)

These were the recipe cards with her married monogram. I sent one of these with each invite. She received some tasty recipes at the shower!

On the menu: Napa Valley Chicken Salad Pie, Blueberry Scones, Sour Cream Biscuits w/jam, Fruit Salad, and Petit Fours. My sweet sister, Joy, helped me make the scones right before her surgery. They freeze so well and it was a huge time-saver to just pop them in the oven the morning of the shower. I've never really had a scone that I like. They're usually very dry. Not this one - SO GOOD!

Erin gave me her Mom's recipe for a very tasty punch. It had fresh bananas in it...it was a pineapple/orange/banana punch. Seriously one of my faves now. I made a batch for our Mother's Day get-together too!

My SIL, Sara, helped me with the table. She (and her Mom) let me borrow so much - one of the things being the giant silverware. I was going to serve food off them but Sara had the wonderful idea of standing them up and using them as a centerpiece. It was so stinkin' cute.

Mary Lee opening gifts. She received some beautiful things.

Some of the guests...

Three of their grandmothers were there. I loved talking with them...they were so sweet.

Mary Lee with the hostesses.

Mary Lee and her beautiful Mama!

Mary Lee with her MIL, Grandmother, and Mom.

Me with the bride-to-be!

Mary Lee, we are so excited for you to officially be a part of our family! We wish you and Clay all the love and happiness in world. Praying that God guides you in your new adventure as husband and wife. We love you both dearly.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

My two sweeties surprised me with these beautiful tulips for Mother's Day. I just love them! I also had a much needed mani/pedi. :)

Mother's Day. A day that was once a very sad day for me is now the exact opposite. I have a baby girl to call my own. She says "Mama" about 1,000 times a day and around the 999th time when I think to myself, "should I change my name?" God kindly reminds me of how long I waited to be called that sweet name. He also reminds me of all my friends that are still waiting to be called Mama. I remember my friend Paula sending me this scripture as I waited. She sent it at a time when I was so discouraged and just tired of the fact that it was so hard to get pregnant.

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." -Psalm 27:13

Mother's Day makes me think a lot about my struggle to get pregnant and reminds me just how far God brought me in my faith during those three years. After three years of waiting and trusting, confident that He knew my heart, confident that He heard my cries, and confident He was going to answer my prayers - He gave me my miracle. My Amelia Joy...and was she ever worth the wait!!

At church with our girl.

After church we took my MIL to Carino's for lunch. Jared, Jen & their girls joined us. My niece, Peyton (in the yellow shirt below) was so funny. When it was time to leave she said, "well we're just going to miss y'all so much - I should babysit Amelia this week!" HAHA! How cute is that?

Sweet girl giving Daddy kisses.

After lunch I headed to the store to pick up some things for dinner. We were hosting Mother's Day with my family. We had nachos and lots of yummy desserts. I ordered petit fours and smiley face cookies from Ed's Bakery. We also had angel food cake w/strawberries and whipped cream. Everything was so yummy!

Gift time!!

Mom had 3 of her 6 kiddos there. We missed you Chris, Joy, and Cary!! The second picture is of all the Mamas striking a pose. How cute is my Grandma on the end!?

The gang!

It was a special day celebrating our Mothers. I couldn't help but have a full heart while watching Amelia throughout the day. Such a gift.

Love to all,

1200 calories...

2011-05-03T09:50:00.001-07:00

25 days ago I looked up how many calories I should be consuming in order to lose weight. You can find a calculator online that will tell you based on your age/height/weight. That's the day I put myself on a 1200 calorie meal plan. I don't call it a diet because I don't feel like I'm starving or having to live on salad. I'm literally counting EVERY calorie that goes into my body. When I started reading the side of the box of things I used to eat - OH MY WORD. I was consuming the amount of calories for a ginormous man. I've had people ask what I'm doing and what I'm eating so I thought I would write a post about it. I've found the My Fitness Pal app on my iphone to be incredibly helpful! I keep up with all of my exercise and calories on this app. You can search for any food and lots of restaurants to find out how many calories you're consuming.

Breakfast options:

Coffee

All Natural Granola - I put this on top of my yogurt in the mornings. My favorite with the least calories is Bear Naked Granola.

Stonyfield Vanilla Yogurt

1/2 Medium Banana

Instant Oatmeal (Maple & Brown Sugar). I eat the low sugar option and add 1 tsp of Brummel & Brown Yogurt Spread. I also make it with 1/2 cup of skim organic milk. Milk is high calorie so I try to be careful how much I drink.

Scrambled or fried egg w/piece of whole wheat toast or multi-grain english muffin.

Every Sunday I go through Starbucks and get a grande non-fat vanilla latte. My latte choice is 200 calories. This is the only day of the week that I don't have time for breakfast, so I drink my calories.

Lunch options:

Multigrain Tortilla w/turkey, mixed greens, tomato, laughing cow cheese, tiny bit of ranch dressing to add more flavor.

Strawberry Spinach Salad w/strawberries & fat free feta. I dip my fork in dressing so I don't really consume much but get a little of the flavor. :)

Tomato Basil Soup - I buy this pre-made at Fresh Market. You can have a cup of this for only 100 calories!

Grilled Chicken Breast on a salad or with veggies, baked potato.

Medium Baked Potato w/sour cream only.

Dinner Options:

Grilled Chicken Breast with salad or baked potato.

Grilled Fish with salad, veggies or baked potato.

Pulled pork without the bun.

I even have fried catfish. I just make sure I save a few of my calories during the day. Some restaurants have fried catfish that's only 100 calories per piece. I don't eat the hush puppies or fries and have salad and a baked potato.

Salad with lots veggies.

I've had ribs...chicken strips...tacos on corn tortillas. You can have anything you want - you just have to watch the quantity you're consuming and what's on it.

Snack options:

I love any of the 100 calorie snack packs. So many options!

Laughing Cow Cheese.

Pretzel Thins.

Skinny Cow desserts.

Marshmallows.

I measure everything I eat. If it says 1/2 cup - I get out my measuring cup! If I'm out to eat - I look up the restaurant and find out how many calories are in what I'm about to order or do it ahead of time. Seems like a pain but it's really not. I feel healthier and have more energy! I have always drank water w/lemon and unsweetened tea, so I don't really have to worry about drinking my calories. If you're going to drink sweet tea - it's best to make it at home. A large sweet tea at Mcalisters or Chick-fil-a is at least 220 calories! Some of you don't have to worry about the amount of calories you consume and I'll try not to hate you for that. ;) I on the other hand...well, in order to get the rest of this weight off, I do have to pay attention to what I'm eating. I walk with Amelia (when it's not raining) and that has helped too. I usually walk 20 minutes every day. I hope to build up to a run which burns even more calories but for now - walking it is! I also try not to eat past 7:00pm. If I get a craving for something sweet before bed - I eat a couple of marshmallows and go to bed! :)

This is day 25 on the 1200 calorie meal plan and I've lost 9.4 pounds!! I would love to lose 20 more pounds. I'm going to just wait and see how I feel as more comes off. I'm not really hung up on the number on the scale...I just want to feel good in my clothes again. I've already lost two sizes in some of my clothes which is exciting.

So for those that asked - this is what I'm doing!

Love to all,

Where there's a will - there's a way.

2011-05-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

Amelia turned 18 months old on the 22nd of April. People had told me that I would see a change in her anywhere from 18 months to 2 years old. I was hoping they were wrong and I would have the only child in the world that never disobeyed. Well it's like she woke up on the day she turned 18 months and realized she had a will. An opinion. She realized she didn't like being told what to do. I don't like being told what to do either but it's necessary sometimes. It's necessary most all of the time for a toddler.

I'm not going to lie - I get tired of telling her no. I've started saying stop instead of no because I'm so tired of saying that word. My Mom told me to make sure I'm not telling her to do something in the form of a question - I'm giving her the option to say no. I hadn't thought of this. I'm glad she told me.

Instead of saying "Amelia, will you come here please?"

I say "Amelia, come here please."

Instead of saying, "Amelia, will you pick up your toys please?"

I say "Amelia, pick up your toys please."

Sometimes she still looks at me and says very matter of factly "NO." She quickly looks at me to see what I'm going to do about her response. I respond very matter of factly with a spanking. Sigh.

This is the time in her life where we have to have the stronger will and be consistent. We believe that's the way to have a well-behaved, OBEDIENT child. Time-out may work for your child but you have to be consistent for your child to learn from it. Those around us may think we're hard on her but we can't allow her to act a way in public or at some one's home that we don't allow in our own home. She learns quickly and she will figure out that she can get away with more in public if we don't discipline. No one wants to be that parent but at the same time - no one wants to be that person witnessing the behavior of a misbehaved child in public either. I took her to a doctor's appointment where she decided to throw a fit after I told her no, so I had to discpline right there in the waiting room for all other patients to see! She stopped and moved on and started playing with toys. Before going into our appointment, an elderly woman stopped me and told me Amelia was a well-behaved, little girl. I think it's more painful for people to watch a parent do nothing than to do something. We always praise her for obedience and believe that's just as important as correcting her. We're so thankful to have parents who raised 6 children each and we aren't too proud to ask for their advice. We believe it's not only important to ask for advice but take the advice and apply it!

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise. Proverbs 12:15

Our girl is still sweet as ever but naturally she has to grow up and part of that is exercising her will. Alex and I are careful to make sure we don't expect too much from an 18 month old but as of right now - she understands and responds to correction quickly. We always love on her after correcting her and we believe that's important as well. We don't discipline out of anger and never want her to feel as though we're mad at her. We actually want her to feel the opposite...we want her to know we set boundaries and expect obedience because we love her.

We joke about this scripture but it's truth.

He who spares his rod hates his child, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly. Proverbs 13:24

Father, help us to stay consistent and to love her enough to correct her. Help us not to be lazy parents and choose to just "let it go" because we're tired. You know our heart is for Amelia to not only obey her parents as a child but to grow up and follow YOU in obedience. Thank you for Amelia. We love her to pieces. She is such a joy and makes our lives so much brighter! She's the best gift ever.

Psalm 127:3
Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.

Love to all,

Our week...

2011-04-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

As everyone already knows...we've had terrible storms here in the south. My heart goes out to all of those affected by the tornadoes. The pictures and video literally just make my stomach hurt. So many lives lost....just heartbreaking. I'm lifting all of those families up in prayer.

Thanks to all who have been praying for my sister, Joy. She had surgery yesterday and everything went very well. She went home today and is now starting the recovery process. We're beyond thankful that the results came back benign. Praise the Lord!!

I have exciting news...I have a new nephew!! Luke Everette McGill was born today!! We went to the hospital tonight to meet him. I didn't have to share him with anyone and could hold him the entire time - since we were the only ones there. :) I wanted to bring him home with me but the new parents seemed a little attached to their baby boy. He is so sweet...perfect in every way.

Amelia and I watched the royal wedding today. I've actually watched it three times and cried every time! Hormones? Maybe. I just love that she was a "commoner" and is now a princess. I taught Amelia to say "princess" today...she sounds so cute. :)

Kate looked beautiful. Like a true princess. I loved her dress.

I vaguely remember having a waist that small at my wedding.

I thought it was so sweet when she finally made it to the end of that insanely long aisle and William saw her for the first time. He looked at her and said, "you look beautiful." Awwwwwww.

Another favorite moment was their kiss on the balcony. When he looked at her and said, "one more" and kissed her for the second time - he seemed to blush! I just think they're a beautiful couple. And how funny is the little flower girl in the corner of this picture!?? HAHA! She was over the noise!

This is the first weekend in a long time that we've had no plans. I'm looking forward to it. Alex is going fishing and Amelia and I are going to run errands and take dinner to Aunt Joy.

No matter your plans, I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Love to all,

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

I ironed our clothes and put out Amelia and Alex's Easter baskets the night before. I was really looking forward to Easter Sunday. As a believer, how can you not be overwhelmed with gratitude for what Christ did for you?? I can't even think about it without crying. He took on the sins of this world. My sin. So I could have eternal life!! Thank you, Jesus!

I took Amelia's basket to church for her to dig into because Alex wanted to see her open everything. He leaves really early on Sunday mornings, so I hid her basket until we arrived at church. She opened everything up in his office.

She really liked the sunglasses. :)

I was only going to put one of these pictures on here, but I love Amelia's facial expressions in all of them.

Alex's entire family came to church with us this morning! We loved having all of them!! I worked with the kiddos this morning. I told them the Easter story with the resurrection eggs. If you don't have those for your child - you should get them. Such a neat way to explain the Easter story to younger children. They all got so excited when we got to the last egg and it was empty. It stood for the grave which no longer contains Him. HE IS RISEN!!

After a wonderful church service - we headed to Alex's cousin's home. She just married and they were gracious enough to host Easter lunch this year. We had SO MUCH food. I bet there were over 50 of us there - it was such a fun time.

And then it was time for the big Easter egg hunt for the kiddos!

She has started doing her nose like this and it cracks me up.

She was most interested in opening the eggs rather than finding them. She ran and ran all over that yard though. She played so hard.

I loved watching her see one, pick it up, open it, and then put it in the basket. She was too young to do any of this last year. :)

Me and my man. I love him so much.

It was a beautiful day.

I hope you had a blessed Easter with family and friends.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Love to all,