Our week...

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

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,

All About Amelia - 18 months old!

Amelia, you're 18 months old!!



You weigh 27 lbs - 13 ounces and you're 32 1/2" long.



You wear a size 4 diaper.

You're wearing 18-24 month clothing and size 5 shoe.



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



We gave you the paci back after 6 days of NO SLEEP. You were acting stressed out and we decided it just wasn't time. You are taking it at nap and bedtime only. Your pediatrician said to try again when you're two. :)



You've started wanting us to read to you before bedtime again. We did this when you were really little but you went through a stage of wanting to slam the book shut for awhile. :)



We had tornado warnings and had to get in the closet for awhile. You fell asleep in the closet. :)



You're starting to play more on your own.



You pick up your own toys and put them away.



I tell you to stand on your head and you do this.



You insist on wearing your sandals - even with your pajamas. Makes us laugh so hard.



You've started eating fresh banana that's not pureed!



You love drinking out of a water bottle.



You can tell us what comes after 1 and sometimes will even count to 3!



You love to play catch with your new yellow ball that Daddy bought you.



You've started doing this fake baby cry that is hilarious.



The first thing you say when I get you out of crib lately is "book!" Your favorite books right now are Armor of God and Clifford the Big Red Dog.



You've started waving and saying "bye" when you leave the room.



When leaving Cheeburger you kept saying, "BYE!!" to someone behind us. We turned around and you were talking to the James Dean and Marilyn Monroe posters on the wall. HA!



You sing "rain...rain." (Rain, Rain, Go Away)



A few other words you're saying:

"Troll" (remote control)
"Kiss" (when you get hurt)
"Back"
"Where Go?"
"What's This?"
"Catch"
"Cute"
"Pretty"
"Bow"
"K"
"Work"
"Shoes"
"Socks"

Amelia, we think you're the sweetest thing around. We love you with everything in us!!

Daddy & Mommy

Living Proof...

I haven't opened my computer since the last time I blogged. I had the best weekend and wanted to blog about it before this week got away from me. I had plans to hear Beth Moore speak last Friday and Saturday. The devil tried really hard to get me to stay home. Several things happened leading up to the weekend and then Friday was such a hard day with Amelia. Thankfully, I didn't back out. I went asking God for a specific word just for me. We started out with worship....oh the worship. My hands were in the air the entire time and my feet wouldn't stay still. I was among 8500 women but during that time of worship - it might as well have been just me and my Lord! Oh, and Travis. :) I just love when there's freedom in worship. When the focus is on Him and Him alone - as it should be. True worship.



Beth spoke on fulfilling your ministry and on relationships. A lot of the scripture she used was exactly where we've been studying in our home group and also where Alex has been preaching from at church. I'm still processing a lot of what she said. Alex has been out of town, but I can't wait to go over it all with him. I picked him up from the airport yesterday and I just kept saying, "oh babe...it was so good...so good." I would just cry as I started sharing some of what God said to me over the weekend. I've been to many of the LPL Conferences and each one is just life changing. I would compare this one to my trip to Nashville to hear her speak. Powerful stuff.



Another neat thing about the weekend is that I was able to meet up with some new and old blog friends! Caroline and her Mom (Robin) were driving in for the conference and I was beside myself to see her again! I was really excited to meet her Mom for the first time as well. I love the relationship they have...it's much like my relationship with my own Momma!

Me, Joy, and Caroline at the conference. This is right after Caroline and I screamed in each other's faces upon seeing each other. It's always nice to meet another screamer. That way you aren't the only girl standing there screaming. Just sayin'. This girl just puts an instant smile on my face! She loves Jesus and it just shows from her head to her toes. This was actually Joy and Caroline's third LPL together. They met in Memphis, Atlanta, and now LR. I missed out on Memphis because I was 9 years pregnant. It's okay though...they didn't make me feel like a 3rd wheel or anything. HA! I was on a lower step for this picture so I look like the hunchback. HAHA!



I met a new friend over the weekend too! Rikki told me that she was coming so we were texting once she arrived. I couldn't wait to hug her neck. She is just precious and has such a sweet heart. Once she and my SIL saw one another - they realized they knew each other from reading each other's blogs! Small world!



Me and Joy.



Amelia with her new best friend. She took to Caroline and Robin quickly. I loved the way Caroline would speak to her...like she was just as old as her. Amelia liked it too! Here she is trying to look all grown up like her new grown-up friend.



At one point during lunch, Robin was mid-story and Amelia says, "OH WOW!" (LOL) She was all up in every conversation and knew just what was going on. HA!



Caroline and Robin - they always dress so cute too. Ya know there are those types of people that you can just sit and talk to about something and you can also sit and talk about nothing...it's just nice to be sitting there talking with them? That's how it is with these two girls. I just know that I will get to hang out with Caroline again in the future, but I want to hang out with her Mom too. Caroline, could you arrange that? :) I love you both!



It was a wonderful weekend that I will never forget. Caroline gave me a special present and as soon as I find the perfect place for it - I'm going to take a picture and show you. Girl has more talent in her pinkie than I will ever have! It's so pretty...can't wait to show it to you!! More about what Beth spoke on coming soon!!

Love to all,

Longest 14 minutes of my life...

I constantly read about parents taking the paci away. Parents decide it's time at all different ages. I really don't think there's a perfect age but my goal was to have Amelia's paci gone by the time she turned 18 months old.

This is the month I've been dreading.

She loves her paci. We had gotten to where she only had it in her crib while sleeping - but fell off the wagon when she was getting sick a lot. We started letting her have it whenever she asked for it. We have never let Amelia cry it out in her crib. We've never really needed to do that. She put herself to sleep until she was about 6-7 months old and then wanted to be rocked, so we currently rock her to sleep every night. Her Daddy really enjoys that time with her and the girl sleeps from 8pm-10:00am every morning. It works for her. It makes her happy and in turn - we're happy parents. :) The paci is a huge part of the bedtime routine though. Daddy sits in the chair waiting for me to finish dressing her and then she goes to Daddy to rock her and she gets her paci. It's the first thing she asks for after I finish dressing her for bed, when she gets hurt or upset, when I'm changing her diaper. The paci = comfort to her.



There is a huge part of me that feels like she's still a baby if she still has a paci. I know that's crazy but it's true. As much as I like seeing her grow up and develop this cute personality...I miss her being a tiny baby. I miss it a lot. I actually cry while typing this. How can you love each and every stage yet burst into tears at the thought of them growing up?



Yesterday was the first day without a pacifier. I'm not going to lie...it's the hardest thing I've done so far as her mother. I just thought her getting tubes was hard...nope. I've never seen her like that. She cried so hard and was asking for her paci the entire time...just staring at the dresser where we usually keep it. I sat outside of her room and watched through a crack in the door while she cried off & on in her crib. She cried for 14 minutes.

The longest 14 minutes of my life.

Then there was quiet. She went to sleep.

When she woke up from her nap I picked her up and immediately introduced her to "lovie." My friend Faith sent it to her when she was really little and it has been in her dresser for a while. I decided that could possibly be her new "paci." I went on and on about "lovie"...how soft she is...how sweet she is. I asked her if she wanted to give it loves? She of course wanted to love on it. She kissed it and petted it (it's a little silky with a bear on the end of it). She continued to take lovie on our walk and sat it beside her while having a snack. Speaking of snacks. I bragged on her for being a big girl and told her we were going to watch a movie on the couch and that we could even eat our snack on the couch (this is not a normal occurrence in our home - food/drink are always eaten in the high chair). She was really excited and ran to the couch with her lovie.



I brought snacks and we watched a movie. She was thrilled. And yes, those are marshmallows AND graham crackers. The girl had her paci taken away from her - she deserved every junk item in the pantry in my book.



Throughout the day if she fell down or got upset about something...I would bring lovie to her. It worked.

Then came bath time. I had a little talk with her about how paci went bye-bye. She knows what bye-bye means so that's the only way I knew to tell her. She seemed to take it okay and off we went for a bath.



I dressed her after her bath and she never asked for her paci. I began to rock her and just prayed the entire time. She sat there rubbing her lovie between her fingers - biting it periodically. She never would go to sleep though, so I decided I would have to put her back in her crib to cry it out like at nap time. My heart started hurting as I put her in her crib. I did not want to hear her scream like that again. I kissed her, told her I loved her, laid her down, gave her lovie, and walked out of the room. She immediately started crying and I immediately started timing it because I was not going to let her cry for 14 minutes again.

She cried 1 minute.

Just 1 minute and then complete silence. I couldn't believe it.

I was concerned that she would wake up in the night and look for her paci (she does this often but always goes right back to sleep once she finds it) but she didn't...she slept all night and woke up at 8:30 this morning!

My S-I-L has been a great help. I talked to her all day asking questions. I've also been on the phone with my Mom and Joy...needing moral support. I was seriously crying like a baby on the phone. I don't like to hear her cry and she has always been such a good baby...she never really cried a lot. I felt like a heel taking something away that I gave her in the first place.

So there's no going back now...the paci is gone. I know it has been a soother/security thing for her and I don't want her to be anxious or anything because she no longer has it. Do 17 month olds get anxious? If you could have seen her at nap time yesterday...I think your answer would be yes. Bless her paci-lovin' heart. She'll be going down for her nap soon...wish us luck on day #2 with no paci. :)

Love to all,

What we're up to...

Amelia and I headed over to my sister's house yesterday. I wanted to help with things at the house and also wanted to run some errands for her. She's still building her strength and needs to rest. I'm just happy to be able to serve my sister and help her in any way. She has taken care of me after so many surgeries. Amelia watched TV with her Aunt Joy for quite some time...so sweet.



We headed to Walmart and picked up a few things that my sis needed. Pryce came along to help. Amelia loves her Pryce. She only says his name 1,000 times while he's around. :)



I feel like Amelia and I had the best day today! She is so much fun right now...we can sit and play together and then when I need to do housework - she'll sit in the living room or her bedroom and "read" her books or play with her toys. We went for a walk after lunch today. She just loves to be outside.



We have a dresser in the living room where we keep CDs. She loves to pull them out and put them back in. Today I noticed she was sitting with a CD between her legs, looking down at the CD, and had her hands on her cheeks with her mouth wide open. I didn't think much about it until she continued to do it.



I go over to look at the CD and this is what she's looking at! I could not stop laughing. She cracks me up.



I have put myself on 1200 calories a day because I want to lose the rest of this IVF weight. I'm so over it. It needs to go away. So I'm serious about this...I'm counting calories and it's working! I've lost almost 5 lbs since Saturday. I was so excited to find whole grain tortillas that only have 60 calories each. I made chicken tacos tonight and they were delicious. So here's to getting this weight off me!!



And this is random but does your child like to have their teeth brushed? It has become the biggest issue with my girl. I think I would pay someone to brush her teeth twice a day if I could. Tonight went ok but only because I acted a fool and danced around singing some made-up song about brushing her teeth. I may just count brushing her teeth twice a day as my exercise. For real.



I ordered this too-cute-for-words Baby Lulu outfit for Amelia...and it's too short for my tall girl. BUMMER. It's so stinkin' cute - I was upset that she can't wear it. So....if any of you are in need of an 18 month outfit - email me! I'm selling the set for $25 which will include shipping. It has a cute ruffle at the bottom of the pants that's in the polka dot material.



Okay, I'm going to say goodnight. I'm.so.tired.

Love to all,