If only I were June Cleaver...maybe, maybe not?

Not sure if June Cleaver was a believer but otherwise she was the perfect woman.  She loved her family well!  She served them with a servant heart.  She loved her husband!  Her house was always clean AND she was always put together.  Yes I do realize that she was a fictitious character but OH HOW I LONG TO BE LIKE HER!  Before marriage and children, I felt sure that I would BE her!!

But what I am finding is that like so many other things in life, I fall short.  I have a picture of who I want to be and sadly my sinful flesh reveals a different lady!  I get overwhelmed by my responsibilities of being a wife and mother.  I forget about being loving, gentle, patient and kind.  I forget that this is just a season that will go too quickly!  In the heat of the moment, what I really want is for Caroline to obey, to keep her room cleaned and Maggie to sleep just two nights back to back ALL NIGHT LONG .  I want my house to stay cleaned for more than 20 minutes, laundry to do itself and for Caroline to actually put up her clean clothes and put a PAIR of shoes in her shoe basket so that we can find them 5 minutes before we walk out the door for school.  I want to look beautiful, dress well and to actually shower before my husband comes home.  I want to meet he and Caroline at the door in the afternoon with a huge smile and a plate of freshly baked cookies...but as you can imagine many of these things don't happen!  And the more I dwell on what I am not (June Cleaver), the more I listen to the lies Satan whispers in my ear, the more inadequate I feel.

BUT here's the good news...the most important thing that I forget in the heat of the moment...I forget that I am a child of God.  I am LOVED!!!!!  I was not created to be perfect but I was created for and I am equipped for being a wife and mom.   He knows what I need and when I desire to be June, I need to cling to him.  Turn to his promises, read HIS word and fill my heart with HIS TRUTH!  I need to remember that I am a CHILD of HIS first and a mother and wife second.  And when I live and serve based on this knowledge, then I really get to enjoy the gift of this season cause it really is the best there is!

PS- I am learning from experience that babies don't KEEP!!!

30 weeks

Maggie's litter personality continues to grow!!!  She is always smiling and laughing, especially if her bib sister is close!!!!  We enjoyed a few more beautiful winter days outside and they have been wonderful!!  Mommy had her first night out of town.  Daddy did a wonderful job managing the girls schedule.  My mom came up as a surprise for Andy and Caroline to go to a basketball game with friends on Saturday.

Maggie is on a new schedule these days.  After looking back at my blog, Caroline's schedule was more like a regular persons set times. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, bedtime bottle.  Maggie is enjoying it.  It gives her a longer morning and afternoon nap.  It's amazing what I can get done with longer stretches of time. ;-)  All "meals" are 7 oz bottles except for dinner, it's only 5 oz, snacks are two ice cubes of a fruit or vegetable and bedtime bottle is 8 oz.  We introduced banana's this week and she loves them!  Maggie did manage one night of sleeping through the ENTIRE night!!!  WOO HOO!

I was getting the car loaded for school and came in to find this!  These two were having the best time playing on the floor together!  So thankful for and pray that the girls friendship continues for years to come.  Their bond is like no other!!

We have our very own pink ninga turtle!!  She does this stuff to herself!!  Speaking of which she had her first "bloody" boo boo.  Not sure what happened but she was playing with a teething toy and let out a terrible cry and it continued!  I am not sure what happened exactly cause she wouldn't let me get inside her mouth to tell if it was her gum or her lip but it didn't look too bad from waht I could see. 

Caroline's Best Buddy at School

From the very beginning of the school year Caroline talked about her sweet friend Jayla.  Jayla taught Caroline many of the lessons for school.  Well about two weeks ago Caroline said she was invited to Jayla's bday party.  I explained to Caroline that we couldn't go without an invitation.  So a few days letter Caroline gets in the car after school, takes off her school and hands me a sheet of paper.  She explains that is Jayla's number and I should call her momma.  Again I explain that we don't invite ourselves to someones party.  Well while at the beach for a school conference, I get an email from Caroline's teacher.  She forwarded an email from Jayla's momma who said something to the effect, "Jayla wants her sweet friend Caroline to attend but she can't come unless I talk to her mother.  Would you please forward her my phone number."  HAHAHA

So once we talked and got directions, we made it happen.  Caroline had a wonderful time!!!  It was a fancy party so all the girls wore fancy dresses, tiara's, earring's and rings.  It was fun to watch her interact with her friend1!

Sewing with Granny

A few nights ago, Caroline got to spend the night with Great and Aunt Doe Doe.  Great began to show Caroline how to sew.  Caroline was SUPER proud!!  So when she discovered that her bear had a hole in it, she was eager to "fix" it.  She and Granny got the needle and thread out and began to doctor brown bear.  Granny inserted the needle and Caroline pulled it through.  Oh SHE WAS SO PROUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

29 weeks

This kid's expressions amaze me!  She is a hoot!!!!  Her sweet little self brightens our days oh so much!!!  We are so thankful for her and can't imagine life without her!!!!

We officially have an independent sitter.  I keep the boppy close by because of the hard wood floors.  Baby jail and a padded area will hopefully be up and going by next week.

Just a typical morning before school.  I was getting ready and came back to the den to find this.

those eyes...

This was the best "sad" face I could capture on camera. She has decided this week that she doesn't like mommy to come in the room if momma isn't going to pick her up.  She is just pitiful!! ;-)

But was quickly made well when I handed her a teething biscuit.

We introduced blueberries this week.  I mixed them with apples.  Oh how I wish I had my camera ready when she took her first bite!!!  She wasn't excited and I thought she was literally gonna gag!!  

But by the 3rd bite, she was loving it!!!  As you can tell from this picture she couldn't get it fast enough!

Maggie isn't sure why or how it happened but she decided to sleep through the night!!!  I wasn't sure what to do with myself after an amazing 7 1/2 hours of solid sleep!!!!!!!

It doesn't get any sweeter than this sweetie!!!!!!

Beautiful Day Outside

Man this week we have been blessed with GORGEOUS weather!!!!!  We are trying to take advantage of them and stay outside as long as we can!!!!!!  We are loving us and excited for spring!

I need to put the baby swing on our swing set.  Sadly it just hasn't made it there yet.  But Maggie enjoyed hanging out in her excosaucer just the same.

And when she gets tired or fussy, these two are close by to entertain her!

Love these girls and their sweet friendship!!!  These two might love each other just as much as their mommas do!!!!  What a blessing!!!!!

Uncle Ed and Aunt Lill

We specifically planned Maggie's baptism on a holiday weekend so that Uncle Ed and Aunt Lill could attend with an extra day off.  We were so thankful to have them visit us.  These two are near and dear to our hearts...they pour into us and love our family so well!!!  

Caroline was showing Aunt Lill how she could read in her new big girl Bible.

While Uncle Ed on the other hand was helping us with household repairs!!!!

Official Independent Bike Rider

Earlier this summer, Caroline asked to have her training wheels removed from her bike.  We did and we spent some time learning how to ride her bike.  She got the hang of it but could only go a couple of feet with us pushing her off.  Recently, she has mentioned wanting to ride her bike "around" the block all by herself.  So we worked a little last week and as hard as she tried, never giving up, it just wasn't working.  So yesterday afternoon, we decided to try again.  I am proud to say that this time, it clicked!!!!!!!!

Granny and Maggie watching from the porch

Caroline discovered that the "hill" in our driveway was just enough momentum to get her moving on her own.

This time it actually worked and she took off down the street.  After snapping a few pictures, this momma had to take off running cause she was pedaling pretty stinking fast!!!!!!!

I honestly think I was more excited than she was!!!!!!!!  I loved watching her determination and it paid off!!!  She was doing it all on her own!!!!

still a little wobbly, trying to figure the balance thing out

her feet always make the best brakes!!!!  Especially when heading straight towards a mailbox!!!!!

Somehow we managed to mess up the chain on her bike.  It kept slipping off.  So Granny, who use to race go carts and was her own mechanic, decided to take a look.  Within about 15 minutes all was fixed and she was back in business!

One super proud, happy girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maggie's Baptism

Words can't adequately express how FULL my heart is tonight!!!  Today was such a super sweet, special day for our family!  Our sweet Maggie was baptised.  We were blessed to be surrounded by SO MANY wonderful friends and family members!!!  

Uncle Ed immediately took Maggie when we got into the church.  She was happy, mommy was happy and most of all, Uncle Ed was happy!!!!!!

Caroline was SO very proud of her little sister.  We talked in great detail what it meant for us as a family to stand before our church and promise to raise Maggie in a loving, Christ centered home.  She is eager to do her part in her role as big sister!!!!!!

We weren't quite finished with the first song and I turned around to find Maggie asleep in Uncle Ed's arms.  It wasn't long before he had to sit down with her...19 pounds of sleeping baby gets heavy after a while.

So many things I could say about this picture...but most importantly, look at us, we are a family of FOUR!  Thank you Lord for answered prayers!!!!!!

Seems like just yesterday this sweet, tall big girl I am holding was in her daddy's arms being baptised.

Maggie enjoyed and "soaked" up every part of her day!!!  So many people have commented on how in tuned she was with what Dr. Barry was telling her.  Her big, bright eyes were focused on him the entire time.  She didn't make a peep!  Pretty good considering she only got a 10 minute nap!!!

Look at our precious family!!!!  

When I went to grab Maggie from the nursery, they were feeding her.  So it took a while to get her and get back to the sanctuary.  Sadly many of our family members had already left to go help set up for her brunch.  When we finally arrived, everything was ready to go!!!  

I prepared a small brunch-fruit, breakfast casserole and crock pot grits for us to enjoy with our friends to help us celebrate this special day!

When we arrived at Tomi Jean's, Maggie was OUT.  Peep, Aunt Doe Doe and Aunt Jill watched over her as she slept!!

It's hard being the center of attention!!!!

After the brunch, we had a time for prayer over our sweet Maggie!  I created bible verse cards/prayers for Maggie.  We asked those who were willing to please take a card to keep and continue to pray over our sweet girl for many years to come.  Cause if you are a momma, you know that we need all the prayers we can get for our precious children!!!!  It was such a sweet time for us to hear our friends and family pray over Maggie as well as the rest of us.

Love doing life with this sweet girl!!!  Who would have known that we would still be doing life together after meeting in the classroom 12 years ago!

This sweet man, who loves our family so well, just so happens to be an Elder in our church.  We were honored to have him "present" Maggie to the church on behalf of the session.  What a gift to have those who LOVE us so well, walk this journey with us, supporting us along the way, present our baby girl!  Thanks for blessing us Uncle Chris!

these two...oh what a blessing they are to our family!!!  They get the award for traveling the farthest!

I just loved Maggie's expression here!!!!

Lord, thank you for family and friends who love us!  Who are always willing to step in and help us along the way.  Thank you for the amazing village of believers who walk this road with us and promise to help us raise our girls in the truth of the gospel.  Most of all, thank you for choosing and allowing us to be the parents of THIS precious girl!!!