AK's birthday day...

Anna-Kate's third birthday has come and gone but the party is still to come. It was a pretty chill day for the most part. At one point she was acting like such a sassy pants. It's like she KNEW it was time for her to up the ante. Silly girl.

Daddy came home with her first ever bouquet of flowers and a balloon. It was SO very precious! He is such an amazing girl daddy. I couldn't have asked for a better man.


After we all got dressed we headed out to pick up chick-fil-a, per birthday girl's request, and we headed on over to The Jumpy Place for a little family fun. At one point we were the only people in there. It was pretty awesome.


When we came home she got a bath, snacked on some more of her dinner while she watched a video and then she went straight to bed. She was so tired.

Tomorrow is her birthday party. We rented a water slide from a local owner. It's waaay more affordable than going through an actual company. I found this awesome deal on loanables.com. You create an account and search things to borrow for a price set by the lender. You can also post things to lend. It's pretty cool. So yeah, we are renting a little tikes inflatable water slide for like $55!! Totally beats $225! I'm so excited.

Pictures to come.

And she turns THREE!

How is it that my first born baby girl, the special little girl who made me a mommy, is turning three years old today?


Anna-Kate,

On this day, exactly three years ago, you were delivered into the world at exactly 8:30 PM weighing 7lbs 2oz. I remember that day very clearly. I wasn't confident that I'd ever get you out. It was one of the most painful yet amazing things I have ever experienced.


I haven't been the same since that day. You have taught me so much about myself, Anna-Kate, and I could never ever imagine my life without you.


You are funny, smart, energetic, witty and so many more things that I can't really wrap my brain around. You are THAT amazing AK!
You know all of your ABC's.
You can count to 20 but sometimes get your teens messed up :) and can recognize numbers 1-10.
You know your colors and most of your shapes.You sing all the time! It's the most precious thing ever and it makes me so proud when I listen to you belt out a tune.
You can put your shoes on by yourself and correctly too!
You still love cars.
You are into any door that will open, close and lock.
You enjoy helping mommy do laundry and cook.
You love LoVe LOVE to swim and be anywhere outdoors.You have gone to gymnastics twice now and you overall enjoy it. I still think you're a natural ;-).
You got a cat for your birthday, three weeks early, and you love him. The other night while I was getting you ready for bed you were sure to sit and pet him for a minute and then give him a kiss. It was SO cute!
You are very much so in love with your Daddy and there is no one around who can make your baby sister laugh like you do!


Anna-Kate, I love you deeply. You are so precious and beautiful and I want you to really KNOW it! I pray that your heart would receive and experience the goodness of God and that you learn to keep Him very very close to you.


May this year be a year of abundant growth for you in all areas of your life.


I love you Princess!

Mommy

two is two too many...

for my little BABY!


End of story!

only two more days...

And I'll have a three year old. BAAHHHH!!!

sunscreen anyone??

And THIS is why you don't go swimming on the hottest day of the year without proper protection.

the job...

Well, the hubs called today and found out that they offered the job to someone else solely based off of experience. They really liked him but this other guy had experience and they felt it best to go with him. I am totally okay with this and it's nice to really know and even feel that we're actually where we're supposed to be. I feel so good about where we're at. Now it's time to dig our heels in and live life here!

Thanks for praying with us.

three???

Is this little (silly) girl seriously about to turn three?

In just seven days?

Oh my goodness. I can feel the tears a-comin.

there may be a change in plans...

Are you gals ready for this???

Sometime last week my hubs was looking online for some job openings for fun. I know, who does that??? He found this listing for an instructor at the college he graduated from in Waco and he thought, "What the hay? Why not apply?" So he did. Thursday afternoon they called him and asked him to come in for an interview on FRIDAY. He took off Friday afternoon and went. He returned and said he feels it went really well. He knew the two guys he was interviewing with and said he wouldn't be surprised if he got the job...and then turned around and said he wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. I think he's trying to protect his heart from disappointment.

We spent the whole weekend in Waco. It was really great...exhausting but great.

So, I know you're probably thinking we are absolutely NUTS right now BUT seriously, how random was that??!!! They told him they would let him know by Friday because they need the person they choose to start August 30th!!!!! when the new semester begins. Um, yeah. There is a slim chance we could be moving...back to Waco...two months after moving here...AAHHHHH!

Inside I'm feeling a lot of different emotions. Excitement, anxiety, a little stressed, overwhelmed. Pretty much a broad spectrum of emotions. I am loving life here. I love the friends we have began establishing relationships with. And I am finally satisfied where we are in life. Then this.

Maybe God was waiting for us, probably more like me, to be happy where I am before He saw fit to bring something even greater to our lives???

We hung out with some old Waco friends Saturday night and it felt like home. It was such a weird feeling. Sean and I talked on our way home about how much we missed our time with them and how no matter where we end up at the end of this that we will make it a priority to have meaningful relationships with people. Afterall, it's been close to two years since we've had ANY!

All that to say, this is one time in my life where I can with all honestly say that I will be okay with either way this situation plays out. Whether it's live in SM and invest our lives in this city or move back home and make our lives count for something greater. Either way, we will seek God's plan for our family and continue to fight for and protect friendships that the Lord brings our way, old and new.

So if you think about it, please be in prayer for our family. We want nothing but God's will to be done in our lives. We pray for vision, wisdom, direction and then the confidence to execute.

somone gotta tooth

THIS little cutie patootie cut her first tooth on August 6th! She has been teething for a long time. I could see the little tooth buds under her gums and then one morning she woke up and there it was!

I knew it was going to be happening soon but I wasn't expecting it SO soon! Anna-Kate didn't cut her first tooth until she was 11 months old and it was only one! HAHAHA! Issy's second one is right behind it. I know it'll be any day now. How can I have a baby with teeth already?


WWAAAAAAAAA!

AK's first pet

How did it come to be that my first born little sugar kiwi baby is only 21 days away from being three years old? Anyone?? It's so hard to believe!

In light of the upcoming celebration I need to bring to your attention an early birthday present she received two weeks ago from her grandmother (my mom) that I am just now getting around to showing you.

Meet Peter Pan.


This little fuzzylicious furrball is an 8 month old Persian cat that Anna-Kate's grandma was convinced she NEEDED. Needed? No. Adores? YES!

We weren't so sure about having a cat...we've always had a dog. We told my mom we'd give him a week trial run. I'm not sure what we were thinking because it only took about .5 seconds for AK to fall madly in love with him.


I hear her some mornings as they are coming downstairs, "Be tareful Pea Pan. Don't fall." It's the CUTEST thing EVER! Then there are the moments when she sets up a trap that forces him into one of those net fold up laundry baskets. I'm telling you, the girl knows how to get what she wants. Then she drags the basket around the house and throws more toys in it as she goes. Poor Mr. Peter Pan. Good thing he's not a freaky skiddish cat. Although he might be one day after living with us for a while.

Thankfully the playful little turkey...err...cat came de-clawed so I don't have to fret all that much about him scratching the girls or my furniture. Although there WAS that one morning I looked over at Isabelle playing on my bed and he had her armed pinned down about to have some tasty sausage fingers. That was the last time he even thought about touching my baby!

Anyways, there you have it folks. AK finally got her first pet. Now I just need to teach her how to clean out the litter box and all will be fantastic.

SIX months old

Isabelle Grace,

You are now six months old...the most fun, happiest, content six month old I've ever met. You blend in with our family well and I can't even remember what life was before you.

You went to the doctor yesterday. You weigh 18.11 lbs and are 25 inches long. You are growing so fast! It's hard to believe that you've already been here for half a year. Just six more short months and you'll be ONE! Wow.

You are wearing 6-9 month clothes but the things labeled just 9 months usually fit you best.

You think your big sister is HILARIOUS. No matter what she's doing, saying or what noise she's making it always gets a response from you. It's the sweetest thing to watch. You dearly love your sister and I know she love you too!

You are pretty much sitting on your own. If you get too excited or something you tip over quickly. It's kind of cute :-).

You STILL haven't rolled over from your back to your tummy yet but I know it'll happen and I am definitely in NO hurry to grow you up. Just because you aren't rolling that way yet doesn't mean you don't get around. I often find you in a totally different position than when I left you. You use those chubby little legs to maneuver yourself around.

You say Da-da pretty well and have been for atleast a month now. It's so cute and your Daddy lights up like he just won a million dollars or something. It's so fun to watch. He truly adores you. We all do.

You are eating one meal a day of baby oatmeal mixed with a fruit. You have that at around 7:30 PM and then I nurse you for about 3 minutes and then you're out for the night...usually by 8. You LOVE it that way! I know you could eat more in a day but I'm trying to keep you as exclusively breastfed for as long as you can tolerate it. It's obviously keeping you nicely plump. Sometimes I have to toss in a fruit around lunch time because you really just want to eat. I'm okay with it. You are healthy and happy and that's really all that matters.

You went swimming for the first time a couple of weeks ago. You love the water just as your sister does. You kick your legs and flail your arms. It's so cute!



You have been consistently waking up around 6:40 every morning for about two weeks now. I guess that's you're new wake time. It WOULD be a really good thing if I could just force myself to get up at that time too...and your sister. I'll start working on that soon. It would be really good for us all to get up at that time so your big sister could actually take a nap during the day.

You are such an incredible little girl Issy. I love you beyond any words I could ever put together on this page. You amaze me every day. You make me a better woman. I love you Isabelle Grace. Thank you for being so darn great.