2025 Recap
8 months ago
Friday, April 27, 2012
A Comparison
If we have heard it once, we have heard it 1000 times....."Ellie looks just like her Daddy!" After hearing this so many times, I decided that it would be fun to do a comparison post of their baby pictures. Here are a few pics of Justin when he was little, and some of Ellie to compare them to. :) What do you think?
Friday, April 20, 2012
Girls Day Out
Lainie and Emmie,
I will always remember this special day together....our first "Girls Day Out." You both needed haircuts, so I made you each an appointment to get your hair cut, and then decided to add a pedicure for each of you to the schedule. You both love having your toes painted, and are constantly noticing the color of my toes. I knew you would love it.
Because Ellie is still so little, she stayed home with Daddy. We made our way to the salon, got your hair cut, and then made our way over to the big, pink butterfly chairs. Emmie put her toes in the water first, and was so excited. Emmie, you chose blue and purple polish with glitter to go on top. You wanted a pattern, so I asked the girl who was giving your pedicure to paint blue/purple/blue. You loved it! Lainie, you chose pink polish with glitter on top because that is what I had on my toes. You wanted your toes to look like mine, which totally melted my heart. You both loved the warm water, and the light that made the water change color. However, you weren't too crazy about the scrub that she put on your feet and legs to make your skin soft. When we were finished, you both picked out a lollipop, and we headed to eat lunch.
I had so much fun sharing your first pedicure experience with you. You were so much fun to enjoy a "girl's day" with, and I look forward to many, many more in our future. I can't wait until Ellie is old enough to join us too. You girls are such a blessing to me.
I love you both SO much!
Mommy
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Ellie - 18 months old
Ellie turned 18 months old yesterday! My baby is hardly a baby anymore! We spent her 18 month birthday in Birmingham visiting Justin's family for the day. Everyone was celebrating his aunt's birthday with a special tea party, so Ellie got to celebrate with a tea hat, gloves, and lots of family! Justin and I also took her around Birmingham and stopped by one of our favorite places, Star Lake. While we were there, Ellie rode around the lake in her very favorite pink car, and saw lots of precious baby ducks.
Ellie is just full of energy, expression, personality, and spunk. She is, by far, our most outgoing little girl. She loves being the center of attention, loves for others to laugh at her, and loves being on the go. She is strong-willed with a little sass on the side, opinionated, and loves to throw tantrums to show you how she really feels. She is a huge fan of being outside, taking walks, playing ball, riding in her car, playing at the park, swinging, and running wild. She is so much fun!
We love this girl so much!
Ellie is just full of energy, expression, personality, and spunk. She is, by far, our most outgoing little girl. She loves being the center of attention, loves for others to laugh at her, and loves being on the go. She is strong-willed with a little sass on the side, opinionated, and loves to throw tantrums to show you how she really feels. She is a huge fan of being outside, taking walks, playing ball, riding in her car, playing at the park, swinging, and running wild. She is so much fun!
We love this girl so much!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Egg Hunt
I just found these pictures and realized I never posted them. We walked with the girls to the elementary school down the street for a big Easter Egg hunt that they were having the week of Easter. Lainie and Emmie loved looking for eggs this year, and Ellie enjoyed just running through the big grass field. :) We had to hurry home because there was a huge storm overhead as the egg hunt was going on. We made it back just in time!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Happy Easter 2012
Happy Easter! Today has been such a fun day with the girls. This year has really been the first year that Lainie anticipates a holiday, and knows when she wakes up that there is something to look forward to when she gets downstairs. It is so fun to see things through the eyes of our children.
This was the first year that Justin and I really tried to explain in very, very simple terms what Easter is all about. I know it is really hard for the girls to understand the concept, but we are trying to help them (Lainie especially) understand the true meaning behind Christmas and Easter.
Here are a few pictures from our day.
Easter baskets waiting on Easter morning
The girls were SO excited as they were coming down the stairs
Checking out their baskets
Ellie was digging into every basket. :)
Emmie looked outside for eggs, but realized the Easter Bunny had another big gift waiting for them in the backyard......
a sandbox!!!
Super happy that she has a new sandbox to play in.
The girls literally played in this all. day. long!!
All dressed up and ready to go to church.
Hope you and your family had a very Happy Easter! He is Risen!!
This was the first year that Justin and I really tried to explain in very, very simple terms what Easter is all about. I know it is really hard for the girls to understand the concept, but we are trying to help them (Lainie especially) understand the true meaning behind Christmas and Easter.
Here are a few pictures from our day.
Easter baskets waiting on Easter morning
The girls were SO excited as they were coming down the stairs
Checking out their baskets
Ellie was digging into every basket. :)
Emmie looked outside for eggs, but realized the Easter Bunny had another big gift waiting for them in the backyard......
a sandbox!!!
Super happy that she has a new sandbox to play in.
The girls literally played in this all. day. long!!
All dressed up and ready to go to church.
Hope you and your family had a very Happy Easter! He is Risen!!
Friday, April 6, 2012
Raising Daughters
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a mommy. I was a little girl who loved playing with baby dolls. I would dress them, change them, feed them their bottles, and carry them with me wherever I would go. I remember receiving a baby doll that looked like a real newborn, and carrying him around with pride as we would go from store to store. I never pictured what my future family would look like, but I always hoped that I would have children one day.
As a teenager, I was involved in several activities. I played sports, was very involved in my youth group, and loved socializing with my friends. However, one of my very favorite things to do was babysit for a family who had three sweet little boys. Their family was like my own. I started keeping the boys around the age of 14, and continued to do so through college. They were like little brothers to me. I went on family vacations with them, to their school events, sporting events, and helped them with homework. I would take them out for pizza, to the mall, shopping for their favorite toy, or wherever else they desired to go. I absolutely adored them, and still do! They are amazing.
Because I was an athlete, and spent the majority of my teenage years watching those three precious boys, I would have told others before I had children that I was more of a "boy mom." My husband and I both loved playing sports and watching sports. I was never a girly girl, and loved the idea of spending an entire Saturday at the ballpark. I was more comfortable with the idea of raising boys than girls. However, I always had a gut feeling that I would eventually become a mommy to a little girl.
My dream of becoming a mommy came true, and my family is now complete. As time would tell, my gut feeling was right. However, I wasn't given the opportunity to become a mommy to just one little girl, I was blessed with three beautiful, precious baby girls. Each one is unique in her own way, and they all three bring so much joy to my life. My days are full of tea parties, playing with baby dolls, painting toe nails, and dressing up. However, my girls also fill my days with digging in dirt, searching for treasures, taking walks in the woods, and playing ball in the backyard.
When the girls and I are out and about during the day, I often get stopped to discuss them. I get comments about their cute outfits, the bows in their hair, the shoes they are wearing, the drama that my future holds, those dreaded teenage years, and the fact that I need to start saving for three weddings. And just as most mommies of all girls probably experience, I rarely end a conversation without being asked, "So, are you going to try for a boy?"
After I became a mommy, I quickly realized that there was so much more to girls than just sugar, spice and everything nice. Having three daughters, to me, is a calling. God prepared me, my heart, my soul, from the very beginning, to be the mommy to these three little girls. He created each one of them with my husband and I in mind. He prepared us to raise them, to love them, support them, encourage them, and prepare them for their future. As their mommy, I am not just raising three daughters. I am possibly raising three wives, three mommies, three aunts, three sister-in-laws, three grandmothers, three great grandmothers. I am raising three precious girls who have the opportunity to impact a lot of lives after my own. I am called to pray for their husbands, their children, their grandchildren. It is my husband's and my responsibility to not only prepare them for their lives on this earth, but for their lives in eternity.
My hope is that I rely on God to raise my girls according to His purpose. My desire is to teach them about having a personal relationship with Christ, and preparing them to teach their children that as well. I feel called to love them well, encourage them, support them, and teach them that their security should be found not in those around them, or what the world may deem as important, but in Christ alone. I pray for the wives that they may become. May they love their husbands well, submit to them, support them, remain faithful to them, and pray for them. I pray for the mommies that they will become. May they fully rely on God to raise their own children, teach them about having a personal relationship with Christ, love them, support them, and have confidence in themselves as they raise their children.
As a mommy to three girls, I feel responsible to pray for their husbands. May those three precious boys know how much they are loved, cherished, adored by their Heavenly Father. May their hearts be prepared to love my girls as Christ loved the Church, may they have the knowledge to raise their own children, to love them and support them, to teach them how cherished they are. May those boys grow into men who not only succeed in whatever career they choose, but love what they do. I pray for those boys like they are my own, as they will one day become a huge part of my daughters' lives.
So to answer the question about trying to have a little boy, I would say "no." Of course, my answer has nothing to do with not wanting a little boy. I would be just as honored to raise a son, and I believe just as fulfilled. However, I know that, for now, God has called me to something different. For some reason, He prepared me to raise three daughters, and I am honored that He has called me to do this job. And as fun as shopping for cute clothes, putting bows in their hair, and painting toe nails is, I know that those are just experiences that go alongside raising daughters. However, it isn't what raising daughters is all about.
As a teenager, I was involved in several activities. I played sports, was very involved in my youth group, and loved socializing with my friends. However, one of my very favorite things to do was babysit for a family who had three sweet little boys. Their family was like my own. I started keeping the boys around the age of 14, and continued to do so through college. They were like little brothers to me. I went on family vacations with them, to their school events, sporting events, and helped them with homework. I would take them out for pizza, to the mall, shopping for their favorite toy, or wherever else they desired to go. I absolutely adored them, and still do! They are amazing.
Because I was an athlete, and spent the majority of my teenage years watching those three precious boys, I would have told others before I had children that I was more of a "boy mom." My husband and I both loved playing sports and watching sports. I was never a girly girl, and loved the idea of spending an entire Saturday at the ballpark. I was more comfortable with the idea of raising boys than girls. However, I always had a gut feeling that I would eventually become a mommy to a little girl.
My dream of becoming a mommy came true, and my family is now complete. As time would tell, my gut feeling was right. However, I wasn't given the opportunity to become a mommy to just one little girl, I was blessed with three beautiful, precious baby girls. Each one is unique in her own way, and they all three bring so much joy to my life. My days are full of tea parties, playing with baby dolls, painting toe nails, and dressing up. However, my girls also fill my days with digging in dirt, searching for treasures, taking walks in the woods, and playing ball in the backyard.
When the girls and I are out and about during the day, I often get stopped to discuss them. I get comments about their cute outfits, the bows in their hair, the shoes they are wearing, the drama that my future holds, those dreaded teenage years, and the fact that I need to start saving for three weddings. And just as most mommies of all girls probably experience, I rarely end a conversation without being asked, "So, are you going to try for a boy?"
After I became a mommy, I quickly realized that there was so much more to girls than just sugar, spice and everything nice. Having three daughters, to me, is a calling. God prepared me, my heart, my soul, from the very beginning, to be the mommy to these three little girls. He created each one of them with my husband and I in mind. He prepared us to raise them, to love them, support them, encourage them, and prepare them for their future. As their mommy, I am not just raising three daughters. I am possibly raising three wives, three mommies, three aunts, three sister-in-laws, three grandmothers, three great grandmothers. I am raising three precious girls who have the opportunity to impact a lot of lives after my own. I am called to pray for their husbands, their children, their grandchildren. It is my husband's and my responsibility to not only prepare them for their lives on this earth, but for their lives in eternity.
My hope is that I rely on God to raise my girls according to His purpose. My desire is to teach them about having a personal relationship with Christ, and preparing them to teach their children that as well. I feel called to love them well, encourage them, support them, and teach them that their security should be found not in those around them, or what the world may deem as important, but in Christ alone. I pray for the wives that they may become. May they love their husbands well, submit to them, support them, remain faithful to them, and pray for them. I pray for the mommies that they will become. May they fully rely on God to raise their own children, teach them about having a personal relationship with Christ, love them, support them, and have confidence in themselves as they raise their children.
As a mommy to three girls, I feel responsible to pray for their husbands. May those three precious boys know how much they are loved, cherished, adored by their Heavenly Father. May their hearts be prepared to love my girls as Christ loved the Church, may they have the knowledge to raise their own children, to love them and support them, to teach them how cherished they are. May those boys grow into men who not only succeed in whatever career they choose, but love what they do. I pray for those boys like they are my own, as they will one day become a huge part of my daughters' lives.
So to answer the question about trying to have a little boy, I would say "no." Of course, my answer has nothing to do with not wanting a little boy. I would be just as honored to raise a son, and I believe just as fulfilled. However, I know that, for now, God has called me to something different. For some reason, He prepared me to raise three daughters, and I am honored that He has called me to do this job. And as fun as shopping for cute clothes, putting bows in their hair, and painting toe nails is, I know that those are just experiences that go alongside raising daughters. However, it isn't what raising daughters is all about.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Silent Strength
She was 7 pounds, 2 ounces of a dream come true.....19 1/4 inches long. She had precious cherub cheeks, peach fuzz on top of a round little head, and the perfect pug nose like her brothers. She was the fourth child, the first daughter, the youngest sister to three older brothers, and the first granddaughter on her Mommy's side. Her nursery was done in blues and yellows, but had the perfect amount of pink added in. She had a beautiful, white iron canopy crib with the dress she was to wear home from the hospital hanging on the side. Her closet was full of sweet, simple dresses that would allow her Mommy to dress her up. She was so loved, so wanted, so adored. She was Claire.
What I don't know is what color her eyes were. They may have been a beautiful shade of blue like her Daddy's, or a deep shade of brown like her Mommy's. Or maybe the perfect combination of both and her own shade of green. I can't tell you if her cry was loud and boisterous, or sweet, quiet and angelic. I am not sure what her smile looked like, or if her cheek flashed a dimple when she laughed. However, I can tell you that she was absolutely beautiful with her eyes closed. I don't know if she was shy and quiet like her Mommy, or more outgoing like her Daddy. I will always wonder if she would have liked playing with baby dolls, dressing up, and sporting flashy necklaces as she pranced around the house in plastic high heels, or if she would have played ball, cars and trucks, climbed trees, and been a tomboy as she grew.
Her Mommy was scheduled to have her on June 27th, but she was born on June 25th instead. I can vividly still hear things that were said on that day, that were seen on that day, that were heard on that day, and that were felt on that day. I can recall events that happened almost 15 years ago like they happened yesterday. Lessons learned, emotions felt, questions asked but not answered. What should have been one of the happiest moments quickly changed to a very hard, life changing, devastating day as Claire was born without a heartbeat. Still. Quiet.
I was lucky enough to be able to see her, hold her, talk to her. It wasn't long, but the five minutes that I spent with her, holding her precious body, touched me more than some people that I have spent days with, weeks with, months with. She never moved, never uttered a sound, yet God used and continues to use her more powerfully in my life than most people who have spoken thousands of words to me. She didn't wrap her hand around my finger, or look me in the eye, yet she touched me deeply in ways that I cannot explain. Those five minutes were life changing, but so was everything else about her.
I learned the day of her birth that she shared my name. For nine months, she had been called baby Claire. Yet along the way, without my awareness, her parents had chosen her full name to be Meredith Claire. It was one of the most amazing, meaningful, thoughtful gifts I have ever been given. One that truly touched me for a lifetime. Her name challenges me, encourages me, strengthens me, and reminds me of who I am, and who I hope to become. Her name drives me. For whenever I say my name, I am reminded of her.
She never made a sound, never said a word, never even opened her eyes, yet God used her powerfully in my life and in the lives of others. God's strength was seen in her parents as they grieved her loss, God's love was witnessed in the way others poured love over that family during a very tragic time, God's comfort was felt as He carried those that missed her terribly. God's sacrifice, love, faithfulness, and goodness all became very real as we were reminded that we would see her again one day with Him. It wasn't good-bye, it was see you later.
I have learned through her life and through her death that God can and will use me. I don't have to utter a sound, say a word, move a muscle and He has the power to use me in the lives of others. It isn't about me, it isn't up to me, it isn't something I can accomplish on my own. I often find myself questioning if I am doing enough, if I have prepared myself to be used in the lives of others. However, Claire's life and death remind me that it truly isn't about me. It isn't about what I think I need to do, or positioning myself so that He can use me. It is truly about Him, His power, His desires, His will. God can speak through people, experiences, things. His voice can be heard through others without them even being aware of it. I am so thankful that He chose a 7 pound, 2 ounce precious baby girl to speak to me for a lifetime. I just can't wait to wrap my arms around her again.
What I don't know is what color her eyes were. They may have been a beautiful shade of blue like her Daddy's, or a deep shade of brown like her Mommy's. Or maybe the perfect combination of both and her own shade of green. I can't tell you if her cry was loud and boisterous, or sweet, quiet and angelic. I am not sure what her smile looked like, or if her cheek flashed a dimple when she laughed. However, I can tell you that she was absolutely beautiful with her eyes closed. I don't know if she was shy and quiet like her Mommy, or more outgoing like her Daddy. I will always wonder if she would have liked playing with baby dolls, dressing up, and sporting flashy necklaces as she pranced around the house in plastic high heels, or if she would have played ball, cars and trucks, climbed trees, and been a tomboy as she grew.
Her Mommy was scheduled to have her on June 27th, but she was born on June 25th instead. I can vividly still hear things that were said on that day, that were seen on that day, that were heard on that day, and that were felt on that day. I can recall events that happened almost 15 years ago like they happened yesterday. Lessons learned, emotions felt, questions asked but not answered. What should have been one of the happiest moments quickly changed to a very hard, life changing, devastating day as Claire was born without a heartbeat. Still. Quiet.
I was lucky enough to be able to see her, hold her, talk to her. It wasn't long, but the five minutes that I spent with her, holding her precious body, touched me more than some people that I have spent days with, weeks with, months with. She never moved, never uttered a sound, yet God used and continues to use her more powerfully in my life than most people who have spoken thousands of words to me. She didn't wrap her hand around my finger, or look me in the eye, yet she touched me deeply in ways that I cannot explain. Those five minutes were life changing, but so was everything else about her.
I learned the day of her birth that she shared my name. For nine months, she had been called baby Claire. Yet along the way, without my awareness, her parents had chosen her full name to be Meredith Claire. It was one of the most amazing, meaningful, thoughtful gifts I have ever been given. One that truly touched me for a lifetime. Her name challenges me, encourages me, strengthens me, and reminds me of who I am, and who I hope to become. Her name drives me. For whenever I say my name, I am reminded of her.
She never made a sound, never said a word, never even opened her eyes, yet God used her powerfully in my life and in the lives of others. God's strength was seen in her parents as they grieved her loss, God's love was witnessed in the way others poured love over that family during a very tragic time, God's comfort was felt as He carried those that missed her terribly. God's sacrifice, love, faithfulness, and goodness all became very real as we were reminded that we would see her again one day with Him. It wasn't good-bye, it was see you later.
I have learned through her life and through her death that God can and will use me. I don't have to utter a sound, say a word, move a muscle and He has the power to use me in the lives of others. It isn't about me, it isn't up to me, it isn't something I can accomplish on my own. I often find myself questioning if I am doing enough, if I have prepared myself to be used in the lives of others. However, Claire's life and death remind me that it truly isn't about me. It isn't about what I think I need to do, or positioning myself so that He can use me. It is truly about Him, His power, His desires, His will. God can speak through people, experiences, things. His voice can be heard through others without them even being aware of it. I am so thankful that He chose a 7 pound, 2 ounce precious baby girl to speak to me for a lifetime. I just can't wait to wrap my arms around her again.
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