God Truly Does Have a Sense of Humor

I can only imagine how God was rolling with laughter each time I repeated the words, "God knows I can't handle another boy," over the previous four months.

In the pic below, you're looking up at his little bottom. His legs are open and his knees are bent.


She caught him opening and closing his mouth - it was so amazing!:

Below you can see his legs. His legs are crossed. The top long line is one leg crossing on top of the other leg... leading to both sweet little feet at the right.

Praise Him!! He gently and thoughtfully formed this sweet one and has already set him apart! (Jeremiah 1:5)

If You Want Your Kids to Enjoy Reading, Let Them Have Fun With the Refrigerator Letters

I swear I've heard that somewhere before. Maybe it was on Sesame Street. I bet it was even someone famous yet "smart" that said it, like Michelle Obama or Angelina Jolie. The refrigerators letters are where it's at, people.

My kids are going to be the smartest in their class, because this is their new favorite game.

Step 1: Put all the letters that aren't already on the floor within 1-year-old brother's reach.


Step 2: Help said brother wreak havoc on the kitchen by pelting the cheap, fake floor tile with indestructible alphabet projectiles.


Step 3: Pretend you enjoy picking up the plastic alpha-bombs so you look really cute for the camera.

Step 4: Mysteriously disappear so you can make sure the brother is the one who really does all of the "clean-up" work.

Step 5: When you notice that pesky brother abandoning his post to beg attention off of mom, quickly join him. This is the only other way to be assured of safety from that wretched "clean up" song for the tenth time today.

Five Reasons to Visit Your Neighborhood Zoo

#1. Your children get to see the faces of their friends instead of yours all day:


#2. Quality time with Mommy... and the stroller.


#3. They can taunt something else for a change instead of each other ("c'mon, Mr. Lion, come and get me!")


#4. They can get extensive practice with their newly learned skills, such as pointing at interesting objects.

#5. You can really prove to them who's boss when you stay too long and have one complaining that she's hungry for an entire thirty minutes while the other screams uncontrollably for the five minute walk back to the car.

That'll teach 'em who makes the decisions in this house.

Get outside before it snows this weekend!!!

Rock On

Strike A Pose

Big Elmo

On Saturday we took the kids to Sesame Street Live, or "Big Elmo," as Sophie calls it. We had a blast! It was so worth the ticket money to watch my kids' expressions and see how much they enjoyed it.

Anxiously awaiting the show's beginning:




Our Sesame Street friends:

Loving every minute:

Will loved the show as well. I expected him to lose interest quickly, but he stayed interested for pretty much the entire show, and would even stand up and "dance," bounce, clap his hands and wave his little arms in the air professing his excitement in babbles. It was precious!

Snuggy time with Grandma:

Bye-bye, Elmo!

I have to add that Sophie thanked God that night for going to Big Elmo, she woke up on Sunday morning and said, "We're going to Big Elmo tomorrow," and even tonight she thanked God again that we get to "go to Big Elmo." I'm hoping she'll eventually forget since they don't come back for another year!

I Doubt She Will Ever Forgive Me For This

Beauty for Ashes

I got a call yesterday from Compassion International. They have finally found Scleve alive and unharmed!! PRAISE GOD!!


Her family home was destroyed, which breaks my heart for her. However, I couldn't help but think of the prophet Isaiah's words (61:1-3):

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me...
...to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."

The people of Haiti are precious to Christ and surely He is working even now to bestow crowns of beauty, oils of gladness, and garments of praise. He will use this tragedy for the glory of His holy name!

It's a Bathtime Party!

Will's favorite thing in the world is taking baths. Therefore we found it appropriate to theme his first birthday party accordingly. Enjoy the pictures!

It's my party and I'll drool excessively and all over everything if I want to:


I'll also kiss cute baby girls if I feel so entitled:


And I just might practice taking a few steps... but only a few.


The amazing bathtub cake, made by my incredibly talented friend Brianne. Notice how the tile matches our bathroom:


The little bathtub came off the big cake and was Will's own personal cake! He LOVED the bubbles and began picking them off one by one. Check out his cute little grin as he eats the first one:


Figuring out how this works:

This is good stuff!

Did you really let me just eat all of that knowing how I would feel afterward?:

We asked our friends to wear bath attire in honor of Will (those who didn't comply were banned from the picture):

Happy family (well, mostly... the 2-year-old was tired of pictures by this time and let us know it):

Will's favorite gift - his couch/sleeper! He crawls all over it and thinks it is great fun!

A big thanks to my mom and dad for all their help, and to my sis for getting her kiddos up at 6 a.m. to make a surprise appearance!

Happy birthday, big boy!!