Gracie, my sister, and Nkere, my brother-in-law are expecting their first baby in May! We are so excited to meet our new nephew Andre (Dre) Isaiah! He will be our third sweet nephew! I LOVE being an aunt! It's one of the greatest things ever!
Saturday was Gracie's first baby shower! It was so fun to get to see her showered with friendship, fun, and presents...of course! I tried narrowing down the pictures (which I had permission from Gracie to post) but, it was a little rough.
Betsy did a great job setting everything up! Thanks for opening up your home Betsy!!
The Spread
The Cake
Aunt Sandra decoupaged and stained the letters for his name...aren't they cute?!
Gracie Claire was Aunt Gracie's little helper!
My mom found a onesie that says, "Small, Dark, and Handsome!" So cute!
This is Gracie opening something that I gave her. She admired mine, so I had Emily make her one too. Look close--she's crying. I love making the people I love most cry with gifts. I promise I'm not morbid! :)
Here it is!!
Aunt Amanda, Gracie and Dre, Gigi, and Aunt Sandra
My Pretty Girl
Thank you Sandra, Betsy, Hope, Niki, Jodi, and all of her friends who came for making this day special for my sister!
This girl has so many facial expressions and poses that it's as if she's already preparing herself for ANTM (America's Next Top Model.) This would be her "yeah, I know I'm cute...what ya gonna do 'bout it!" expression.
This would be her modeling her dress. We have to work on her holding the pose. :)
Gracie Claire loves the "Good Night Show" with Star and Nina on the Sprout network. One of the things they always do is an evening stretch. This particular night they did a yoga pose/stretch. I loved how into it she got!
Sydney loves to eat. She usually eats more than Gracie Claire does. One morning, I made pancakes (one of the girls' favorites) for breakfast. With the last bit of the batter, I made one huge pancake. Who's the girl that wanted it? Our little "pancake" (you know...instead of "cupcake") Sydney Hope.
Our baby is 5 MONTHS OLD! How is that even possible!!! She is the easiest, most content baby! We can't imagine our family without her! We love you so much Molly Joy!!
Chillin' in the Bumbo
It's been a rough day...so, I'm chillin' with Aunt Gracie!
Sydney has been testing the waters lately when it comes to nap time. She is a fabulous sleeper, but now that she knows how to climb out of her bad and open doors, she thinks it's even more fabulous to see if she can get out of nap time. Paul came up with his own tactic. Since there are no locks on their bedroom doors, he shoves a book in the space between the door and the door jam and jams the door so you can't open it from the inside. Now...before anyone shakes their finger, we promise that this has only been done during nap time when we are aware of what's going on. We don't lock her in at night. I promise. :) And, we only had to do it a couple of times for her to get the picture. Anyway.
Thank you, Eric Carle, for your help in soothing our daughter to sleep!
Napping on the floor is better than no nap at all...right?!
Paul has a job! At least until October. Even though it's temporary, we feel like it is part of God's plan for us. We both have a peace about it. This whole experience has been such a faith building exercise for us. Paul has interviewed at several different places, feeling good about a couple of them and knowing that some of them were definitely not our answer. He has networked like crazy and tried really hard to find something "permanent." The opportunity that he has accepted was offered to him several weeks ago. Then, I was not really excited about it. I just knew that this was hope that God was giving us. That He would give Paul a permanent job before he would have to commit to this one. Well, I was wrong. This job involves Paul being gone during the week. If you know me well at all, you know that I'm not the greatest at spending the night by myself, my love language is quality time, and I count on Paul for a lot. Well, guess what? I'm going to have to trust that God is going to take care of us even though we'll be apart during the week. Know that even at night, I won't be alone...God will be there wrapping His arms around us and keeping Paul safe. I'm going to have to be extra thankful for the time that we actually do get to spend together. I'm going to have to remember and be super thankful for all of the things that Paul does for me and the girls. He's not your typical Husband or Daddy. I know that I'm biased, but my husband is the best. He loves me even in my ugliest moments. And I have many ugly moments...sadly. He's my best friend. He does so much. He helps me with laundry, does dishes, makes dinner every now and then, vacuums, and does other random things that I ask him to do. He even does some of those things without being asked. I know...close your gaping mouths. It's true! Even better, he's the best Daddy. He loves our girls with everything. He plays with them, cuddles, kisses, and hugs them, and he shows them what a true Daddy looks like. Even better than that...he totally loves Jesus. His faith through this whole situation has never wavered. He's the best!
Back to the job stuff. A couple of weeks ago Paul was offered a permanent job. It wasn't what he wanted, it wouldn't pay our bills, it would require overtime and working on Saturdays. It would've stunk. At first, Paul thought he would go ahead and take it. It would be something that would get us through until something better came along. Of course we wanted counsel and the best we get is always from my Dad. Both of us were crying by the time we were done listening to what he had to say. Not a shocker for me, but Paul isn't a crier. Dad asked us if we had a peace that this was God's answer to Paul's job situation. No. He said many things that reminded us of how God had provided for us so far and that He would keep providing. He said that we needed to step out in faith and not in fear. Taking that job was stepping out in fear. Paul called the company the next day and declined. The job that he has accepted is not the one that we'd pictured God would give him. It's temporary and it takes him away from us for a few days at a time, but here are the positives. By the time he starts this job, he will have been home with us for a little under three months. More time than he has ever had off with us before. He gets to come home every weekend. His first assignment is in Shreveport, so it's close enough to drive if we want to attempt it. He will make more money by the end of this job than he did last year. He has two assignments...one in Shreveport and one in Indianapolis. Between the two, he gets a month off. This job will give him experience "managing management." That's something that he doesn't have on his resume'. This job could be what leads him to a permanent job. There are so many good things about it. It's provision.
We still don't know what will happen when his assignment ends, but we know that God will provide. That's enough. And, we're thankful.
I love this song. It's so comforting. I love Sister Act 2 too. But, that's another post. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us. Please keep praying. This will be tough, but we know we can get through as long as we keep holding on to the One who watches over us.
My sweet Molly is the most content, happy, and loveable baby! She's so easy to get a grin out of and her precious laugh melts my heart! She definitely fits her middle name -- Joy! My third pretty girl!
Sydney is a little more cooperative about getting pictures done. She's definitely a girl who will smile at anything! I think she'll turn in to a little poser herself. She's my spunky, sweet girl who's 99% sweetheart and 1% stinker! My second gorgeous girl!
I'm a little late in sharing these, but had to anyway. Here's my oldest baby girl at 4! She's not a big fan of getting her pictures done, but I can always count on her for some great poses. Isn't she beautiful?! What I'm most proud of, though, is how beautiful she's becoming on the inside!!
I am the wife of the best husband, the mommy of the greatest, most precious girls, the teacher of the most awesome students, and the child of the Most High King! I have been given the best life and I strive to live it for Him!
Betsy did a great job setting everything up! Thanks for opening up your home Betsy!!
The Spread
The Cake
Aunt Sandra decoupaged and stained the letters for his name...aren't they cute?!
Gracie Claire was Aunt Gracie's little helper!
My mom found a onesie that says, "Small, Dark, and Handsome!" So cute!
This is Gracie opening something that I gave her. She admired mine, so I had Emily make her one too. Look close--she's crying. I love making the people I love most cry with gifts. I promise I'm not morbid! :)
Here it is!!
Aunt Amanda, Gracie and Dre, Gigi, and Aunt Sandra
My Pretty Girl
