Fun with Jocie and Bella

Abby Kate with a sweet staff member

Bella!

Sweet friends...
We got to have a super fun day with my best friend of 25 years and her precious daughter on Tuesday.  Bella was on spring break so we got to spend some time at the mall, go to Bounce U and then to eat a yummy meal at Los Cabos!  We had a ball!  On of my favorite parts of the day was at the mall, the girls wanted to get their pics taken in one of those photo booths.  Bella wanted the theme to be "best friends."  Joce and I were inseperable as children, from the first day of first grade on.  I love seeing our daughters play and love on each other.  And now, we are both pregnant with little boys who will only be 2 months apart.  When I sent my Mom pics from this day, she replied, "reminds me of 2 other precious girls I know."  Me too.  

The girls played until they were sweaty and exhausted and Joce and I got a chance to catch up.  It was truly a great day!  I am so thankful for precious friends...

A new normal...

Um, yeah, this is what I found after a 2 hour quiet time.  I tried transitioning to quiet time after 2 weeks of no naps and it worked wonderfully.  She loved having time to herself and spent most of the time playing in her closet, as you can see.  However, after spending a couple of days out of town and her not napping OR getting quiet time, she had the saddest, most horrific meltdown I have seen since infancy.  It took Bobby and I both to calm her down, get her to eat a quick bite and down by 6 pm (her normal bedtime is 7:30).  So needless to say, she thinks she is big, but still needs that naptime routine, even if it is just to spend some time alone.  She was this way even as a baby.  Got overstimulated way easy.  It hit me one day how horribly I attempt to keep her entertained.  We were driving to meet my parents and about 40 minutes into the drive, Bobby was reading and I was driving with the radio off, I realized I had been lost in my thoughts (I do that lots :)) and turned around to see what she was doing and she was gazing out the window happily.  I asked her (stupid I know), "Abs, do you want me to turn on a DVD or do you just want to sit?"  and she replied, "just sit Momma."  Yeah, me too.  So why is it that in this noisy, crazy world, I feel the need to constantly stimulate my child?  So I quit.  And am trying to stick to it.  Because you know what?  I desperately want my child to love silence.  To love being alone with her thoughts.  To be comfortable in her own skin.  And to someday, delight in her time alone with her Father.  And by gosh, I am not just going to hope it will happen.  We are setting new patterns!  

Campout!

Well our first campout was a success!  Abby Kate was more excited than I have ever seen her.  We got to roast marshmallows and eat smores (which she took apart and ate the chocolate alone).  She got to put on her jammies and we put the sleeping bags on the trampoline.  She also wanted to bring her pillow, her bunny and her Bible.  She and Daddy got to jump a TON and then was got in our sleeping bags and told "ghost stories" at her insistence.  We read the story of Esther from her Bible and just visited.  She was too excited to lay down so after a while, we went inside to sleep.  SUCH a fun memory!  Great idea Daddy!

Big Sisters Rock!

Abby Kate L-O-V-E-S this t-shirt!  Wants to wear it every day.  She is super excited about becoming a big sister.  She wants to look at my tummy every day and often talks to him.  In case you haven't heard, she is going to have a brother.  Funny story.  We told her back after we found out the names we had picked out, thinking it would help it become more real to her.  She was all about the brother for a while and then made a drastic switch.  Our girl name was Ellie and our boy name is Bo.  She would daily say, "Mom, I want Ellie not Bo okay?"  I tried every day to explain to her that it was God's choice all the while cringing hoping if it WAS a boy, she wouldn't be too devastated.  When we found out Wednesday, we came home and told her she was going to have a brother and she happily went along playing.  When asked, she will clearly say, "Bo is in Mommy's tummy."  However just a few days ago, we were talking and she said something about Bo and then as if she had just remembered, asked "what about Ellie?"  My heart stopped and I quickly wondered what to say.  I just said, "God picked Bo for us this time and you will have SOOO much fun with him!  You are going to be such a great big sister!"  And she sweetly replied, "yep, I am going to hold him and feed him a bottle and change his diaper and love him Mom."  Oh my heart.  I cannot wait to watch her in this role!

Cuddling with Daddy....

Valentine's Day and Birthday Celebrations....

Munching on cookie cake...YUM!

The whole Valentine's gift...is it not the cutest rain ensemble you have ever seen?!

Nothing like trying to play catch up!  These are from Valentine's Day weekend.  It is also Sweecie's birthday and Uncle Hal's on the 12th so we had an amazing celebratory weekend.  We got to have a yummy brunch at Hal and Ashley's and then Los Cabos for lunch.  We played Rock Band and Wii Fit at Hal and Ashley's along with lots of other fun stuff.  SO FUN!  Ashley's family came too so we had a ball with them as well.  Abby Kate is already calling them their grandparent names before Liv even makes her appearance.  We are so blessed to have such fun family!