Our Hearts...according to Beth

Today Beth was showing me her ribs. I asked if she knew why God created her with a ribcage. Jason jumped in to say, "to protect our hearts and lots of other important things." And Beth continued, "yes, because if our hearts get broken, God would fall out and die."

Beth's Cinderella Dance

Beth's first recital was tonight. It was definitely 4 year old talent but adorable, and you can see how into the song she truly was...honestly everytime I watch I tear up. The song is cruel like that and then you add a bunch of four year old girls being so super sweet...see if you can hold back the tears!



And here's her tap dance...I'm not sure if she's a bit early on some of the moves or if everyone else is a bit late...but it's fun to watch :)



Someday you can dance on stage, too, Jill!

She was so excited to get flowers from her Daddy. She even asked, "do I get to take these home?" So sweet...

And after a long evening of dancing and being adorable, she fell asleep and her Daddy carried her to bed.

6 months on Easter Sunday!

Jillian turned 6 months old in California. Half a year old and she finally got to meet so much of my family. It was pure joy for me to see my Grandma, aunts, cousins, and sisters holding her and loving on her.We spent a few fun days playing at Grandma Mae's. She sang and played with Jill...so fun to watch!My cousin Rob got Jillian kisses!
Jillian enjoyed some quality time with her Aunt Lindsay.and her Aunt Janis (she took a nap on Janis' lap :)So many cousins to hold Jill and to make her laugh (it seemed their goal to get her attention and make her laugh, and I must add, they were quite successful with a usually very quiet Jill). So what does 6 months mean for Jillian - she's rolling over, grabbing everything within sight, eating solid food (is baby food really solid?) and starting to sit up (or rather remain sitting when we set her down). She's just amazing!

Happy Birthday, Adam!

Our computer is down so I haven't blogged since before our California trip. There are so many pictures and stories but for now sharing my baby boy's birthday is priority... Adam is turning 3! He's so excited to celebrate his big day with candles, fish and friends. Yes, it's a fish theme and he'll be wearing his Nemo costume. Someday I'll have a working computer and share pictures of all the fun :) It should be a great beginning to a wonderful year. We're entering a time of no pacifier, potty training (finally) and even taking an art class one day a week this fall. Where does the time go? For now, I'm working to get as many hugs, smiles and tickles in as I can.

Happy Birthday, Adam! I love you so much!

Jillian at 5 months

This post is a little late but here goes...Jill is 5 months old and getting cuter by the day. It's so fun to talk to her because her expressions now react to you. She giggles. She reaches her hands out to touch your face. She stares intently at you like she's listening to every word. Or she turns her head and stares at her hands like they are the most amazing creation ever (which they may be). The kids fight over talking to her and hugging her and giving her kisses. She is not lacking in love. She's starting to eat solid foods (or at least baby food) and enjoys it. Jason says her first word is "mmmm." She really does make a lot of noise when eating (and quite a mess. She messed up a few shirts before we found all the bibs that were still packed away upstairs!) She's rolled over now and we can only sit back and wait for what is to come from our beautiful Jillian!

A word from Beth

Beth opened our Bible and started "reading" today. I thought I'd share her words with all who have an ear to hear:

Oh God, you are so great. I love you, Oh God.

You are the only one who fits my heart.

Oh God, take heed, I love you, You are God.

And now I will sing...I love God (and she continued on with her song repeating how she loves God, a common song theme for her).

I love these tender moments and need to remember them as she continues to grow up too fast.

Snow in Georgia!

It's March 1, and it's snowing! Just a week ago I was noticing the flowers on our trees and thinking, spring is here! But today at church during the message, our pastor paused and said, "is anyone else seeing white?" Sure enough the rain pouring down outside had turned to snow! It was hard to pay attention to the rest of the service (sorry, Pastor Jerry). It was just so beautiful to watch. And I kept wondering, what were my kids doing in their classes while this was going on outside their windows? I just couldn't picture Jason sitting there listening while the snow was falling. Turns out he was being a good student, at least outwardly. He said he just kept staring out the windows trying to be patient and sit still (good, boy!) As for the others, the teacher gave up and took them outside to play for a minute so they could then go back in and finish their lesson. After church we have lunch together. Today the kids (even most of the high schoolers) skipped lunch and opted for playing in the snow. Jason ran out there in his shirt, no jacket. I really wish I had had my camera with me. He just ran in circles arms out looking up...pure joy. I made him come in finally to eat a little something, thaw his fingers, and get a sweatshirt before heading back out. They even got cups and scooped snow off the playground equipment so they could eat it. The way all these kids were enjoying eating their cups of snow, you'd wonder why we bother flavoring snowcones! We finally headed home and got warm coats and gloves on so the real playing could begin.

But after running around a bit more, we decided it was hot cocoa time. And today is looking like a good movie day so I'm going to go pop some popcorn while we try to enjoy the warmth of our home for a little big longer before spring really does arrive soon.

Here's some pics of us playing back at the house...

Right after this picture, Adam asked if we could go inside.

And now that we're back inside and have warm tummies full of cocoa...