Alice's Air

HAPPY 4TH

2009-07-04T15:58:00.002-04:00

We spent the day as a family yesterday and it was amazing. Brian has not had a lot of time off work recently so the girls (including this girl) were excited to get some quality time with him. Yesterday morning we did some science (you know Brian's 2nd love....I better be his first). Brian got the girls some of those growing crystals. He is all about exposing them to as much science as possible during their early years. We played with that yesterday morning and then we ate an early lunch and were off to the movies.

Ice Age : Dawn of the Dinosaurs was excellent.....even better in 3D. The glasses were so big that I couldn't stop laughing at how Mili and Sadie looked in them. I SO wished I had brought my camera for that event. The girls LOVED it so much they are already asking to go again. It was expensive so we will not be doing that outing often (especially after Sadie turns 2 at the end of August because then we have to pay for her too....YIKES).

Our day ended with grocery shopping for Mommy and then a nice walk around the pond close to our house and up to a huge hill to see the sunset. WOW!!! What a nice end to a GREAT day!!! We love us some Daddy time!!!!

Now I have to run and get ready to go to a party. We are going to join some friends and family at a friends house for a fun and relaxing evening.

Love to ALL. Hug a solider today!!!!

2009-07-01T14:08:00.001-04:00

If you want to see the pictures closer you can just click on it.

Just thought I would let you all see my monkeys in the bathtub. They are so much fun at this age. Mili just turned 4 and Sadie will be 2 in August.

We have been a sick family recently and are hoping that we are all getting better. Mili is the only one still on antibiotics for an ear infection (only the second one in her whole 4 years, but it was a big one). Mommy is feeling much better. Thanks for all the prayers for our family. It is always nice to know that people are praying for us. We hope to be able to enjoy some of our summer now.

We have plans to check out some IMAX movies, swim in Nanny and Poppy's pool (pictures to come on that one), play in the park (when the heat index is less than 110), go to the library (our girls favorite place in the whole world), go to The Children's Museum, and go visit our friends in Maryland.

Somewhere in there we are going to have Mili's 4th birthday party. Her friends have been sick too and with all the activities we had going on at the church there was no time for us to have it. Maybe next weekend.

We love you all!!!

Sadie At Her Best!

2009-04-25T10:43:00.006-04:00

I have not posted in a while and it has been a long time since I have just posted about one of the girls. It is usually a duel post on both of them.

Here are some recent photos of my sweet Sadie Beth at her best. She is my rounder, never stops, into everything, keeps me on my toes kind of girl. These are photos of when our house is a little less noisy and actually down right pleasant.

Sadie is so sweet when she sleeps (yes, quiet.....but more than that). She's starting to loose the baby fat and I am going to miss it so much. I am having a hard time with "loosing" my baby since we are not planning to have any more in our future. She is growing up WAY too fast for me.

I have very few pictures of Sadie sleeping because, unlike Mili, she would wake up every time I took her picture. At some point, VERY early on in her life, I decided it was not worth the Kodak moment to wake her up. Enjoy the pics!!!

Sadie is a LOVER of books (both girls are)!!! She even wants to sleep with her books. We have a fit every night because she wants a huge book in the crib with her when she goes to sleep. I bought her some tiny books to sleep with. She ask for the tiny book every night (crazy I know). There are worse things she could be attached to. I love that she is using a box as her chair.

I hope to have more pictures up later. I am not doing a good job at keeping this thing updated. If I would ever get all of my SD cards clear then I would probably take more pictures. My children live in facebook land and blog world. I almost never get them developed any more......pitiful, just pitiful!!!

Love to ALL!!!!

Where is my MD......

2009-04-07T14:15:00.002-04:00

and I don't mean Maryland this time!

I think I deserve a MD for all the nursing back to health in my household this last week. I am happy to say that I "think" we are getting back to some kind of normalcy around here but I am scared to say that out loud so I chose to type it.

Recap of our sick little family......

We returned home from vacation last Sunday night. Brian was nursing an inflamed, very painful lower leg but everyone else seemed to be fine. We went about our normal weekly routines during the first of the week but Brian's leg continued to get worse and more swollen. We tried to get an appointment for him on Tuesday but had to wait until Wednesday afternoon. It turned out to be what we "think" is a blood clot. So his instructions were to have it propped up as much as possible (in Brian's terms....he is a Doctor but NOT that kind). He should have had it up from that moment on. Anyway, he has battled with it all week and it is still giving him some trouble.

Wednesday morning Sadie woke up with a fever. I thought it was another fever virus but soon found out it was MUCH more. We soon had vomiting and many, many, many dirty (soaking through clothes) diapers. I was feeding ice chips to her to keep some kind of fluid in her. Dehydration scares me so I will do whatever it takes to stay out of the ER. This went on for days and the first day she ate regular food was Saturday. She is back to 100% full force now (I am happy but also very busy with her while trying to take care of yet another sick child).

Mili woke up Saturday morning vomiting (on her big egg hunt day). She broke me and Brian's hearts with this statement shortly after a vomiting episode....."I hope I don't throw up on the egg hunt...." I had to break the terrible news to her that she would not be able to attend. However, Mommy was the one in charge of the egg hunt so Mommy had to go and leave my sick baby at home with a recovering sister (who was still not well enough to go) and a propped up leg Daddy. Mili's fever soon spiked and by Sunday night it was over 104 and I was sponge bathing her in the bath tub. Every time we tried to give her medicine for the fever she would throw it up again. She was hard to keep hydrated because she is my "milk only" kid. She does not drink anything but milk and we all know that that is not a good idea for an upset tummy. We fought her many times a day to get her to drink something and it was normally water. Today has been the first almost fever free and vomit free day (so far). Mili has eaten some solid food today.

Brian's leg seems to be doing better after having it up all weekend. I hope it will be well soon.

I am not sick, just tired!!! I have done my share of poopie and vomit soaked laundry. Don't you think I at least earned an honorary MD for administering all the meds at the right time to the right person. Mommy needs some Alice time (time to be Alice and not mommy or wife).

The good news is.....we had two incredibly sick children and we did not have to take them to the ER. I feel like that is a blessing straight from God above.

We are hoping that by Thursday we will be back to normal and on a schedule again.
Love to ALL!!!!

Vacation Moments

2009-03-30T12:50:00.048-04:00

We went on vacation to Branson, MO. We had originally planned to take the girls to Silver Dollar City but it was rainy (and snowy) so we just did inside activities most of the time we were away.

We arrived on Thursday and decided to take advantage of the slightly warmer weather and go to the Branson Landing Mall. They had a playground there. My children can sniff out a playground miles away.

Mili and Sadie both enjoyed the playground. It was for small children (although there are always the ones that break the rules) but they had a great time.

Mili is slow to warm up with many things. She likes to scope everything out before she tries anything.

Sadie on the sidelines for the first little bit. It did not last for long.

Mili warmed up fast and was soon zooming down the slide (with her arms high in the air). So carefree!!!

Mili is still Maryland at heart. She picked the crab to play on first. I LOVE it!!! She also picked out a crab decoration for her Crocs.

Sadie finally made it on site and I am not so sure Mili is happy about it.

Mili was blinded by the glare off the clouds.

At the Bass Pro Shop store. There are fish behind her.

Mili in the same spot.

At Branson Landing we did Build-A-Bear Workshop. Mili has been asking me to do this since we moved back to AR since there is one in the mall here.

This is Mili 's bear pre-suffing.

Mili pushing the pedal to fill her bear with stuffing.

Making sure it has enough stuffing.

Picking out the heart for her bear.

Sadie's bear getting it's stuffing.

Sadie putting in her bear's heart.

I think this is my FAVORITE picture of the whole vacation. Mili is too cute letting her true emotions out in this photo. She is giving her and Sadie's bears a "bath" (blowing all the excess fur off).

Sadie with her bear "Fluffy".

Mili with her bear "Cinderella" wearing a ballerina outfit.

We brought the tent for the girls to sleep in BUT that did not work. So Sadie slept with me and Mili with Brian. They did enjoy it while it was up.

We went to the new NOAH Musical and it was worth every penny. It was a great play with ginormous sets and lots of live animals. The cast and animals go up and down the aisles. It was a terrific show for the girls. They stayed engaged the whole 2 1/2 hours. It has a great message comparing the story of the flood to accepting Jesus as your Savior. It was GREAT and the set was HUGE (did I already say that?). We could not take pictures during the production so I hope you enjoy the pictures I got of the lobby and outside.

This is the screen it covers the whole stage and is used to describe some of the story prior to Noah.

This was above the box office.

Inside the lobby.

This is a small replica of the stage. We were in the left section, aisle seats on the 12th row.

Outside the Noah Musical (Sight and Sound Theater)

We went to a dinosaur museum. I did not think it was worth the money but we got our time in at the fossil dig. Both girls would have stayed there for hours if we let them.

Our little DINO!

At the IMAX theater we saw an under the sea movie. The girls really LOVED this. Mili and Sadie both enjoyed the other activties offered in the lobby of the IMAX. We did this going into the theater and coming out.

Sadie is ready for the AR mosseyers. I have been so frustrated with AR drivers since returning from MD.

Mili wanted to sit in this LOVE seat. We didn't turn it on but the outcome is very predictable.

The outcome was defiantly true some of the time. They had their moments but if we consider they had no nap or very little nap most days they were very good little girls.

Mili and Mommy enjoyed some fingernail pampering at the hotel. I bought these before we left AR and surprised Mili with them. We had fun doing this.

Hope you enjoyed the recap of our vacation. We made memories for a lifetime. Memories are my favorite part of vacations as a family.

Hope this helps you Aunt Norma. Hope it makes you miss us enough to come back and visit soon.

Lots of EGG stuffing going on......

2009-03-30T11:54:00.005-04:00

About 1,400 eggs to be exact (or close anyway). We are doing a community egg hunt at our church on April 4th. We now have all the eggs stuffed and ready for the children to devour. Thank you to everyone that helped get the eggs prepared.

I still have lots to do to get ready for the big day but at least the stuffing part is behind us.
Here are a few pictures of the stuffing......

The boxes on the tables had 250 eggs in each one. Mili is in the blue. She loves this activity ever since we were able to participate in it at our church in MD.

Here is an almost full bin. Aren't they beautiful. I love the different colors against the green color.

My youngest sister acting crazy (like always). She was in Vanna mode here.

This is Jacob. He thought there were SO many eggs that no one would notice is one disappeared. He was actually just playing in them. I think he liked the way they felt on his hands.

We can't wait to see what God will do with our community egg hunt. He is faithful to deliver. I am trusting Him greatly right now. I have had several obstacles but it will be all worth it in the end. Please pray for good weather on the 4th. We want lots of HAPPY kids and some HAPPY parents winning door prizes.

LOTS of LOVE to ALL!!!

SPRING is on it's way...

2009-03-23T13:36:00.002-04:00

SPRING is probably my favorite time of year. The look of the sun is so different and it feels different too. Nothing better than some Spring sunshine on my face. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Not to mention my toes get come out to say hello. I am a flip flop queen so when the toes get to come out for longer than one or two days, I am a happy camper (right now, still wearing my crocs with fur).

We are on spring break this week and have planned a trip to Branson, MO (one of the places Brian and I like to visit for mini vacations). The hotels are cheap and there are so many things to do for families there. This will officially be our first family vacation (not counting the Ocean City beach trip before Sadie came along). We are getting excited at the thought of seeing the girls in a new place with lots to do and Mommy can't wait to SHOP!

In other news, Our church is having a Community Egg Hunt with over 1,200 eggs to stuff. We are stuffing those Wednesday night at our monthly meal. This was always so fun for us at the church we were (still are) members of in Maryland. So I thought we should do it to, on a much smaller scale. Our church has about 50 regular members but is one of the most giving churches you will EVER see.

In the next few weeks I will be covered up with getting everything prepared for the Egg Hunt. It is going to be a GREAT day (please pray for good weather April 4th). I can't wait to see who God brings to the hunt and who's hearts will be touched by His Spirit. It has been so fun preparing for this day so far. I am trusting that it will bring BIG things to our church.

After the Egg Hunt we will be getting geared up for Vacation Bible School (one of my FAVORITE times of the summer). We hope to be having a block party to kick it off on the Saturday before VBS starts. I am in the planning process for that as well. Lots of things going on at our church right now.

Aunt Norma, Sorry there are no pictures on this post but you can bet there will be vacation pictures, egg hunt pictures, and Easter pictures on here soon. We love you and miss you a lot!! HUGS from AR to NC!!!

I hope things are going GREAT for all my blog buddies out there and all my GBC family. We miss you and LOVE you guys dearly. More details to come on when we will be visiting in August.

Love to ALL!!!

My Pants are SO on Fire......

2009-03-09T15:29:00.002-04:00

I am such a LIAR! I apologize for my delay in updating everyone about our endeavors. We are doing well here in our house (FINALLY). Well......I guess we are well. Speaking of fire in my title, Sadie has a cough that sounds like a smoker's cough. She has had this chronic cough since October. We have tried almost everything under the sun to try to get the cough to stop. It wakes her in the night, it wakes us in the night and NOTHING wakes Mili in the night. We are now on asthma medication to see if that will help. She has had x-rays and blood tests done to rule out anything serious (so we hope anyway). It is very tiring for the family and for poor Sadie Beth. I just want her to feel normal again. Please pray for her.

Sadie Beth is learning SO much. She is trying to talk some now but signs almost everything she needs. She has taught her teachers at Mother's Day Out what she wants through her signs. They ask me about new signs all the time. She is picking up so much and understands EVERYTHING these days. It is so cool to see her grow but sad at the same time. She is my baby and yet she is quickly approaching two years old. I don't think I can stand it. She is still a little spitfire. If you are around her there is never a concern of what her feelings might be at the present time, they will be written ALL over her face! (I think she might end up being an interpreter for the Deaf....heehee).

Mili is growing like a weed and learning so much. She has mastered all of her preschool skills for her age group (very early on in the school year.....September to be exact). A little brag from a HAPPY Mommy of a very SMART girl. She still surprises me (not in a good way) with some of her motor skills (not sure if she is just plain clumsy like her mother) and keeping her emotions in check (could be inherited from Mommy as well....do all the bad things come from me????). Anyway we are VERY proud of her accomplishments and her behavior at school (she only goes two days a week.....and tends to save the majority of behavioral issues for Mommy.....smile).

Brian is totally enjoying his job. He LOVES to be a work (not sure what that says about me?) He also LOVES being with his family and spending time with us on the weekends. Our weekends are filled with family fun at home or out and about. We SO LOVE being a family. It is much better than we had ever hoped it would be. (Listening to poor Sadie cough as we speak....please pray for her).

I am doing GREAT. Working part time has helped us pay off some debt and hopefully will help us get into a house soon. We are, however, happy with the apartment we live in. It is close to everything and it is great to hop in the car and be where we need to be in no longer than fifteen minutes (most places are five minutes or shorter away.....that is "the life" for a shopper like myself).

I hope all of you are doing great too (if anyone still reads my blog since I have not updated in so long). I would tell you that pictures will follow soon but you all know that is probably a lie so I will say......pictures will follow.......

Love to ALL!!!

LOOK at ME now

2009-02-25T12:56:00.002-05:00

How do you like my new look???? I am trying some different things with the blog. Hoping to post an update today (later). Just wanted everyone to see the new "ME"!!!

Love to ALL......especially our sweet GBC family!!!

Another Someone Growing Horns

2009-01-14T11:50:00.006-05:00

Let me first say that I posted Mili with her first ponytails here. It is a big deal in our household when you have enough hair for piggy tails. If you look back in the archives of Mili on this blog you will see that she was much more compliant to having her picture taken. She usually listened to me and did what I asked of her for photo shoots.

Sadie on the other hand is a totally different story. She is all over the place (which is why I don't have as many pictures of her....and she IS the second child....I know how that feels.....more photos of the first child syndrome). I don't seem to have the energy to chase her around more than a half hour in order to get a good or decent picture of her. The kind that is not blurred from her taking off in a mad sprint toward me or away from me.

With all this being said, I love her feisty spirit and her "all or nothing" attitude (don't know where she got either one of those traits).

Hope you enjoy the first pigtails AKA HORNS!

This is always my cue to stop taking pictures. There is no way I will get a good picture after this happens.

Hope you all have a day filled with FUN!!!

Back on Track

2009-01-12T12:35:00.003-05:00

Well the New Year is here in full swing. I have been a tad bit lazy with my blog updates lately. I apologize to my avid blog readers. I will try to do better with this during the new year.

We had a GREAT Christmas and New Years in our home. We spent lots of quality time with Daddy and LOVED having him home more (I say "more" because he still went to work during the break it was just less time and a few full days off). We enjoyed our family time during the holidays. Most of all we enjoyed not being in an airport during Christmas/ New Year's. For the last three years we have spent enough time in airports for a lifetime.

This Christmas season we felt less hurried and more peace. We also were able to come back home to our own beds after the festivities, which is way better than living out of bags for two weeks.

I always hate to see the Christmas season come to an end but I am very happy to be back on a schedule with the girls. They and I are much happier that way, in turn giving us a happy home!

I will post some pictures soon. Hope all of your holidays were filled with JOY!!!
Love to ALL....missed our Greenridge family during the holidays!!!

It's all about Him......

2008-12-23T13:31:00.006-05:00

The girls have been so intrigued by the baby Jesus for the play at church. For several weeks he has been lying in the manger so they can practice with him (during the play we had him laying on hay but we waited until the last minute for that, until then he lay on this blanket to keep his swaddling clothes clean from the manger).

I took these pictures before church yesterday. Take a look at the first picture. All of us should FEEL the way Sadie LOOKS as she looks at baby Jesus.

Mili just has to pick him up every time she sees him.

Although there is nothing special about this baby doll that represents Jesus in the church play, there IS something special about the real baby Jesus that came to the earth many years ago to save ALL people from their sins. He was born to die, for YOU and ME!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to ALL......Love to ALL!!!

Pizza and Gingerbread Fun!!

2008-12-17T11:36:00.008-05:00

I ordered a Little Caesars pizza kit from a fundraiser. It has been a fun thing to do in the kitchen with Mili. She absolutely loved "cooking" in the big kitchen, standing on a chair. She kept saying that I am cooking like a big girl! These are memories that last a lifetime. I hope I will always demand that our family takes time out of our business to make memories.

Enjoy the pictures....it was as fun as it looks.

We decorated our annual Gingerbread House last week. We had such fun family time doing this and making pizzas for dinner just prior to decorating the house. Mili loved putting the different candy decorations on and eating a few while decorating.....don't we all!!

Excuse the Mommy with no make-up in this picture but I thought Mili was cute testing out the decorations.

Very precise with lining up those hearts.

Sadie, enjoying the decorations...in hair and all!!!

Proud of her finished product!!!

Love to ALL!!!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2008-12-12T11:39:00.007-05:00

Again, I am so far behind on posting the story of our lives here in our household. It seems to be a reoccurring problem. I learned a long time ago that I am only one person and I CAN'T be supermom, superwife, or superwoman in general ALL the time (just part time).

Here are the pictures of our tree decorating adventure (the Saturday after Thanksgiving). Keeping the ornaments out of Sadie's mouth and getting a hook on everything fast enough for Mili were my main issues. The girls had an amazing time decorating and making it their own (we have since moved all the breakable ones to the higher branches due to Sadie's snatching and running with the ornaments). The tree actually looks opposite of these pictures now. Not very many decorations on the bottom half of the tree.

Mili has been singing every Christmas song there is. It is too sweet to hear her singing the different songs (some she knows all the words to because she is a caroler in the church play). She is soaking up everything about Christmas this year. I am thankful that she is starting to understand that there are others who don't have what she does or even the necessities of life. She has such a compassionate heart. I hope it grows and grows.

Sadie, on the other hand, is in a love/hate relationship with baby Jesus. The baby Jesus from our nativity scene is breakable so when I let her play with it I have to be very careful. She tends to hug him tight and then throw him. He is still in one piece because we have carpet but not sure how long that will last. Poor baby Jesus. Sadie calls him "Sheesus". I am just glad she is trying to say something at this point (and that name is always a great place to start). That is all for now....enjoy the pictures.

Not sure if she is taking off or putting on...reoccurring problem through out the decorating process.

Proud of her decorating skills.

Right before a snatch and run episode. Doesn't she look innocent?

In AWWWW!!!!

Save a Life for Christmas

2008-11-30T22:34:00.002-05:00

This video helped me keep things in perspective this Christmas season. I hope it will do the same for you.

Mili's choice of Pajamas

2008-11-19T10:51:00.004-05:00

Mili had pajama day at school so we were off to find the "perfect" set for that special day (all of her current pajamas have stains on them). While shopping, I pointed out some princess pajamas and of course everyone's favorite---DORA, but she was not impressed. She saw them from across the aisle (you know the kind that are glowing from a ray of sunlight from above and maybe even a hallelujah chorus). She said, "Mommy, I want the ones with cars on them!" Here I am looking for some cute little pink jammies with beadle bug cars and groove flowers but OH NO.....she meant Cars as in Lightning McQueen.

When she walked into class on pajama day she and a little boy in her class had matching pajamas. I am trying as a parent to let her have her say in things that "don't matter". It ultimately doesn't matter if she wears girls pajamas or boys pajamas. It is who Mili is right now and I too went through this stage when I was a child.

Happy to be wearing her new pajamas to school....ALL DAY!!!

Tired of pictures and letting me know about it with that "sweet" facial expression.

Has had enough of Mommy's addiction. Can take NO more. Photo shoot OVER!!!

Love to ALL!!! Hope you are all staying warm.

Please Help an Orphan

2008-11-15T18:02:00.002-05:00

As many of us are watching our TVs, with our warm blankets, our wireless Internet and a laptop on our lap, please think of those who don't have all of these luxuries. They don't even have a blanket much less a full stomach (they probably don't know what that would feel like anyway). I know the economy is not that great but God is, so please sacrifice what you can to help these wonderful kids eat, stay warm, and learn (especially about Jesus).

You may notice a new video to the right. Please donate to this wonderful organization. They believe in caring for ALL of the orphans needs.

If you would like to know more please read about it on Tom Davis' blog. You just might win a FREE trip to Africa.

Thanks in advance for your sacrifice.

Just for FUN!!!

2008-11-14T15:03:00.004-05:00

Here is some video of the girls and Daddy having some FUN one night before bed.

I love listening to their cute laughs. ENJOY!!!

Finally Pumpkins With Faces

2008-11-08T22:59:00.011-05:00

We gave our pumpkins, that have sat on the bar for weeks, a face this past Tuesday. Yes, AFTER Halloween but we are a "better late than never" type of family. Brian has had deadlines at work that have caused him to work late most nights for the last week so we took the time we could get to give our pumpkins a personality!!!

The girls "picked" these pretty pumpkins at their schools pumpkin patch. Because the patch was at the school, Sadie also brought one home. I was surprised when I had to carry two pumpkins and a one year old (and keep up with a three year old) while leaving the building that day.

Here is some of our family time captured on "film". This chick is determined to make memories for our family.....busy or not busy, late or early!!!

Mili was having the time of her life...mess and all!

Digging out the goo....as she calls it. Sadie watching on.

Helping Daddy cut the face....she chose a mean face or a grrrrr face.

She gets so excited when she sees a plan coming together...just like her Mommy.

Mili is suppose to have a grrrrr face with Daddy...instead she just looks CUTE!!!

Sadie was not about to sit back and watch....she wanted in on the action.

Taking a look to see what is left in there.

Big sis decides to help.

The proud owners of two pumpkins with different personalities. Mil is showing some attitude in this one.

Sadie's "are we done yet?" face....we see this often.

We had GREAT family time doing this project. We are now trying to schedule what we will do as a family project for Thanksgiving....any ideas????

Please do something with your family that makes memories for a lifetime. Childhood memories are FOREVER....make them GREAT ones!!!

Love to ALL!!!

Halloween Happiness.....

2008-11-01T14:50:00.022-04:00

I have been hearing about Halloween for weeks from Mili (that's what I get for buying her costume early....I guess there are some advantages to procrastination). Mili has been dying to put on her costume and prance around in it. I have never been so glad that Halloween was here. We went to a local church fall festival and there was plenty of food, candy, games, and fun!!!

Mili was a princess and a beautiful pink one from head to toe. Sit back and enjoy the show!

Our Sadie Bug (as Bella calls her).

I just want to eat up her fat legs!!!!

Aren't they cute!

Mili is such a good big sis trying to help Sadie out with her costume.

Conversing about all the candy they will get.

Sadie on the run....it was tough getting the pictures I got of her. She is everywhere these days.

Mili LOVED the fishing game. She even acted like she was reeling one in.

Mili liked this game too.

Mili and Bella get their first glimpse of each other. They had no idea they would be twinkies and the parents didn't know until we talked to each other on the phone trying to find a way to keep those darn tiara's on their heads. Aimee came up with a great solution and they stayed on ALL night with no problems. Notice Mili's treat bucket.....explains Mili to a tee.....princess, who likes anything Spiderman!!!

Kinda posing but ready to play some games.

You can bet Mili will find Uncle Jon's lap wherever we are. We were outside watching Poppy get hit with water balloons.

All the princesses!!! Emily, Mili, Bella (Emily's dress lite up....too cute)

Nater the Superman

Our little ladybug dragging Daddy around the place.

Princesses in the bouncy house.....what fun!!!

This is how Mili looked on Thursday when she went to school (the day of her Halloween party).

This is how she came home from school!!!! Isn't that the best spider party hat you have ever seen.

Mili's words with these motions, "No more pictures, PLEASE!!!!" What can I say. Here whole life is blogged, poor baby!!

Hope all of you had a great and safe Halloween!!! LOVE TO ALL!!!!

Cousins in Pajamas

2008-10-29T10:31:00.004-04:00

Monday morning, my sister Aimee came over and watched my children so I could go to work for a short time. While she was here with three of her children (five altogether), this is what I saw. Aren't they sweet together. Sadie and Nate are almost five months apart. I hope they grow up loving each other like they do now (or is this a tackle gone bad...not sure). Sadie could care less as long as she can text her friends in MD. Shooting a text to ya Andrew, Malachi, Noa, and Kierney.

Love you All....Hope your day is GREAT!!!

Morning at the Park

2008-10-29T10:04:00.007-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we had a morning at the park. Here are a few shots from that fun day. This was the day we also planned to take the girls to the Pumpkin Patch but didn't know that it was closed.....oops.

Mili LOVES anything that has a steering wheel. We are very nervous for 16 years old with her. We are hoping that the age for getting a driver's license will go up before that date.
Sadie enjoyed the playground and all it had to offer. She explored from one end to the other and Mommy was tired after chasing her over every square inch of it.

Mili loved these pipes. They made for great fun with a great amount of noise.....or music!

Mili played on one side and Sadie on the other. "Music" to our ears!!!

This day just happened to be a perfect day to be outside. As you can tell I am still behind on getting things posted but hope to do better.

Love to ALL......Miss our MD friends!!!

BALANCE????

2008-10-20T10:07:00.006-04:00

I just put down the book "Red Letters- Living a faith that bleeds", by Tom Davis. It has taken me a very long time to read this book but considering all of the interruptions of moving across country, starting a part time job and taking care of a 3 and 1 year old the other days of the week. The important thing here is that I FINISHED it and it has CHANGED my life forever (and hopefully the future of many orphaned children as well).

For those of you who have yet to read the book. You MUST!!! (you can purchase Red Letters at Tom Davis' blog). It is an easy read on the eyes but very tough on the heart. As I was engrossed in this great book all I could see were the children roaming the streets in Honduras. Most of the children I saw there HAD families and at least ONE meal during that day but I now realize there are many more all over this world that don't even have THAT. I am trying to wrap my mind around it (I think my heart is already there.....for most of you that know me that is not surprising). My heart usually does "arrive" in every situation first. I am working now on what my mind needs to help my heart do with the information I now have from this book (and the Bible....this is a Bible based book with many scriptures). I am currently working on a "project" that could change how much money we could give to Children's HopeChest and to other organizations such as clean water, heifer project and many many more.

Blogger Friends PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for this "project". That EVERYTHING will fall into place the way it needs to so I can get started on it! More to come on that after more things are in play!!!!

I want to BLEED..... with my finances, with my family, with my time, and with everything I do. Sacrifice is the key word here, my friends. I have started thinking about each purchase I make and thinking "how many people could have clean water if I don't buy this and donate the money instead". Another question that crosses my mind often is "how many people could have medication that would keep them alive if I don't buy this and donate the money instead". I realize that we can go too far thinking this way and I tend to be an ALL or NOTHING kind of girl so the balance will be hard for me but it is worth a shot to help those that don't have all the luxuries we have EVERYDAY. What am I talking about....LUXURIES???....NO, lets just say FOOD, WATER, MEDICATION.....you get the picture!!!

Please join with me in this fight with myself....because really it comes down to selfish, human nature and we give in most of the time because we have the money and it is easy, but we could save a life if we just think about what we are doing and change our spending habits a bit.

I LOVE all of my blogger friends out there. Please don't forget to shoot up a prayer for me this week as I struggle with the balance of everything I have taken in and the "project" that could change many lives.

Love to ALL!!! More to come on this......

I Smell FOOTBALL in the Air!!!!

2008-10-17T23:24:00.011-04:00

Oh how I forgot how GOOD it feels to be sitting on hard, cold bleachers with the smell of the crisp, fall air at a football game. I absolutely LOVE it. For those of you who don't know me or don't know about my past, I spent every Thursday night during Junior High school and every Friday night during High School in the football stands in many different towns through the five years Brian played football. It was like a second home for me.

Tonight was Mili and Sadie's first Friday night football game. My niece, Victoria, is on the dance team at her school (I will not mention her school name for safety reasons.....I believe in keeping our children safe from predators online). Anyway, she was so beautiful and did a FABULOUS, FANTASTIC, FANTABULOUS job tonight. We were SO happy to finally see her show off her dance moves (by the way the other girls did GREAT too but we are a LITTLE partial to our Victoria).

Here are some pictures from tonight!

Isn't she just BEE-A-UTIFUL!!!! Mili getting her hugs I promised she would get from Victoria. Thanks for coming into the stands to see us Victoria.....Mili would have been heart broken if we had to leave without a hug.

Looking at me because I kept yelling at her like an idiot!!! I am known to have a loud mouth....no microphone needed here.

In ACTION during the game. She is the one on the very end to the far right.

Halftime show.....It was WONDERFUL!!! Great Job, Victoria!!!

Sadie spent most of her time fighting over Uncle Jon or Aunt Aimee's laps with Nater!

You see she won out in most cases or at least got to share the lap.

Our little cheerleaders in the stands. Isabella and Mili were copying the cheerleaders moves.

As the night went on it got colder and colder and Mili was COLD by the time we left. Her and Isabella decided to hog the blanket.

We had a GREAT night!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you Victoria. You did a GREAT job tonight!!!!!

Round-Up Day at School

2008-10-16T16:57:00.006-04:00

Today was Round-Up Day at Mili's school. She enjoyed dressing up in her cowgirl clothes and just HAD to wear the hat (and the pink bow as well). She made a horse out of a wrapping paper tube and "tried" some beans and bread. Mili doesn't try anything new to eat...she has to be forced to do it at home.

Take a look at this cute little cowgirl. During her photo shoot she said....."cheese, cheeseburger, and celery (never heard of this one but it worked....maybe you should try that one Chelle). She must have gotten that from when she had her school pictures taken by Jeremy (she came home and said "at picture day, Jeremy took my picture...yea, his name was Jeremy). Such detail!

Love to ALL!!!

Sadie's 1st Birthday

2008-10-13T10:31:00.010-04:00

Sadie turned 1 year old a month and a half ago. I am still a little behind on my blogging if you can't tell. So here are a few shots from her party. The party was a combined party with her cousin Isabella who was turning 4 years old. We had it in the church fellowship hall. That is why you see Sadie sitting in an antique high chair....haha.

Hope you enjoy the pictures of our 1 year old princess!!!

This one was a keeper......a LOUD keeper!!!

Sadie LOVES books and asks to read them all the time (she signs book very well).

Our little rock star with her new guitar.....She will be playing with Daddy in no time.

Calling all of her friends in MD already. Good thing there were not long distance charges involved in these calls......we have an unlimited plan!!!

Sadie's baby cake for smearing.

Her first very petite bite!

Finger lickin' GOOD!

This is much better with ALL of my fingers!

How do you like my new lip stick.....I think I will call this color "cotton candy".....you can pick it up at any bakery near you.....it has a great taste too.

Love to ALL and hope you guys have a fabulous week!!!!

A Little Creativity and A Moving Box

2008-10-09T20:34:00.008-04:00

The other day Mili asked me if we could make a rocket. I said, "No, Mommy doesn't know how to make a rocket, sweetie!" That answer was not good enough for my little strong willed child so she went and started looking for boxes. She came out of her room with a tiny box and started trying to make a rocket (that she was suppose to fit in). I felt sorry for her and went to the storage room and got a big box and started cutting away. We worked on that thing for an hour or so, decorating and all. She has spent hours playing in her rocket.

Enjoy the pictures of her in her creation.

A Frisbee serving as a steering wheel!

The bottom of a drum makes a great Astronaut helmet.

A working door, with door handle.

Proud of her creation and it had to have a flag.

Sweetness!!!!

I LOVE being Mili's Mommy. It makes my heart happy to have moments like these with her. Hoping for many more creative moments in the future with my sweeties.

Love to ALL and Miss YOU GUYS in MD!!!!

We Are Still Alive!!!

2008-10-08T22:53:00.005-04:00

Sorry....I have been a little behind.......

I know it has been forever since I have blogged. I have had several comments from my friends (especially in other states) that they want to know what is going on in our household.

Well, Brian is enjoying his job but we are not seeing a whole heck of a lot of him around here. He is working late two nights a week (arrives at the girls bedtime) and the other nights he gets home in time to eat and play with the kids an hour or so before their bedtime. We are adjusting to the new schedule here, however, I want my east coast time zone back. I liked it much better.

The girls are going to Mother's Day Out two days a week for about 5 hours each day. I am working during that time and it is definitely keeping me on my toes. It feels as if it takes me all day to get their bags and stuff ready for them to go to school the next day. I don't know how I will handle it when they are in school EVERY day. It makes me tired just thinking about it. I am sure I will get into some kind of routine soon. We are pajama wearing people around my house most of the time so it is a big change for me and them. Mili LOVES school. She wants to go every day but Mommy won't let her nor does Mommy have the money to send her every day (it is bad enough two days a week...the cost, I mean.....I enjoy the break).

We love our apartment. It is much newer and EVERYTHING works in the apartment on the first try. No more drying clothes three or four times and No more running the dish washer two times. The air conditioner has not stopped working one time since we have been here....what a relief. Mili and Sadie LOVE the room they have to run and play inside. We will be buying a house within the next year or two.

We are still a one car family but hope to change that soon. Right now we are having a hard time finding the time to look for a car. Please pray that we buy the car that God wants us to have. If we don't get one soon I am going to pull my hair out. If you would like to see a bald Alice then pray we don't find a car soon.

I appreciate all the comments and encouraging words from my blogger friends out there. We are doing fine and finally getting into some sort of normalcy around here. Please pray for the girls they have had many colds since we have moved back. Not sure if it is colds or Arkansas weather and allergies.

We love you all and I promise it won't be so long before I blog again.

I forgot to mention that Sadie is walking all over the place and is now 13 months old ( I will post her birthday pictures soon).

Here's YOUR Sign!!!

2008-09-10T10:02:00.002-04:00

Do you ever wish you could get a huge, flashing neon sign of what God wants you to do with your life? I often wish that every part of my life was a neon sign. I hate to make decisions, in part because I don't want to make the wrong one and also because I worry about it being what God wants for His kingdom.

If you have been reading my blog for a while then you know that I "met" this wonderful lady named Angel on her blog several months ago. I am not sure how I linked to her blog but I am now sure that God directed me there. She is a breath of fresh air for me. She has adopted two children and believes in taking care orphans. She and her husband, Russ, were part of the crew that started Red Letters Campaign. Through Angel, I found Tom Davis' blog and saw a man who is committed to helping orphans have quality of life, education, and spiritual mentoring. I am reading his book Red Letters right now.

All that background to say this.....I tend to be very stubborn when it comes to listening to God. I go to church, pray and read my Bible but many times I second guess what God can do through me if I am a willing participant. I try to tell God that I am not able because of this or that and all of it is just an excuse not to step out of my comfort zone. Before I "met" any of these people in the blog world, I was starting to feel like God wanted me to step out of the 4 walls of the church building that I LOVE so much. Don't get me wrong, I think the church does great things inside the 4 walls but there is so much more to do.

I started reading Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren and started seeing what life is like outside of my city, state and country. Life is too short for us not to share our money, time, ideas, and energy to help others. We are so blessed in the US and many times we feel entitled to that lifestyle when there are many others who could have clean water, food, clothing, medicine, education, spiritual mentoring, and ultimately salvation and a way out of the poverty they live in each day of their lives if we would only give a little of what we have.

Since we moved from Maryland back to Arkansas in the last month I have been totally focused on our family and the transition for our family. While that is all fine and good it has it's flaws. Satan has been using that to keep me from finishing the book Red Letters and from being involved in a ministry I think God has called me to promote.

I recently got my NEON sign.......I saw a commercial on television for a comedian named Anita Renfroe. You may know her mom song, you can watch it on YouTube (I tried to get it to link but it wouldn't). I felt as if I needed to go see her, partly because I was grieving leaving my friends in Maryland and felt I needed some laughter. That next weekend at church they announced that we could go in with another church down the road and get discounts on our tickets to go see her. I was so excited and met the ladies from our church at a bigger church where Anita would be doing her thing. When I walked into the foyer to the church I saw a huge Saint's Coffee sign. I thought, ok God, I am listening since I copy and pasted that badge from Tom Davis' blog and had never seen it before seeing it on his blog. As we went into the auditorium we were handed a brochure that had Children's HopeChest on it. You know that feeling of your heart racing and your hands become sweaty and a little bit of speedy breathing going on. Well I had all of the above. I could not believe what I was seeing. Then at the end of the show Anita started talking about Children's HopeChest and about Tom Davis and there was a message on the big screen from him. All I could hear in my head was the conference call that I was on with Tom Davis and the others from Children's HopeChest and the Red Letters Campaign. God was really working on me there. I was in tears as I saw the video just feeling that sense of "God is going to do something in my life to help children have a chance to have a better life and ultimately find Jesus."

You may think that that was enough for a neon sign for me but oh no....not Alice. I was still in my zone of trying to get my family back on track. That next Monday was Labor Day and we had a gathering of family on Brian's side of the family at the church. While we wanted to see everyone since we hadn't seen most of them in 7 or 8 months, Sadie was sick. Because Sadie was sick we (Brian and I) switched off taking care of Sadie at my in-laws house. When it was my turn to take care of Sadie I sat down to rock her and watch some television. While doing some channel surfing I ran across a familiar face. None other than, you guessed it, TOM DAVIS. I broke into tears and couldn't believe my eyes. I watched the rest of the program and then as I was flippin' those channels again the next day it happened again. I watched the rest of the program (it was a two parter) and was so inspired to get back on track with reading Red Letters and trying to see where and what God wants me to do for Children's HopeChest.

I can't look at the events mentioned above and believe that it is all coincidental. Please pray for me to know where I need to go with this. There will be more about this after I finish reading Red Letters and another book The Art of Listening Prayer by Seth Barnes.

Just thought I would share my neon sign moments. Please share some of your neon sign moments from God. They are always encouraging to others.

HAPPY 20th Superman!!!!!!!

2008-09-04T16:17:00.003-04:00

See how HAPPY we are after 20 years together!!!!

We started "dating" 20 years ago today and we are still dating (we are WAY older than we look, of course). Don't ever stop dating your mate, it is very important!

Mili took this picture while we were still living in MD. I think it was Easter Sunday. We may have a future photographer in our house.

PS. I still like to sit in Brian's lap.

Love to you ALL!!!
Hugs and Kisses GBC Family!!! We still miss you!!

Letter to Sadie Beth 1 Year

2008-08-27T13:56:00.003-04:00

My Sadie Beth turned One Year Old on Monday but we will not have her party until Saturday. Pictures will follow the party.

Dear Sweet Sadie Beth,

We have enjoyed this year with you. We are so happy that God gave you to us.

You are a true SPITFIRE in every way!!! (not sure where you got FULL PASSION from, in EVERYTHING you do...smile)

You are eating everything you can get you hands on and loving food right now.

You love Gerber Graduates Crunchies......they are by far your favorite and will turn down everything else for them...even your bottle.

You are not fond of the transition from formula to whole milk but it will just take time like your sister.

You do not like your cup right now but it will get better the more you drink from it.

You love to roam the house....you are defiantly our free-bird child.

You are trying to take some steps on your own now.

Walking around furniture is a cinch to you these days.

You LOVE the theme song to the Backyardagins.

You HATE HATE HATE your play pen and are not too fond of your walker......can we say free-bird again.

You are signing eat, more, milk, please, I love you, bath, night-night, and daddy.

You are sleeping like a big girl in your crib in your room shared with Mili.

You sometimes don't make it until nap time and you fall asleep in your play pen.....this is not the case if you are free to roam.

I love the way you put you hands on my throat and hum....wanting me to hum so you can feel the vibrations.....you have done this since you were old enough to touch my throat.

I love your toothy grin with your cute little dimple.

Your laugh always makes me laugh.

You now have 4 teeth showing and more on the way.

I love to hear you crunch your Crunchies with your gums.

I love the way you smack your lips when you hear me say kisses.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way you sign I LOVE YOU when I say it or sign it to you.....melts Mommy's heart...ahhhh.

I love the way you hug your baby dolls and stuffed animals when I say LOVE the baby.

I love the way you hold out your hands for someone to pick you up. Everyone says it is irresistible and I agree, of course.

I love the way you hold out your arms to hug Mili.

I love the way you pat me when I pick you up....not to mention the huge smile on your face too.

Happy 1st Birthday Sadie Beth, Sadie Bug, Punkin, Punkie

I could never list all the ways I love you but these are just a few.
I love you all the way to the moon and back and then some. I am so glad God gave you to me.
Love,
Mommy

Our Trip from MD to AR!

2008-08-21T13:50:00.010-04:00

Ok...I know....I know.....it has been WAY too long since I blogged. So here goes the story.

Our plan was (plans don't always go as expected)....for the movers to come early Friday morning to load the truck (that went as planned), then we would clean (that went as planned)......then we would go to our church's VBS family festival to get last minute (or last hour) hugs before heading out early Saturday morning (that went as planned as well).

We were glad to spend the last few hours with our friends from church and enjoyed it even though we were already exhausted from getting everything ready to move ( I have never moved when I had to have EVERYTHING.....I do mean EVERYTHING in a box).

We planned to sleep on an air mattress that we have used many times before but at some point developed a slow leak. Brian and I were touching the floor through the mattress by midnight. We planned to get on the road by 4 am but didn't get going until about 5. You can tell by the picture below why it took so long to get on the road. Brian stuffed the trunk from one end to the other (we had to throw away some things because they wouldn't fit). We even had every place in the car stuffed as well.

You may be asking why so many things packed in the trunk. Well...traveling with two small children and because our plans were to live at Brian's parents house for 5 days (notice I said our plans were...).

After leaving our "home" for three years of our life and where ALL of Mili's 1's took place (first laugh, word, roll over, crawl, step, and so many more) we took a moment to reminisce in the car and we were a bit teary.

Soon our sites were on Arkansas. We had an incredible trip with a few patches of rain and GREAT children. Mili watched her DVD player for the whole trip (minus the two naps) and Sadie played with her toys (and me....I sat in the back seat next to her many legs of the trip). Mili would say, "Daddy, we are ALMOST there!" I love her positive attitude.

What more does a girl need (DVD player with plenty of movies, marshmallows, and sippy cup)

Satisfied Sadie

This is an "Are we there yet" kind of look!

Pooh Bear is good for keeping hands AND feet busy!

If we had forgotten these fancy shades then we would have had some complaining. My fair skinned child HATES the sun in her eyes.

DIVA!!!!

After 18 hours and 4 or 5 stops we made it to Arkansas safely (10:30 PM CST). We were VERY tired....especially our driver. Brian drove the whole way despite my many offers to take on a leg of the race.

We rested up on Sunday with many tears (and several looks at our beautiful scrapbooks from our GBC family). We missed our GBC family SO much it was incredibly painful (our life group, our friends, our services, our pastor, our children's teachers). We had NO idea we would grieve so deeply for our church family since we were coming home to family and friends we have grown up with most of our lives. Mili has had several transition issues including crying for her blue classroom at her church in Maryland. She often says she wants to go back there and misses Ms. Shelia and Ms. Lynn. She asks about James and Clayton on a regular basis (her best buds from church and play dates).

Our move-in date was suppose to be Friday, August 1st or Saturday at the latest. Thursday night, after calling the moving company many times with no response, we find out from the driver that his truck is broke down in Knoxville. You know the truck with EVERYTHING we own in it (except the 10,000 things stuffed in the car....which was now stuffed in a bedroom where all four of us slept). Later, after many more attempts to reach our moving coordinator, we find out that her son has chicken pox and so she was not available our entire move. Then we think that we can get moved in on Saturday evening or Sunday. Later we found out that the move-in had to take place during business hours at our apartment because it is a gated complex and so someone had to let the semi in through a different gate.

Anyway, we finally got moved in on Monday morning (that was delayed an hour due to the drivers fuel card not working properly). That meant that we lived out of bags for 8 days. Oh well, it all turned out ok and all of our stuff made it here safely (with the exception of a crushed filing cabinet...but Brian has since worked his magic on it). We are extremely grateful for Brian's parents hospitality while we took over their home for 8 days.

We are happy to be in an apartment that has working appliances. The dishwasher works on the first time around and I don't have to wash the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher. The dryer dries the clothes the first time not after the third and the kitchen faucet turns on and off with ease with no need to strain a muscle in the process. The AC actually works without calling maintenance three times a month. Having room for Mili and Sadie to run and play has been a huge plus too.

We are adjusting but it will take some time, especially for Mili since the only home she has ever known was Maryland. Thanks to ALL who have prayed for us during this time. Please continue to pray for Mili's transition. While you are praying, pray for Mommy because the girls start a Mother's Day Out two days a week at the first of September. I am trying to look on the positive side of this but I don't leave my children often so it is hard on me.

Kmart Ku-tees (heehee)

2008-08-13T15:48:00.004-04:00

I am sorry blog world. I have not been good about keeping everyone up to date about our family recently. I will try to do better. This is not the blog entry you want to see if you are waiting on the story about how our move went. I want to wait until I have some time to sit and type that uninterrupted (oh, that may be never....remember I have a 3 year old and an almost one year old on the move).

Anyway, I wanted to let you guys in on my marvelous finds at Kmart. We went to Kmart yesterday in search for something else and FOUND some wonderful clothes for the girls. The girls were a tad bit fussy last night while we were shopping so I decided to take them back with me today to search for all the good bargains I could find.

You tell me if you think it is a bargain. I got 11 outfits and 4 shirts for under $40 (that is.... COUNT THEM 26 items.......WOW)

Here is what I got....CUTE....HUH!!! (everything looks cute on my girls anyway........AHHH a mother's love)

Stay Tuned for The Moving Story.......

I AM Alive!!!

2008-08-07T17:10:00.002-04:00

Just a note to say we are in Arkansas and FINALLY at our new address. I will tell the REST of the story on a day that I am not still buried in boxes, paper work and phone calls. Did I mention....I HATE moving....especially with two small children.

More to come later when I have a bit more time.

love to ALL

GBC family...WE MISS U SOOOO MUCH!!!!

This is Sitting, This is Standing......

2008-07-19T22:37:00.015-04:00

.......Just like Bob the Tomato (sorry for those of you who are not Veggie Tales fans.....you should really watch them at least once). Ok...and a little crawling in between.

I thought I would share some pictures of Sadie Beth in all of her most recent positions. She is not staying in one place for very long these days (which is making it difficult on Mommy to pack and move in less than a week).

Locked up in the hall with Mili while Mommy is hard at work (ok....taking pictures but what did you expect.....the camera is always ready to be used and abused).

Always cheering on big sis!!!

Our next to last visit to the play yard at the mall (we will probably eat there one last time on Friday night before we leave on Saturday morning EARLY to drive to Arkansas).

More hallway time.

Sadie laughs the whole time Mili is calling her to come to her. It is so sweet! Music to my ears!

Mili is making Sadie chase her. Too Cute!!

We have some really big drum fans in our house. When we house hunt maybe we should go ahead and request a sound proof room. (Thanks Mr. Mike...the drummer at our church.....our girls LOVE him).

This looks more like a surfer. That is a hog on her shirt for you Razorback fans.

Let me OUT!!!

My girls with glass between them. They had so much fun laughing at each other through the glass at the play yard at the mall.

I hope to post pictures of Mili "helping" us pack soon.

Love to ALL and will see many of you SOON (one week).

WALK the TALK!!!

2008-07-15T16:40:00.002-04:00

Tom Davis is an author of several books (Red Letters, I am reading now and you will hear more about later) and CEO of Children's HopeChest. I have mentioned him many times on this blog. He wrote an article on beliefnet that is something that could have come straight out of my mouth in fact, I have said some similar things to friends and on my blog recently. You see, I was one of those Christians that SUCK (you read that right). We are SO hypocritical in the churches today. I am very sad to say that this article described me perfectly just a few months ago. I hope that now I am starting to live a life that matters to my "neighbors" and to Jesus. We are so good at the TALK but very seldom follow through with the WALK. Let us make our ACTIONS show the world we LOVE Jesus AND our neighbors who are hurting, lonely and sick, instead of just using our words that never really amount to much in the end! Jesus SHOWED people He cared, He didn't just talk to them or at them.

Please read the article above and visit Tom Davis' website often to see how you can help.

Sadie's Baby Dedication

2008-07-08T22:04:00.005-04:00

We don't believe in baptizing babies, however we do believe in dedicating them or us as parents to raise them to LOVE the Lord with all their hearts. We dedicated Sadie on June 29, 2008. It was a bittersweet day for us since we know we have to leave this wonderful church family. We know that our church will still be praying for our family way after we have gone from here. I can't even express in words what these people mean to us. I am tearing up right now thinking about it. It is going to be extremely difficult to leave our only "family" we have had here.

Mili couldn't wait to stand with Mommy and Daddy on the Big Stage.

The church body recites what is on the screen in this picture.

I am a blubbering mess after a hug and kiss on the cheek from PT (Pastor Tim). He is going to be out of town on our last Sunday and so I had to say goodbye to him this last Sunday. NOT EASY at all!!!! Mili didn't want to leave the stage, she wanted to stay and clap with everyone else. She was amazing on stage....the best three year old I could ask for.

We hope to raise both of our girls to LOVE Jesus with every ounce in them. We hope to model that for them but fail so many times. I hope that we can let them know when we fail so that they know not to follow that path and learn from our mistakes. My prayer is always that they would love Jesus more than we do and their children will love Jesus more than they do.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our sweet church family who has been our FAMILY here. You will see another post about this family at some point when I have more time and am maybe not so emotional (yeah right).

For the Soldiers

2008-07-05T09:13:00.004-04:00

Dear Soldiers (in the US and over seas),

You don't know me nor do I know you but I LOVE YOU!!! Thank you for putting your lives in danger (and many of you losing your lives) so my family can be free. Thank you for putting your lives in harms way so I can worship my Heavenly Father with freedom. Thank you for making the United States of America the best place in the world to grow up and raise my family. Thank you for the freedom to stand for what I believe is right. Thank you for the safety I feel when I am out taking care of my daily tasks. Thank you for leaving your spouses, children, parents, girlfriends or boyfriends to fight for freedoms that are definitely not FREE, not knowing if you will return. Your bravery inspires me!!!

I am grateful for your sacrifice and wanted you to know it. Again I LOVE YOU and I don't even know you!!! THANK YOU!!!

Love,
Alice

What will you do about this......?????

2008-07-03T09:30:00.002-04:00

I saw this video on Angel's blog and thought it was worthy of watching. Please take a moment and watch this video, it will make you think but please don't let it JUST make you think. Let's take some action....

If we are really GETTIN' REAL

2008-07-02T08:10:00.003-04:00

My blog friend Angel has challenged us to post a blog about what really happens in our lives from day to day. I love her honesty and openness about her life. I try to be honest on this blog however I don't know if I have accomplished that or not.

Let's see, where to start??? When we moved to Maryland and started attending the church we go to here we saw people being very open and honest about their feelings and about where they were in life. That attracted Brian and I to the church because it seems in the South, that is not what really takes place (we have talked to others from the South and they agree). I used to go to church with my "church face" on (no matter what just happened at home or on the way to church). I knew that I had to teach or serve in some way so I needed to suck it up and do my "job" (just what it was sometimes). At the church we attend now I have seen people be very real about many things and I hope that I have changed and now come to church "as I am" and not with a "church mask" on. Brian and I have learned a lot from teaching the marriage class at church. We know that no one wants to be preached at about how they should act so Brian and I have tried very hard to share details (many intimate) with our class to let them know that they are not alone. We have shared family backgrounds and basically all the baggage you can think of in order to help others see that there is hope that they can love each other again in the way they did when they first married.

At home my life is FAR from perfect. The laundry is usually a mess and if it is clean it may stay in a basket for several days. Many days I am on survival mode and the kids are fed but that is it and on those days they have way too much TV/computer time and not enough Mommy time (which then makes me feel like a lousy Mommy...just being honest). My children usually stay in their pj's all day unless we have some place to go (what am I saying....I do too). There are days when I literally want to run away because of all the fussiness (teething) from a 10 month old and questions that have to be answered from a three year old. On top of all that at the present time I feel really useless because I am trying to pack with two small children at home who unpack everything I put in a box. There are many days that I raise my voice when I should be more patient and concerned for their needs. I spend way too much time on the computer on most days and not enough time with my sweepeas. My daily quiet time with the Lord is sporadic many times. I do try to get dinner on the table before Brian arrives home but many nights I don't make it and you know what, THAT'S OK. I neglect Brian many times because I am so busy with children and the house that he gets the back burner because I think he understands when really he needs my time too. That leads to, some days I feel like I am the Mommy or Wife and NOT Alice. When this happens I have to get away and spend some time with out someone needing something from me and then I am rejuvenated and ready to take on the task at hand again. I used to think this made me a bad mom or a mom who couldn't handle everything in her house but I now understand that it makes me a better wife and mother when I get the time away.

Spiritually I go through ups and downs. I am starting to realize that I have only shown the love of Jesus to people that I know or would like to know instead of to the people who need Him most.....hurting, sick, and lonely. I am learning many things I have done wrong along the way. I hope that I am gradually changing this but many times I am still selfish with my money and time. I still don't know what God wants me to do with all this "stuff" I am learning from Angel's blog, Red Letters Campaign, Dangerous Surrender, Red Letters, and the book of Acts study in our small group. I know that God has a plan so I am trusting that He will show me what my role is in all of this at some point, however I am being impatient about it.

In our marriage we are, of course, not perfect but LOVE each other anyway. We used to fight unfairly (and still do on occasion) but have learned how to take care of our difference and sometimes learn to agree to disagree about small things. We were married while both full time college students and acquired A LOT of debt because we were not smart with our purchases. We are still paying for this debt in two ways (paying the actual bill off soon, PTL and still paying in the way of waiting on buying a house until we are more financially stable). We are working toward being debt free but it has taken a lot of sacrifice and patience to get to this point. We have done without A LOT and have barely squeaked by many months in terms of budget but God has been faithful to take care of ALL of our needs. When God forgives us our sins He does forget them but that does not mean the consequences of our sins are gone as well. We live and learn!

I hope that this post has helped someone know that you are not alone in life. We are imperfect creatures striving to be more like Christ everyday. No one said it would easy and we are on this journey together. We should help each other along the way.

Love to ALL!!!

I got Ty Pennington on SALE!!!

2008-06-30T11:05:00.004-04:00

I WISH.....but it is only the dishes he designs. I absolutely love Ty Pennington Style items but they are pricey for our budget. Brian and I were "window" shopping at the mall since our AC is out and has been for two days now when we happened upon these wonderful dishes...

We bought the color HAZE (it is the grey color shown above in the same style. It is a 20 piece 4 place setting. The regular price was $99.99. Guess how much we paid for it????

Did ya guess yet????

ok, here is a picture to prove it.

YEP, that reads $24.87.....pretty cool huh!!!

We also bought a large serving bowl and platter that matches the set for $9.87 (reg. $39.99). Brian and I were discussing that we have never bought dishes before. We have been married for almost 12 years (August 2nd) and we have always used dishes given to us (hand-me-downs) and the sets we rec'd at our wedding . Thanks Mandy, Nancy and Melanie for the great set you gave us, it has suited it's purpose and then some (I think we only have two pieces missing due to breakage). Thanks to Mrs. Irene for the fun Coke-Cola dish set we also rec'd at our wedding and are still using.

We enjoyed the clearance aisles at Sears but I also found these same deals at Sears.com if you are interested.

We would have decorated our whole living room if we weren't worried about how to get the stuff packed and to AR without breaking it.

I LOVE A GREAT BARGAIN!!

Dangerous Surrender- Chapter 3 Gloriously Ruined

2008-06-25T09:33:00.002-04:00

I have been finished with Chapter 3 for a long while but have not posted on it yet. It is about time I start letting you in on how this book has changed my life and I hope the life of others. This chapter has been the best chapter for me yet (I am now on chapter 6 so my thoughts may change later....a woman always holds the right to change her mind).

My first initial thought when I saw the title Gloriously Ruined was, is there more??? I thought that Seriously Disturbed was enough but now Gloriously Ruined. This book is often read in the bath tub while I have no distraction from the everyday responsibilities of having two small children and a husband to take care of. I also feel like I can cry if I want and there is no one there to see or ask questions (as if that has ever stopped me from crying before but it sounds good anyway).

While sitting in the tub reading this wonderful chapter I started to believe that this is the life I want for me and my family. I want us to be exactly where God wants us to be....location and in our hearts and minds. This is not going to be an easy task. I have found that when I search for what is right, many things come up in our lives that is not right and have to be changed.

When I started this journey to what God wants from me, I thought I would help other people do what they are already doing (whatever charity or organization that needs me, I would HELP). But now that I am getting more involved with many charities I see the need for SO many things to change in this world. I am seeing how in many cases a little bit of money or the cost of a coke or coffee can change someones life for a year (Don't Drink the Water???).

I believe that I am getting closer and closer to becoming a Seriously Disturbed Gloriously Ruined servant of the King. I can only explain this transformation through how I am starting to be aware of many things I never even thought of before. When our water was not safe to drink a few weeks ago it lead to this post (Don't Drink the Water???). I can't drink a coke without thinking of how much money we need to give to a clean water charity this month. Every time I go grocery shopping I think of all the children who are hungry and we have access to whatever we want at our fingertips. When I hug my girls many times a day, everyday, my heart breaks for the children in the world who don't have a family to embrace them and be their cheerleaders. When I tell my children I love them, I think of all the children who have never heard those words or who have only heard them so that someone can get what they want from them. This may seem a bit morbid to some of you and you think that it would only make you sad but it has made me DRIVEN. Driven to do something about all of these thing and not just sit back and hope that someone else will take care of it. If you are a child of the King then YOU are the person that God expects to do it too.

God never promised our life would be easy after becoming Christians...in fact it becomes harder to face many of the things we must do but the outcome is so priceless and the JOY is unexplainable. Try it.....find something you are passionate about and get involved. Help someone this week or month. Leave me a comment and tell me what kind of organizations you like to give to....time or money.

If you don't know what to get involved in but have a desire then there is plenty you can do.

Go to Children's Hopechest and donate to get things started in Ethiopia orphanages (get your church, business, organization or club interested in sponsoring an entire orphanage click on programs and then sponsorship to find out more or go on a mission trip....any time you leave your comfort zone and live in someone elses world it is life changing.

Go to my Don't Drink the Water?? post and donate to one of the many charities that provide clean water to people all over the world. $1 can provide clean water for one African for one year!!

Go to Nothing but Nets to donate bed nets to help prevent Malaria. Malaria kills 1 million people every year (mostly children). Donate $10 for a net and save a life!!!

Please remember that while these charities are great things to give to God still expects your tithe of 10% to your local church. These things should be above your tithe. If your budget is tight (I totally understand that) then find creative ways to give. God will bless you with the money to give and your heart will be blessed more than you could imagine.

If you haven't watched the Cardboard Testimonies then go here and see what I want my cardboard to say.

My blog started out being a way for our families and friends from home to see our children grow up and know what is going on in our lives here while we live away from everyone. Now I hope my blog is more about what God wants for our family and what He wants for your family too. You will still see many picture of the children here but between all of that you will see many more posts like this. I will start reading the book Red Letters by Tom Davis soon (you can see a video about Red Letters here).

Great Day at the Playground!

2008-06-21T16:34:00.031-04:00

This morning I got out of the house early to go grocery shopping and then when I came home Mili Bear was ready to go to the playground for some fun.

Mili LOVES "walkside" chalk!!!

While Mommy played with Mili on the sidewalk, Daddy had some fun on the swings with Sadie Beth. She LOVED it!!!

Mommy's turn on the swing with Sadie Beth. I think she likes swinging with Daddy better.

Mili is learning the "swing pump" to keep herself going.

Lovin' the wind blowing her hair.

The windblown look!

Sadie Beth about to take her first plunge on the slide.

I am not sure she enjoyed it but Mommy LOVED it!

Sadie Beth's first time sitting in the grass. Lots of pictures to come on this one. Watch the progression of her feet and facial expressions.

What is this stuff????

Don't think I want it on my feet!

What am I suppose to do with this stuff????

Guess I will wave at Mili since I am stuck in this position.

No so bad, maybe I like it a little bit but still don't want my feet on it!

Mili does some fantastic stunts so I have to clap for her but don't think I am letting my feet down on this stuff!!

OK, I am getting tired of this now!!!

Exercising my abs since my feet didn't touch the entire time I was "sitting" or balancing (she never fell over or touched the ground with her hands, she balances like this all the time) there.

OK!!! My abs have had it!!! Come and get me, Mommy!!!

Mili LOVES playing here. We will miss it when we move.

Mili makes a go at the rock wall. Something she has always been afraid of without help.

Getting HIGHER!

Almost There!

WhoooHooo!!! I mastered the mountain!!! Go Mili Go!!!

Mommy teaching Mili how to hopscotch.

Mili did great for her first time.

Look what I can do!!!

Look Mommy, one foot!

Too Cute!!

I feel so refreshed and rejuvenated after some good family time. It always does my heart good and makes me appreciate my precious children and wonderful husband. I heart the fam!!!!

Hope you enjoyed the family play day, I sure did!!!

UPDATE: Raniey/Mutz Families

2008-06-20T09:46:00.002-04:00

Little Molly is with Jesus. You can read more about it here. You can leave a comment for the family here (they plan to make a book of the comments for Rebecca and Jacob).

I can not imagine the hearts of of these two families right now. So many emotions. Please continue to pray for them weeks, months and years to come.

Pray for the Rainey/Mutz families

2008-06-19T17:36:00.003-04:00

I am posting this because I know many of my readers are Christians and believe in the power of prayer. Many of you are also familiar with the Dennis Rainey family from Family Life Today. Brian and I went to school with Ashley and Ben, their son and daughter.

Rebecca is another Rainey girl and is now married and just had her first child. While this should be an exciting time for them, they are grieving. I am not sure about all the details but you can read an email that Dennis wrote and is posted on this blog here there is also another blog about it here.

If you will go to the two links you will get all the information about their new baby girl, Molly Ann Mutz. Please pray for the Raniey and the Mutz families as they go through this terrible time in their lives. My heart is breaking for them.

Don't Drink the Water????

2008-06-17T19:14:00.011-04:00

UPDATE: (if you haven't read this post yet.....read it first) I forgot to mention that Brian and I saved $5 dollars at Red Robin the other day by ordering water instead of soda. I went to charity: water and ordered a bracelet for $5 to help me remember that anytime I eat out I will order water instead of soda. I plan to give the money I would have used to buy the soda to one of the organizations listed below. You would be surprised how fast it adds up. I have also decided that if I do have a soda at a restaurant then I will pay double the amount of the drink toward clean water for someone else. This is just my way of giving back. You find out what works for your family. I am not a coffee drinker but I know how much some of those coffee drinks cost. If some of you would pass up Starbucks (every once and a while, I don't mean everyday) and donate what you would have paid for your coffee, there would be a person on the other side of the world living because you decided to pass up the coffee shoppe (something to think about....huh). Or buy some Saint's Coffee instead and feed an orphan.

This is what we were told a few days ago and we are still on a boil order. A water main broke in another town but the whole county is on a boil order for safety reasons. With two small children this has been a huge headache but recently I have been looking for EVERY opportunity to learn something from God.

Well, if inconvenience isn't the best way to wake me up about the world. Recently my prayers have been to show me the world and not just my small bubble I live in. We are so spoiled in America and I am beginning to realize it more and more each day. This water safety alert has done just that. I am awake and have been for several days now, searching the Internet for information about donating to organizations that focus on giving the gift of life through clean water.

4,500 children die every day from diarrhea caused by unsafe water.

"Waterborne illness kills a child every fifteen seconds and underlies much of the world's disease and malnutrition." UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman

$1 provides clean water for a year for one African. (blood:water mission)

There are many more statistics that would pull at your heart but if the three listed above are not enough then you probably wouldn't donate money anyway and you would not need to read the rest of this entry.

There are some organizations below that you can click on to donate money to provide clean water to those who live each day hauling water from far and then it is contaminated but it is all they have to drink. "Don't drink the water" is not an option for them. I was able to go buy bottled water at the grocery store.

This charity has several countries you can donate to.

This charity has merchandise that you can buy and all the proceeds go to clean water.

This is the charity started by Jars of Clay and it involves wells for clean water and awareness for clean blood, free of HIV/AIDS.

This one has a challenge and you can watch a video explaining it.

I hope God has touched your heart as He has mine. I know that we (or I have many times) turned our heads to all those commercials that show people dying in other countries but it is time that God's people do what we were called to do and take care of ALL in need, not just a select few.

One More Sunflower

2008-06-17T13:22:00.001-04:00

I wanted to show you one more picture of our beautiful sunflowers. There are a few more that opened up this morning. I will take a few final pictures of them after all have bloomed and then stop boring you with my photography.

Chapman Family

2008-06-14T10:18:00.003-04:00

For those of you that would like to know how the Steven Curtis Chapman family is doing. Here are a few blogs that you can check out.

On my side bar you can click on the Steven Curtis Chapman link and that will take you to their personal blogs (they have not updated and understandably so) but SCC's manager, Jim Houser, has several entries about how the family is doing and I think there are a few on Grace Graham's blog (Chapman's Assistant). Also the blog titled Kerry Hasenbalg (on the sidebar), has some incite into how the family is doing as well.

Hope you check out the blogs and of course don't stop praying for this awesome family. By the way, I think I heard in one of Jim Houser's interviews (on his blog) that Maria's fund is over $400,000 now. That is amazing!!!

Just thought I would link you all in case you haven't found these sites yourself.

Love to ALL!!!

I've Got Skills

2008-06-12T22:23:00.006-04:00

I LOVE taking photos of anything.....especially nature. Here are a few of my photos I took quickly (because the kids were awake). I know they are not professional but they are as good as it gets right now. I would love to pursue a hobby/career in this at some point (way down the road). I hope you enjoy them.

Letter to Mili Bear 3 years old

2008-06-11T11:20:00.003-04:00

I have been meaning to write this for quite sometime since Mili's birthday is on June 2nd but we have been quite busy around here with birthday parties, finishing up responsibilities at church, cleaning out junk, and packing.

Dear Sweet Mili Bear,

It doesn't seem like you should already be the big 3 years old. Mommy is a little sad because it means that you are starting to be so independent and you don't "need" me like you used to. However, Mommy and Daddy's roles as your parents are to raise you so that you will be independent from us and totally dependent on God in the future.

You are starting to test the boundaries we have set for you and therefore spending more time in timeout.

You are learning to recognize, write, and the sound for all of the alphabet.

You can't wait to swim in Nanny and Poppy's swimming pool as soon as we move back to Arkansas.

You are asking WHY after every question or every NO....this may be what sends Mommy over the edge.

You say some of the cutest things I have ever heard in all my life. Here are a few things you say or do that Mommy just loves....

"Should I see what my Disney friends are up to?"

"Well, Actually..."

"paci, PACI!! Where are you???" (as if it could get up and walk to you) (praise God we have thrown the paci away)

The peepee dance is too cute (only when we are at home and can get to a potty quickly).

"OK, if you say so...."

"OK, I will wait......big sigh"

The way you say the word "because" just cracks me up....."becubs"

"I can't seem to reach it."

"What do you think of my hair, Daddy?" (after EVERY bath)

"Go, Mommy, Go!!!" (you are my cheerleader and I LOVE you for that.....you also cheer your friends on too....great personality)

"CHECK, CHECK" (and Daddy follows up with Roger, Roger)

You really love all the princess stuff right now. This has surprised me but you still LOVE your car and sports stuff too.

The way you say "poopa" or "poo" for poopie. I guess you have grown beyond the poopie word. That's so TWO!

"No Worries!!!" (when I am getting upset over something you often say what I say to you....no worries)

You once had a tea party for Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Joseph and said......"they will be here any minute." (I think Mickey Mouse was invited to this tea party too.)

"I broke my crayon and I was crying and Jesus came and fixed my crayon and He told me No Worries to cry."

"I wish we could take a sled up to Jesus in Heaven."

"I think we could climb a ladder to Jesus."

"I think my sunflower will grow big and tall and I can reach all the way up to Heaven."

Someday you will say computer right but for now it is "bacumender".

"You're killin' me!"

"No big deal."

I love all of these thought processes

"I can't seem to......
"I was wondering....
"I was thinking....

I love that you are observant enough to notice things. On TV you will see something and this has been your reaction....

"Pigs don't fly!" (commercial)
"Mailboxes don't talk" (Blues Clues)
"Animals don't talk" (commercial....but it doesn't seem to bother you to watch Charlotte's Web or cartoon animals talking.)

"I think Sadie likes me."

"Sadie is my best friend in the whole world."

I love the way you try to make Sadie laugh when she is crying.

You are a GREAT big sister!!!

I am starting to see that you have such a heart for others. It makes Jesus smile when you care about others.

My favorite thing you say is.......

"Mommy.....I love you!" (with a sweet drawn out voice...music to my ears)

I love you all the way to the moon and back. I am so glad God gave you to me.
Love forever,
Mommy

Spring has Sprung!

2008-06-11T11:06:00.002-04:00

Our sunflowers (at least one) broke open this morning. We were so excited to see God's creation right before our eyes. We have enjoyed watching each stage of the growing process (although we thought we would NEVER see this.....

I will post more pictures of the flowers after they have all bloomed.

Mili is 3

2008-06-08T21:14:00.031-04:00

Mili's birthday party was today!! We had her party in a park to have enough room for the kids to run and play. It was 95 degrees today of all days (not at all normal for this time of year here...we felt like we were already back in Arkansas).

Mili was surrounded by all of her closest friends and had a wonderful birthday. In her words, "This is the BEST birthday party EVER." She stated this twice while we were at the park and then another time when she got home. I think she LIKED her party.

Hope you enjoy ALL the pictures. There are a TON!

On the way to the park with all 12 balloons in the back seat with Mili, Sadie and myself. FUN, FUN, FUN!

Mili with her boyfriends/future husband possibilities. We love James (left) and Clayton ("Playton" as Mili says) (right)

Look at that cute Birthday Princess!! I told her to hold up her wand and she did...right in front of her face.

A little help from her friends in opening this gift. Clayton (left), James (over shoulder) and Hayden (right...who wouldn't let go of that pizza)

Dora Pirates DVD....evidently a keeper by the facial expression.

Hope Clayton's daddy sees him playing with the princess brush.

Singing Happy Birthday to Mili Bear. Her candle is the number 3 but Mommy didn't turn it around the right way. James' parents (could be future in-laws) are behind Mili.

Trying to figure out how she is going to blow out the flame. Look at her eyes.

Blowing......

Still blowing with a little help from Daddy!

Proud "she" blew it out. Notice her nice clean clothes...

After licking the candle. Notice her clothes.

James with his blue mustache. What a little man!

Itunu is eating her cupcake with a fork like a little lady.

Clayton decided that he would help himself to another cupcake, plus it made a better picture with green and orange.

Sadie Beth enjoying the outdoors.

If Sadie looks wet....she is!!! Mommy and Daddy tried to keep the kids wet with spray bottles.

Mili loves to drive.

Included this picture so you could see where the blue icing from Mili's hands ended up. Look at her bottom.

Walking on the swinging bridge.

Sliding is one of Mili's favorite thing to do at the park.

Mili getting a little push from her friend Reagan on the airplane.

Caleb (or "K-luv" as Mili says it), Reagan and Hayden racing cars with Mili.

I had to include how much fun Sadie Beth had in the car with the balloons. Sorry the resolution is not that great but hope you enjoy it anyway.

We had a great 3rd birthday party but Mommy and Daddy are pooped now.

Mili is going to MISS all of her wonderful friends from church. It makes Mommy sad that we have to leave such great Christian families that we have grown to LOVE so much.

FRIENDS- Thanks for braving the 95 degree weather to make this day special for Mili Bear. We LOVE you all!!!

What's your Cardboard Testimony?

2008-06-04T09:18:00.005-04:00

I got this link from a blogger buddy...Sooz. Thanks Sooz.

Tissues nearby is a must with this one.

My Cardboard Testimony would have to be....

Turned away from hurting people.....
Servant to orphans, widows, sick and the lonely.
Living a Seriously Disturbed, Gloriously Ruined Life! (from the book Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren). I guess I would need an awfully big piece of cardboard...smile.

Please leave a comment about your cardboard testimony (even if you have never commented here). I would love to see how God has changed you.

2008-05-30T13:21:00.004-04:00

Here are some videos of my sweetpeas in action. The video of Sadie Beth is from yesterday...she REALLY crawled for the first time yesterday. She is so cute but Mommy is worn out!!

Mili is playing a game on Disney.com. She loves playing computer games and is really good at them.

ENJOY!!

Baby Legs

2008-05-29T16:19:00.005-04:00

Look at these Baby Legs!!! Baby Legs is a company that makes these cute leg protectors for crawlers. I won these on a blog when I was pregnant with Sadie. I thought I would bring them out since her little knees were getting red from the carpet. Mili 's little knees were all calloused when she was crawling. These summer crawlers....what do you do with them....put Baby Legs on them.

My baby looks cute in her Baby Legs

The straight leg...show off Baby Legs pose!

Mili said, "The way she is touching me means she really must like me, Mommy."

No more red knees....YAY!

Don't forget to read the next few posts if it has been a while since you visited the site. I will try to do better posting.

More posts about Mili soon. Her birthday is June 2nd and her party is June 8th so there will be more pictures than you want to see with her and her friends.

Letter to Sadie Beth 9 Months

2008-05-29T11:09:00.002-04:00

My Dear Sweet Sadie Beth,

Oh how Mommy, Daddy, and Mili are falling hard for you. We love you SO much. It is amazing how much the love grows when you can hug us back or try to kiss us.

It is a good thing Mommy is late on this post since you just started crawling good today!! Mommy and Daddy took delight in watching you crawl this morning before Daddy left for work. You are now EVERYWHERE and in to EVERYTHING (which is to be expected from a 9 month old crawler).

You are doing such cute things like always....

You are chewing on your toes

You do this cute blowing sound with your paci in your mouth.....cuteness.

You are not accepting the word "NO" very well....you actually laugh at me when I say it.

You are saying "Mama" and "Yay"

You clap on command and say "Yay"

You REALLY understand the most important signs "eat" and "milk"

You sign "milk" will drinking your bottle

You hate your playpen because it restricts you

You are starting to throw fits when we put you in your car seat (will be great for a 22 hour travel home)

You do start to calm down after we are moving (hoping for NO stand still traffic while moving home to AR).

I think you love all the food you have ever eaten

You LOVE playing with your friends from church (here's a shout out to my friends in the green room Malachi, Noa, and Kierney)

You love to play with your sister now.....it is so cute the two of you in the floor "chatting" and laughing together.

You still put up a fight when you are laid down in your bed but it is hopefully getting shorter and shorter.

You sleep for a totally of 35-40 minutes for nap, only giving Mommy around an hour of "free" time (including the 20 minutes of crying before falling asleep).

You are still waking up in the middle of the night (around 3ish) to have a short party but usually drift off to sleep not long after sitting up for a while.

I love you all the way to the moon and back and then some. I am so glad God gave you to me.
Love
Mommy

TEETH

2008-05-27T22:21:00.003-04:00

Sadie has two teeth. I have not had time to show them off nor was she excited to let me take pictures of them. These are the best I could get.

I will try to do Sadie and Mili's letter later this week. Can you believe Sadie is 9 months old and Mili will be 3 years old June 2nd.

There is also a new post below....

Sadie was busy....

2008-05-27T21:55:00.005-04:00

....messing up while I was cleaning up!!!

As I was cleaning the vanity in our bedroom, Sadie decided she would like to take all of the diapers out of the diaper stacker.

I apologize to my avid blog readers....I have not been able to blog much recently due to weeding out stuff in our house. I am happy to say that we are about seven bags of clothes lighter, around ten boxes of stuff has been eliminated (both salvation army or consignment), two strollers, a swing and a changing table will be gone soon....aaahhhhh. It feels good but it is sad to know we had that much stuff and clothes that someone else could have been using. Craziness!!! A lady is coming out tomorrow to estimate how much it will cost to move us. Please pray for it to be in our budget so we don't have to worry about that anymore.

Notice the diaper stacker is on her right in this picture....

After emptying all of the diapers on one side she pulled it over to the other side so she could empty the other stack.

Here is some more to clean up, Mommy! Mommy wants to eat those cute, chubby toes!

What???? I didn't do anything.....(diaper stacker is EMPTY)

Don't you dare touch my diapers. I am proud of my mess!

Prayers for the Steven Curtis Chapman family

2008-05-22T16:19:00.002-04:00

I am sure by now most of you know that Steven and Mary Beth Chapman's daughter, Maria, went to meet her Creator Wednesday night (http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/). My heart has been broken all day by this and I have prayed every time I think about them and what they must be going through.

Please continue to pray for this precious, God-fearing family. They have done GREAT things for so many who wanted to adopt but didn't have the financial resources available to them (something close to my heart). We don't know why things happen the way they do but we have to always know that God sees and created the big picture and He has a perfect plan.

You can see a video of Steven and Maria together here http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/.

Just wanted to tell all of you that I LOVE YOU. Life is too short not to!!!

Convictions of the Heart

2008-05-15T10:26:00.001-04:00

This was written last night but something happened to it and I couldn't post it like I wanted to.

I have been so convicted recently about how we Americans (or I) DO church and Christianity. You know what I mean (those of you who have gone to church most of your lives or for a long period of time), when I say DO church. Let me explain by saying that we tend to go to church and do what we do.....sing, listen to the sermon, teach classes, serve in other ways and come home. Sometimes thinking it was a good day in church today, sometimes not thinking about it again in that day much less the rest of the week. We get in a rut that sometimes becomes comfortable and we "think" we are doing SO much for the church.

Before any of you go postal on me about this entry please know that I have been just as guilty of doing all of what I mentioned above. God has opened my eyes to many things recently and it is my job to "fix" them or find a way to change things.

In our small group we have been studying the book of Acts. It is just a fantastic book and I am enjoying it greatly. That is the first place this started brewing in my heart (really it started in the Drowning Elephants class on Wednesday nights). I started learning about thinking outside of the box (or church) on what Christ would want from me. Before then, it was always where does God want me to serve in the church ( serving in the church is great, don't get me wrong). Then I "stumbled" upon Angel's blog and started to see some of her passion for orphans and people who live in extreme poverty. Her passion and love is overflowing...talking about cup running over (she also got me hooked up with the book Dangerous Surrender). Then (yes, there is more) I started going to a Worship class at church on Wednesday nights. Guess what verse is read at the end of each class.....Acts 2:42-47

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I have read this scripture many times but it has recently developed a new meaning to me. If there is a need that needs to be met and I don't have the means to meet the need, then if I need to sell something of my own to meet the need.....so be it!!! (from Tom Davis' blog) I am seeing responsibility of others in a whole new light. It is really starting to hit home with all the stuff I am getting rid of so we can move. It is ridiculous how much stuff we as Americans have. Before you all get your panties in a wad, I am not saying you shouldn't have stuff if you are a Christian, I AM saying we could do without many of the things we own. Look at all the storage buildings in America. It is stinkin' amazing how many storage building companies we passed from AR to MD when we moved here. I think this is something we should consider since the buildings that house our stuff (most of which is not used at all) is something that someone who lives in another country would love to live in (and it houses stuff....people.....stuff....with my hands thrown up in the air).

Understand that I am not just on a soapbox here. This is serious business. Our responsibility is to take care of church members, people in our community, our neighbors, our co-workers, people who are "unlovable", single moms, widows, and orphans.

As in the message on Sunday morning, IT has to start somewhere with someone but then it grows and expands (just like the drop and the ripples). It (the gospel) started out in a very small location with 11 disciples and is now all over the world. YOU can also start something or jump on one of the ripples that someone else has started. The Red Letters Campaign is just starting if you would like to jump on and help to eliminate extreme poverty.

We as Christians have sat in our pews (or chairs) and "talked" about saving the world too often. Now lets LIVE Christianity instead of "doing" it.

Crawling Dirt?????

2008-05-09T09:47:00.004-04:00

Just a quick post about a moment I never want to forget. Mili was using the potty and she started screaming. Brian came running and asked her what was wrong. This is how their conversation went.....

Mili: "Daddy, there is a bug....get it!!!"

Daddy: "Mili that is just a piece of dirt, don't worry about it."

Mili: "Crawling Dirt, Daddy???"

We burst into laughter and Brian admitted he was wrong and then flushed the bug. It was a tiny bug but it was crawling.

The cute things these kids do. I love my life being a Mommy. These are the things that keep me going from day to day.

There is another new post with pictures under this one.

Random Catch Up

2008-05-09T09:16:00.007-04:00

If you have been reading my blog then you know that our little family of four will be moving back to Arkansas at the end of July. We are ecstatic about moving back to be with family and friends but are very sad to leave our wonderful church and great friends we have made here (the people here became our family because we had none here).

Because we will be moving so soon, I am busy with so many details and trying to throw out half the apartment so we don't have to move it. I haven't had tons of time to take pictures or post them lately.

Here are few pictures of the girls from the past couple of days.

Sadie is trying to crawl but still not in full force yet. This look says, "Am I doing something wrong?" I have a feeling I will see more of this look than not in the future.

Happy to be free from the playpen. Since Mommy has been so busy, I have been caged a lot.

Come On.....I am irresistible!!!

Mili likes her time outside, especially blowing bubbles.

To blow good bubbles "ju got to pucker jur lips like dis!"

Standing with Mommy and my mouth's help. I put her in this position and she stayed for a couple of minutes.

Gotta have the back view. Take a look at those chubby, edible legs.

Love You All!!

Can't wait to hug you in person!!!

Dangerous Surrender - Chapter 2

2008-05-06T14:16:00.002-04:00

Ok....WOW....where to start. This chapter is about the Kingdom of Me (Kay Warren explains how selfish she has been over the years about different things)

If I am totally honest with myself, God and all of you then I will say that this was a very difficult chapter to read. I tend to want things to be about Me (you can ask Brian if you doubt that....smile). As many of you know, we have been in a little bit of a limbo stage a good part of the last four years of our lives (what am I saying....most of our lives together). When I say limbo, I really mean WAITING!!!

Oh, how I LOATHE waiting!!!! Just a little background on us (Brian and I). We started dating when we were around 13 years old and so we, of course, had a lot of waiting before we could car date (16 years old). Then we had a long time to wait until we could get married. Brian is a year younger than me and while all my other friends were getting married I was still WAITING on that day. I would cry about not being able to get married and my Mom would leave me these little sticky notes on the mirror in the bathroom that said Isaiah 40:31. That darn sticky note showed up on my clothes, shoes, in my car, on my backpack, basically every place I looked.

Brian went away to college for two years (more WAITING) and then we finally were married after almost 8 years of dating. We were both full time college students struggling to make it financially so we used credit cards and student loans to make ends meet (not smart, I recommend it to NO ONE). I graduated college and started working full time while Brian decided to pursue a Doctorate degree......You got it......MORE WAITING for Alice to have some sort of financial security. Not long after Brian graduated we were able to have our first child. Four months after Mili was born we moved many miles away from the only home I had ever known for Brian to do a Post-Doctoral Fellowship which usually last anywhere from 1-3 years. You guessed it....ours would, of course, be three years because Alice wants financial stability with a house someday.

All of this background to say.....I totally understand Kay's comments about feeling as if God is some how showing favoritism to others over ME. We were still on the road to a PhD when most of my friends owned their own house with two cars and CHILDREN (my heart's BIG desire) to play in their back yard.

Since Christmas we have known that there was a possibility to get a job back home in Arkansas. We have been again....WAITING.....for answers on that for many months. Brian was recently offered the job and we are ecstatic about the opportunities for our little family of four (forgot to mention that God also blessed us with another daughter, Sadie 8 months ago).

To be honest, I have bellyached and complained more than I should have about our WAITING games. It is when we decided to be OKAY with WAITING when we started seeing the good in it. God has so graciously provided for us in EVERY stage of our lives. He IS a God of many BLESSINGS to us even though we don't deserve any of it.

I can do nothing about the time I have wasted complaining to God and others about how much I hate waiting, but I can start NOW to make a difference. My problem with doing this is that I too want the things I do for Christ in MY timing. God is teaching me through many thing (many listed above) that it is ALL in HIS timing.

As I went to the Christian bookstore to purchase books for our life group on Saturday, God gave me some, what I like to call "NEON moments". You know, those moments that are a little scary because they are so clear. I went to the bookstore to pick up the books and spend a little bit of time by myself (no kids in tow). As I looked at one shelf there was a bookmark that said, "Be still and know that I am God." I smiled and walked on. Then as I got closer to the counter to check out. There was a plaque that said, "Be still and know that I am God." I said, "Okay, God...I get it!" Then as I laid the books on the counter I looked up at the wall and another three plaques on the wall said.....guess what??? " Be still and know that I am God." Then on Sunday morning Pastor Bryan sang a song that had "Be still and know that I am God" in the chorus. I was a blubbering mess by the time the song ended and I was trying to tell God that I totally GET IT, but God knows me best and knows I have a hard time waiting, even with service to Him so He must think He has to SCREAM it to me. As if that was not enough, Pastor Tim's message hit home with just his outline (not to mention what came in between) 1. Don't expect the opposition to make your life as a Christian easy (I have unfortunately had Christan friends try to make my efforts to serve more difficult at times by saying that I am too involved or trying to save the world...I thought that was what we were put here to do?). 2. When you get the chance to speak up for your Lord, you have to make the most of it (powerful.....it may be the only time). 3. If you remember the resurrection of Jesus your courage will overwhelm your fears (I SO needed to hear this).

Another "God Moment" this week was while taking a bath (by myself, with no worries about the kids....I have a great husband that lets me do this), I noticed the drop from the faucet. It was almost as if God said, "Alice, BE the DROP". You all know what a drop in water does.....the ripple affect. As I watched the drop, the ripple extended the entire bathtub and all I could think of was how one tiny drop did ALL that. I began to cry (surprise...I cry about everything) and after I had a short talk with God...surrendering myself to HIS service again (it is a daily thing for me) the faucet stopped dripping.....hmmmmm??!!

If you ever feel like YOU can't do anything for Christ.....just BE the DROP!!! (or the ripples....it takes both to get the job done). Angel, thanks for being the DROP and I hope to be part of the ripples in this ministry. Take a look at the Red Letters Campaign if you want to get involved with something.

All of this writing to say that God has blessed us with this new job and financially he is answering our prayer to pay off debt and be more financially able to help others. We still have a long way to go to be free from financial restraints but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it makes me incredibly excited about the possibilities in ministry in our future (adopting being number one on my list).

I want to live a disturbed life for Christ, see and do all that Christ wants me to!!!

Hugs and Kisses!!!

Dangerous Surrender Chapter 1

2008-04-30T10:58:00.001-04:00

Let me give a little background before I go crazy with this post. I "met" a lady named Angel in the blog world. I got her link from Blogs for a Cause (I think???).

Anyway, Angel is an amazing woman who I am drawing much inspiration from. She chooses to live a "disturbed" life (I will elaborate later). I too want to live this kind of life. She started the book Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren (Rick Warren's wife). After reading her first chapter post, I went to Amazon and bought myself a copy.

I have to admit that I rec'd the book a day ago and have looked at it a few times with the cover closed. I am SCARED!!! I knew that this could be the moment that I would say YES to God about anything He calls this little ordinary girl to do.

The first chapter explains Kay Warren's moment when God said this is a MUST, you must open your eyes to the things happening in the world around you. I am guilty of living in MY world. God called us to look beyond ourselves, our houses, our churches, our communities, our city, our state, and our country. He wants us to love "the least of these" EVERYWHERE. He wants us to live a disturbed life--meaning we should be effected by the things going on around us and around the world and DO something about it!!!

I have two moments I want to share with you all about times that God has called me and I didn't necessarily trust Him in the beginning but He showed me up. They are life changing moments for me.

As most of you know, I went on a mission trip to Honduras in 2003. I have always dreamed of going on a mission trip to anywhere, but this was a trip to minister to Deaf people and children in Honduras (I was an interpreter for the Deaf before I had my first daughter, now I am a stay-at-home mom). New Life Deaf Ministries (their web page is down due to construction) is a church/private school for Deaf people in Honduras. Before this awesome place was established there was NO place for Deaf children to be taught and many believed they couldn't be taught. The church is growing everyday and there were 144 at the camp we did while we were there in 2003. You can check out another entry I wrote about New Life Deaf Ministries here (it also has a few pictures). I would love to adopt deaf children from another country and give them a chance to know Jesus and to be educated and loved. I have always worried about finances related to adoption but God is showing me to be patient and always depend on Him to take care of the rest. The story about how I got to go on this trip was a miracle in itself and probably deserves another entry but there were obstacles that were overcome step by step so that I could go. AMAZING!!!!

Not long after returning from Honduras, I started praying for God to take over my scheduling/planning for the youth group at our church (I worked with middle school kids with my brother-in-law at a small church of about 50). Our youth group was a total of about 2 regular kids. I spent a lot of time in my car commuting during this time of my life and spoke to God out loud many times in the car (most of the time bawling Him out for not doing things MY way). While driving in my car HE gave me this awesome idea to start a program called 7-11 (seven eleven) He was also talking to my brother-in-law about something similar. Once a month, on a Friday night, we would invite the middle schoolers (ages 5th grade to 8th grade) to a movie, pizza, and games at our church from 7pm-11pm. We didn't have finances or ways to advertise this event except through our few middle schoolers. We sent them to school with flyer's on bright colored paper and low and behold we had 25 students show up. We were borrowing equipment (remember a small church of 5o) and the youth workers were giving their money to get this started. Lots of people were not sure if this would even work. I was SURE it would work not from anything we had done but because it was like a NEON sign from God. The numbers kept growing and students were finding that Jesus loved them more than anyone else in their lives (middle school is one of the hardest times in a kids life). We had 16 kids come to know the Lord and change their lives forever.

When we had a lock-in with 36 kids (our high number at that time) we started thinking of ways to find more room. Not long after that lock-in the church started a building project (God provided the space). People in the church started asking if they could help and bring food and donating money for the ministry. We even had one Friday night with 65 kids and God still provided enough food and fun for all the kids to have a fantastic time and learn about His amazing love. I think we ended up touching at least 160 students through this program. We even had a whole softball and volleyball teams from schools attending and it was a fantastic time in my life of following God's will.

Unfortunately at the end of my time at this church (before we moved here) I had my first child and that made serving in that ministry very difficult. After moving to MD I was very busy with a new baby and then had another one two years later. I sometimes feel like I have nothing left to offer when I have to spend so much time taking care of them. I know that God has called me to disciple my children so they can too make a difference some day but it is hard for me. I am an ALL or NOTHING type person. I want to do BIG things for God. From the examples above, I have NO doubt that God will provide all the training, resources, finances, etc. that I need to follow him with a Dangerous Surrender, but it is still scary.

I was once told from someone very dear to me, "Alice, you can't save the world." I responded with "I will die trying." I often hear these statements in my head. I remember the conversation as if it was yesterday. God knows that I thrive on a challenge and that is definitely one!

So here we go...Let's see where HE leads us!!!

Look for more entries on Dangerous Surrender and living a disturbed life later (better yet, get the book and join us).

Love you all!!!

Letter to Sadie Beth- 8 Months

2008-04-25T10:38:00.002-04:00

Sadie Beth,

Today you are 8 months old. There is so much going on right now in your little bitty life. You have such personality and are starting to learn how to love back (Mommy loves your "hugs", or what I call a hug).

You are reaching for us like crazy (even your big sister Mili).

Sitting like a champ these days (still a little lazy sometimes but doing much better than last month).

Finding your paci and putting into your mouth is no problem for you now (more sleep for Mommy when it falls out in the middle of the night).

Speaking of sleep, you are learning to fall asleep by yourself in your bed for nap time and at night. Mommy is proud of you for being a trooper (it is very hard on Mommy to hear you cry).

You are trying to crawl but haven't quite figured out how to get your legs to do the right things yet. Your arms want to go but your legs are quite lazy. You are trying to pull up on things but haven't figured out how to make all the limbs work at the right time yet.

A little white "thing" is popping through your gums on the bottom front. You have been chewing on everything in sight, including every part of Mommy you can get into your mouth.

Mommy will be happy when you stop pinching me. You are always pinching me behind my arm and it brings tears to my eyes every time (I want an apology when you are old enough).

Your little hands are starting to sign "milk" and it is too cute. I love tiny, chubby signing hands. You recognize milk, eat, more and sleep in sign language.

Solid food has become your best friend. You LOVE to eat (sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, pears, and applesauce).

You absolutely love holding hands with Mili in Mommy and Daddy's bed in the mornings and in the car too.

You are ticklish under your chin and even laugh when I am changing your clothes sometimes. So cute!!!

I LOVE .......

your sleepy chant right before you drift off.

the way you press your face up against the playpen (tongue out and all).

the way you tap your foot on my leg when I am holding you.

how you analyze everything you can get your hands on.

how fiesty you are.

how you are busy, on the go, non-stop all day (most days).

to kiss your chubby feet.

your beautiful eyes (and eyelashes), cute little nose, and your contagious grin!

to hear you belly laugh, it is music to my ears.

the way you look at me....as if you know how much I LOVE YOU!!!

Happy 8 months and so many more.

I am so GLAD God gave you to me. I love you all the way to the moon and back and then some.
Love,
Mommy

Please Pray for ME

2008-04-21T14:07:00.004-04:00

Currently (like right now) I am trying to train Sadie to fall asleep by herself in her bed. It is probably the hardest thing I ever did with Mili but the best thing we ever did. I HATE doing it because it usually takes a week to fully train them and that means a week of MANY tears (me and Sadie).

With Mili I waited until she was nine months old to do it and she could already pull up in the bed so she wouldn't stay laying down long enough to fall asleep. So with Sadie I decided to start earlier (Sadie will be 8 months soon).

The most unbearable part is listening to them cry and cry for sometimes 45 minutes each time I lay them down to nap (it gets better each day...less time crying). It just kills my soul to hear her cry and I can't go and get her. I tense up all over and I usually end up crying myself (although it has been better today than when I started this with Mili).

She has given up!!! I went to check on her just now because the bedroom is silent and she has both her legs sticking out of the crib and asleep on her side. Well....I will just take a picture and show you.....

Not sure if she fell asleep because she was tired and gave up or if she couldn't figure out how to get her legs out of the bars.

Hopefully she will have a long nap now (her first nap of the day was only 20 minutes after 45 minutes of crying.....there was half the crying this time so hopefully she will be easy to train)

Please say a prayer for me. I don't think I would look good bald, however I DO think it would be therapeutic to pull my hair out some days....smile. I can do it....I can do it.....I can do it!!!!

The Plants Have Popped!!

2008-04-19T21:05:00.005-04:00

Mili has been watching the plants that she and Daddy planted for a while. Waiting for something.....anything to happen. She checks them religiously and tells them to grow all the time. It was so cute when she finally saw a little spec of green one day.

This first picture is just because it is cute. Don't you just love this cute outfit (THANKS Dani Lee, Emma probably wore it when she was much older).

"Take my picture with my plants, Mommy!!!!"

Very proud of "her" creation.

A closer look at the green cuties.

We will keep you updated and when they "have flowers" as Mili says it, we will take more pictures.
Hugs and Kisses to all of you.....We MISS ya'll (I DO still know how to say ya'll no matter what my family says).

Nanny Struck Again!

2008-04-16T09:54:00.008-04:00

With a very LOUD knock on our door Saturday morning we rec'd a box from Nanny and Poppy (Brian's parents). Mili has been waiting for this dress for a while and was overjoyed with its arrival. After finding out that her little sister would be matching her on Sunday, she was ecstatic.

Mili called this dress her princess dress. I had to take these pictures after church since we had to drop off Daddy at the Metro Station before church. We received MANY comments on our sweet girls in their matching dresses. Great job Nanny!!!!

Mili does this hundreds of times a day. She loves to love on Sadie.

Nanny always makes bows to go with the girls dresses. I sewed this bow on an old headband I had here. It worked out perfectly. It was cool here so they wore their sweaters and tights.

Mili didn't want to take pictures. She better get used to it because Mommy will be doing lots of it for the rest of her life.

More mad faces. This will be a blackmail picture later in life....smile.

What a transformation....from ugliness to a twirling princess in 2.5 seconds.

More twirling, the tongue helps us concentrate....Sadie Beth looking on.

And MORE twirling....Sadie Beth amused by her sisters performance.

Bath FUN with Mili

2008-04-12T19:26:00.002-04:00

One day while bathing Mili she put her wet hand on my jeans and noticed that it made a hand print. Now every time I am wearing jeans and she is taking a bath my jeans look like the pictures below. I am usually soakin' wet when we are finished. She giggles the whole time she is doing it and my jeans will dry but the memories will last a LIFETIME.

I LOVE my Mili Bear!!!

I know this seems like something strange to take pictures of but I don't want to forget a thing about raising our sweet girls.

Ain't Nothing A Little Daddy Time Can't Fix!!!

2008-04-11T22:28:00.005-04:00

Brian has been out of town for almost a week and the girls have missed their Daddy (and husband). We are so glad Daddy is home!!! Mili keeps asking to sit in his lap every five seconds. She really understood this time what it meant to miss Daddy when he was away. She was so excited when we FINALLY got to go pick him up. She asked me everyday (several times a day) if it was the day to pick up Daddy.

We bought a SEEK and FIND (similar to Where's Waldo) book at Sam's tonight (it is huge....floor book). We were all on the floor seeking weird stuff like pigs with police uniforms on and such. This book is awesome for a family event. Mili loved it and did very well finding and circling the items or animals in the pictures. It will be something we continue to do on a regular basis.

And don't forget SISTER time!!! These girls LOVE each other already. I can't wait to see them when they can actually communicate with words (they communicate in cute ways right now).

Lazy Parenting

2008-04-09T10:36:00.004-04:00

Sadie has become very mobile in the last few days. She is not crawling yet but rolling EVERYWHERE. It is very difficult for Mommy to keep her safe (away from Mili's toys that are not appropriate for her). She is rolling from one end of the room to the other, hitting her head on anything that is in her way and picking up everything she passes. So here we are in the "cage". Mili actually liked the "cage" (still does, see pictures) until she was walking and then it became the place of dread for her.

I am not sure how to read this face...Like or Not Like

I took this picture through the mesh

Do you think she has seen a face like this before (maybe from Mommy).
This is the face I get when I say, "Mili wait... one more picture.... look at Mommy."

"Caged" but happy about it!!

Mili is still in the "cage" with her. She likes it there and the house is awfully quiet this way.

Mommy likes the "cage" because it gives me some rest from picking up Sadie ten thousand times a day and spending time trying to locate Mili. Mommy is all smiles now, since the "cage" has reappeared in our house!!

Science with Daddy

2008-04-09T09:09:00.008-04:00

Daddy and Mili went on a date the other day. They brought back some stuff to plant flowers. Daddy is starting early to help Mili appreciate science. Mili looks out the window several times a day to see if they are growing. She wants to water them constantly.

Mili had to have her hat on so she could be like Daddy.

Watering EVERYTHING was her favorite part!

Sadie was enjoying the weather.

Getting a little dirty

Not sure we like being dirty

Talking to the seeds to help them grow faster.

Still waiting for a leaf to appear.

Poseing for crazy picture taking Mommy.

Thanks Daddy for a great day!!!!

Just Because

2008-04-09T08:53:00.003-04:00

These pictures are just because I haven't posted in a while. So here they are.

Hugs and Kisses from the girls....We love you Daddy!!!

Please PRAY for Tricia, Nate and Gwyneth

2008-04-02T21:08:00.006-04:00

Most of you know that I LOVE sharing our lives with all of you through this blog (especially for grandparents, family and friends back home). As much as I like to share my life with others, I also find myself enjoying other blogs that I have found links to from other blogs. The blogs that I read on a daily basis, I feel a close connection to (especially this one Confessions of a CF Husband, I check it many times a day).

This family is an amazing picture of Christ centered faith. I have been following the story of their lives since a few days after their daughter was born. To give you a little background (since some of you won't click on the link...I know you, but I dare you to, you will be blessed).

Nate is the author of the blog and shares his remarkable story of his life with his wife Tricia (who has Cystic Fibrosis) and now his micro-preemie daughter, Gwyneth Rose. Tricia was preparing to be put on a double lung transplant list and they unexpectedly found out they were pregnant. She carried that sweet baby as long as she could and the baby was born at a little over 24 weeks old. Gwyneth is doing fantastic and now weighs over 2 lbs., however, Tricia was still (if not more now) in need of the double lung transplant.

Today is the DAY!!! Tricia is in surgery right now to receive her new lungs and I am praying all goes well. I have been following the story so closely today and when we left for church they were the only thing I could think of. When we arrived home I barely got the two diaper bags off my arm before I checked the blog to see if she was in surgery. Tears started to stream down my face as I read the blog. I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a mother and I want for other women to be able to experience it, especially Tricia. When I am aggravated at the everyday tasks of caring for our two blessings, I almost always think of Tricia and how she would LOVE to be doing what I am complaining about.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for Tricia, Nate and Gwyneth as they continue on this journey. They have been an incredible inspiration to me as a wife, mother, and child of God.

Please don't forget to pray for the donor family as they have unfortunately lost a loved one today.

I am praying for the day that I see a picture posted of Tricia holding precious Gwyneth with no tubes, gowns, gloves, or masks in between them. What a sweet picture that will be.

My name is Mili

2008-03-31T09:37:00.003-04:00

Mili is learning to write her name. Here is the best out of many attempts. She wrote the green one all by herself.

Just thought I would share the work of our little genius.

Sitting, Sitting, Sitting......Most of the Time!

2008-03-29T17:25:00.005-04:00

Sitting without support is our new thing. Sadie is trying hard to keep herself in the vertical position while sitting. She still has her issues when anything is out of reach (you will notice in one of the photos).

We got out the trusty Papasan chair cushion. We used this for Mili too. We did it more for Mili's head since she was very top heavy for a long time. With Sadie, we are trying to give the poor people that live under us a relief from the constant foot banging.

Just wanted to share our growing Sadie Beth's sitting pictures.

It's A Bird, It's A Plane, NO It's Super Mili

2008-03-29T16:55:00.005-04:00

We rec'd some cute Jammies in a bag of clothes from some friends. I hadn't even shown them to Mili until last night. (Since they are short sleeves and she never sleeps with a blanket I knew it would be battle to tell her she had to wait to wear them until it was warmer in the house at night).

I got them out last night for two reasons....It was going to be warm enough to wear them and mainly because I have not done laundry so they were the only ones clean....smile.

Mili was elated to say the least. She absolutely LOVES them and doesn't want to take them off. We now have a request for some Spiderman "Jamas" as she calls them.

When I put Mili to bed last night she said, "Mommy, I love my new jamas and I wish I had a cape so I could fly high high in the sky." (the shirt actually has velcro on it for a cape so it probably did come with one but we won't tell Mili that). I DO wish these "Jamas" made her faster than a speeding bullet. It takes FOREVER for her to complete something these days.

Just thought I would share the pictures I took of her being "Super Mili" last night.

We've Come A Long Way Baby!

2008-03-28T15:36:00.006-04:00

Sadie used to HATE tummy time. She would SCREAM the entire time she was on her tummy and then some afterwards. I have been pushing the issue since her 3 month doctor's appointment (which was really after she was 4 months old) because of the shape of her head. She is starting to enjoy some of her tummy time now but by the time I was finished taking these pictures, she was starting to fuss. By the time I got her bottle ready she was crying. So she still doesn't enjoy it for long periods of time but at least it is better than it was.

Sadie's head has improved but in this picture you can see how flat it still is behind her ear.

Some cute toes and FAT legs. I just want to EAT them!!!!

The Elvis look! (hair and all)

Innocent look (even though everyone in this house knows it is not true)

This is the same way I find Sadie every time she wakes up. She is trying to find someone to pick her up. She thinks if she makes eye contact then she's gotcha.

A wave for everyone back home in Arkansas!!!! I LOVE this face!!!

While I was typing this blog, Sadie just rolled over from back to front for the first time. She has been able to roll from her tummy to her back since 4 months (maybe because she hates her tummy time...smile). She just did it again. Yay!!!! Another milestone down.

Brian is such A LOSER!!!

2008-03-26T15:56:00.004-04:00

My wonderful Husband is doing fantastic on our healthy eating program. He has lost a total of 20 lbs in less than 8 weeks. I am so proud of him. He works out daily and I try to plan his meals and snack for the day thru the biggest loser website. It helps me to get the right number of calories for the day and it helps me with recipes for different things we can incorporate into our diet. The whole family is eating this way and we hope that means a healthy lifestyle for both of our girls at a young age.

I just wanted to show off my hot hubby and tell you all what a wonderful job he is doing. It is hard work to get the pounds to drop off and I am very proud of him. He is wearing clothes that he has not been able to wear in a LONG time.

In Mili's words, "GO DADDY GO!" Keep up the GREAT work!!!
WhooHoo, His legs are ROCKIN' these days!
I LOVE YOU!!!

I have posted a lot in the last few days so don't forget to read all the blogs below too.

Love you ALL!!

Our Little Biker Girl

2008-03-26T15:41:00.004-04:00

Today was a sunshiny day with the air temperature to match it. There are alot of deceiving days here where you think it is warmer than it is because the sun is shining.

I asked Mili if she wanted to go out and ride her bike this morning and her response was, "No Mommy, the sun is too bright and I can't see." This poor child has her Aunt Aimee syndrome. She can not see in the sun and it actually debilitates her. She will cover her eyes with her hands and completely stop walking if the sun hits her eyes. I guess we need to invest in some good baby sunglasses for her. She ask for her sunglasses everyday that the sun is out.

Mili is getting good at riding her bike. She goes forward and backwards over and over until she gets bored. You know our balcony is only so big and I can't even imagine the funnest home video if I were to try to take both kids and the bike down the stairs for her to ride in the empty parking lot (I think I would pull out all my hair before I got down the several sets of stairs and to the back of the lot, well maybe not since I wouldn't have any extra hands to do so....smile). So for now, Mili just has to be a balcony bike rider.

Our Caged Animal

2008-03-26T11:28:00.005-04:00

As I was trying to keep Sadie happy (a full time job), I decided to try the laundry basket. At first she would throw herself backwards and the basket would tip back with her. After a few times of doing that I sat her with the basket against a chair and it worked fine. She was so happy there exploring her new surroundings.

Here is our caged baby....

Feet straight out, it cracks me up.

Happy and waving at Mommy.

Trying to throw paci overboard.

Hope you enjoyed our sweet caged animal.

Letter to Sadie 7 Months

2008-03-26T09:52:00.001-04:00

Dear Sweet Sadie Beth,

You turned 7 months old yesterday. Time is really flying by and I love being your mommy more and more each day.

You are trying really hard to copy sounds and form some kind of babble that mommy and daddy will recognize.

Sitting with no help is becoming easier for you. A clothing basket is your favorite sitting place.

I love the way you cock your head to one side and give me the biggest toothy (or gummy) grin.

We haven't seen any teeth yet but you are chewing on EVERYTHING.

Cackling with Mili is one of your favorite activities.

You are EXTREMELY ticklish in MANY places and mommy and daddy take advantage of this often.

You are starting to show love to your Pooh Bears by giving them nice long hugs and big, sloppy kisses (or bites, which ever one it is).

It never fails, no matter what time I am eating it is your poopie time (such a nice aroma while eating).

Speaking of diapers, it is getting extremely difficult to change your diapers these days because you grab everything in sight and are trying to roll over at the same time. This usually results in a kadywampous diaper that will leak....smile.

We are going to start calling you "Rodeo" because you have a habit of swinging anything you get your hands on over your head like a lasso....too cute.

You love story time and would love to eat the book as well.

Eating your fruits and veggies has not yet appealed to you. You are very tight lipped when the spoon comes toward your mouth. I hope you will learn to love them like your sister does.

I love that you are starting to do my one syllable laugh, "HUH!"

When I put you in the bathtub, I love the way your legs stick straight up in the air. You soon relax and have an enjoyable bath time.

You are developing some of mommy's characteristics or quirks. You like the way the sheets feel on your bare feet.

I hope your headbutting will soon be in the distant past. My chest and daddy's arms can't take many more bruises.

The way you move your feet in circles reminds me of when Mili did that with her hands.

There is nothing like being woke up by you lifting both your legs and bringing them down on the bed. The POP is unbelievably loud in the middle of the night.

You are having some stranger anxiety and some separation anxiety already. I hope this will soon be over.

You are starting to recognize the signs for "milk" and "eat".

You are a delight and I am so glad God gave you to me!
I love you all the way to the moon and back and then some!!!
Love,
Mommy

Easter Debut

2008-03-23T16:59:00.009-04:00

Mili sang "Jesus Loves Me" on the big stage in the big church today with her "Quarter Note" friends. She is little Miss Bossy these days. When she was practicing this morning I was taking pictures and she stopped in the middle of the song and said, "NO, Not yet Mommy!!"

There are two videos below. The first one is from first service and I took it. It is not as high quality because after almost three years with this camera, I still don't know how to use all the buttons. The one from second service Brian took with higher quality.

In the first video you need to listen for Miss Bossy. She says, "NO!!!" to the boy standing next to her (Clayton) because he is touching the microphone. She told me after the service that Mrs. Kimberly told them not to touch the microphone and he was touching it, Mommy. Then she looks over at James (the little boy on the other side of Clayton, 2 down from Mili) and says, "James, sing with us." So she is not only bossy but nosey, noticing that he was not singing at that present time.

In this one listen for Mili's sweet voice at the end of the song. She starts out soft and finishes strong.

Easter

2008-03-23T16:14:00.016-04:00

Here are lovely family Easter pictures. We don't all get dressed up like this often so it is a treat to see both of the girls in frufru dresses.

Hope the grandparents are happy with ALL the pictures. Mili took the last picture of Brian and myself. I didn't even have to crop it (Brian has a funny look on his face because he is telling Mili how to run the camera, "push" is the word).

Hope your Easter was/is Fantastic and that you have reflected on how fortuate we are to have a loving Savior who gave EVERYTHING (including his life) in order to FREE us.

Mili's 1st Haircut

2008-03-22T08:18:00.017-04:00

As promised, here is our first big, big girl experience. We have been talking to Mili about a haircut for several months. We have to talk up things around here so we are ready for the event when it takes place.

Mili has been talking about it for a while and we knew she and we were ready. I can't believe I almost cried. I held back the tears but it IS her 1st haircut. This place was fantastic. It is called Cartoon Cuts and they have cartoons playing for them so that they keep their heads fairly still and straight. They also had a little baggie ready for her beautiful locks and a certificate so I could scrapbook her hair.

Mili LOVES her hair but Mommy and Daddy thinks it makes her look to old. When I gave her a bath last night this was our conversation....

Mili : Mommy, I want to keep my haircut.

Me: Ok baby, let's get into the bathtub.

Mili: No Mommy, I don't want my haircut go away.

Me: Baby, your haircut will stay, it will not go away.

Mili: It will not wash way, Mommy???

When Mili woke up this morning she said, "Mommy, my haircut stayed."

Enjoy the pictures.

The JOY of Giving!!!

2008-03-20T23:16:00.014-04:00

After Christmas this year we decided to start a new family tradition. We want to pick an organization to give to all year. New Life Deaf Ministries/ Happy Hands School is our focus this year. I found a piggy bank Mili received when she was a baby and we explained to her that these coins are going to children in Honduras so they can learn about Jesus. She was so excited and she always wants to know if I have some coins to put in it. I have to go searching sometimes but I would rather the money go there than lay around the house.

New Life Deaf Ministries is a ministry that is very close to my heart. There are not many days that I don't think about the people there. I went on a mission trip to Honduras in 2003 and have been changed forever. We are truly spoiled rotten in the US.

We were greeted with gifts by the children who go to the Private christian school "Happy Hands".

Here is the sign for the school.

Here are some of the children who attend the school. The only boy in this picture is the family we helped the week I was there. We did repairs and painting on his home (1 1/2 hours away and his mother travels that everyday on a bus with him so he can go to school, GREAT mom

They had a culture day when we were there. They don't normally dress this way but they were learning about their culture (clothing, food, etc).

We are traveling by bus to go to the little boy's house to do repairs. I am in the hat and sunglasses. The lady standing is the director of the program. She is from Arkansas and she is hearing (her Spanish and Spanish sign language are fantastic). She lives their now and has adopted a Honduran girl.

Hurricane Mitch destroyed so many streets and they are still not repaired.

Telling the children from the school GOODBYE!

The sign for the church.

Mili says, "Here is some coins for the shildren learn 'bout Jesus. Jesus loves everyone, Mommy."

There is never enough coins for her to put in the piggy bank. I hope she always wants to give BIG to the cause of Christ.

Making sure the coins are getting in the right place, especially if there are dollars in there and she can't hear the coins hit when she drops them.

Shake, shake, shake to make sure it is getting full and the "shildren" can learn that Jesus loves them ALOT!

I hope that during this time of the year we will reflect on how blessed we are to have a Savior and Lord that gave EVERYTHING for us. We can surely give some of what we have or He has given us (everything we have is from Him anyway). Giving is top on our list of things to help our children understand. The JOY of giving is so GREAT. Watching Mili get excited about the "shildren" learning about Jesus makes my heart SMILE.

Please check out the link above to the New Life Deaf Ministry website. There is information on how it was started and how you can give. If not there, there are many other places that can use your money, time, or talents to further the Kingdom of God.

We love you all and Happy Easter!!!

Coming Posts:

Mili's 1st haircut

Easter

Sitting.....Laying......Sitting

2008-03-20T10:42:00.015-04:00

Sadie Beth is trying hard to sit on her own. She does a pretty good job of it until she gets excited or wants something just out of reach.

Here are some pictures of her sitting. She still falls over quite often.

Sadie throws herself back when she doesn't get what she wants. This started at 9 months with Mili but oh do we have a strong willed one this time....smile.

Can I get the ball with my feet....concentrate!!!

I love taking photos and one of the things I am trying to learn is how to do it more effectively. I also love to scrapbook so they are a good combination if I could learn some tricks to make them look better. Here are few that I photoshopped. I would love to take some professional classes some day (maybe when the kids are old enough for school).

Tell me what you think.....the last one is my favorite.

The Hunt is ON!!!!

2008-03-17T09:54:00.022-04:00

Well, the Easter Egg Hunt was Saturday. We had a fabulous day. It was supposed to rain but we ended up with sunshine. Mili has been talking about this for a month and she could not hardly wait to go "hunt" eggs. I think she remembers carrying around the advertisement for the egg hunt last year (a little scary how good her memory is). When she saw the insert in our update at church she immediately knew it was time for the egg hunt. Kids are brilliant when it comes to candy (this year she could actually eat it).

Our church does a community wide hunt each year. It gets bigger every year and this year we had 10,000 eggs. We ended up with about 500 people coming.

We started out with some cool breeze and some coloring sheets.

Then James joined us which made us unbelievably happy. Gotta love us some James (Mili's bestest friend)

Then there is Clayton or "Playton" if you are Mili. They are always smiles together. We (Clayton's parents and us) are always trying to arrange a marriage for the two of them. We always say they would have some pretty blue eyed children.

The EGG-CITEMENT is building!!!

ANTICIPATION

I can't look....it is too much for me! WAITING for the GO!!!

And we are off...

Counting eggs with Minali (one of Brian's co-workers daughters)

Mili's first time in a moonbounce or a "jumpy house" if you are Mili talking. I was thankful that Minali went in with her because she spent more time on her bottom than her feet.

Mili and Minali playing. She enjoyed the wide open field to run and scream since we don't have access to anything like this.

Follow the leader

Minali's sister, Kadence is in the red. They are a great family to play with.

We had a great day being outside playing and having some adult conversation too (very important for this stay-at-home mommy).

Grandpa's Home

2008-03-15T16:33:00.003-04:00

My heart is saddened that we can not be with our family right now. Brian's Dad's Dad went to meet his Maker on Thursday afternoon and the funeral was today. Brian and I are still in MD because their were no flights that were doable for us (Brian) to get home.

Grandpa's funeral is going on as I type this so I thought I would do a mini tribute to him.

When I first met Grandpa, Brian and I were dating. They (grandma and grandpa) soon started attending our church where grandma played the piano and grandpa teased everyone that came into the doors of the church. If you were never teased by this man then he probably didn't like you.

Early on he had a nickname for me, Fatso. From the first time he called me Fatso to the last time I heard it (Christmas 2007), I never grew tired of hearing it, in fact I came to expect it. I can't remember him ever using my name when talking to me after he started that nickname.

I sure hope Jesus got the memo about Grandpa liking his coke in the old fashion glass bottles. You know they taste better in glass bottles or at least Grandpa says they do. I think he may already be telling Jesus how he should be running things up there. I hope he asks Jesus if it is a sin to buy a dog (going joke in our family because Grandpa thought that it was a sin to buy or sell dogs or maybe any animal but I only remember hearing the dog part).

I loved Grandpa very much and life will be much different for our family without him but I am so glad he is with Jesus now. I know he has to be glad not to have any illness, problems breathing or problems getting around.

I was truly never treated any differently than his grandchildren. I felt the same compassion, love and acceptance from him towards me as he gave to his biological grandchildren. In fact, if I walked past him (even to put something down or put my coat away) he would say, "Fatso didn't even hug my neck" loud enough for everyone to hear it. I would then make my way over to give him hugs (I would have never forgotten to hug him anyway).

I am sad that Mili and Sadie won't remember him but we have many stories and a few pictures to pass on to them.

Christmas 2007

Mili the Artist

2008-03-12T22:48:00.002-04:00

Mili absolutely loves her drawing board/desk/tv tray. You saw it right....that is actually a tv tray but we use it as a white/dry erase board.

We have been drawing nativity scenes for months with every detail. She forgets nothing in her drawings (I will try to get a picture of that some time too).

While I was gone one night Brian and Mili were drawing Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato. Mili did her impression of Bob and Brian was floored. They saved it for me to see. Mili drew this with no help. I am starting to think she has some kind of photographic memory the way she can copy things and "read" books back to you almost word for word (Brian and I are a little freaked out by it sometimes).

We try not to be those parents that always think their kids are better (even though ours are) but come on, look at the detail in her Bob the Tomato.

You all better get her signature now because I give it maybe two more years and she will be famous.....smile. Remember Mili is 2 years and 9 months old.

I guess this is worth the numerous pj's that have marker on them and washing it off her hands and face daily.

Sleeping Sadie

2008-03-12T22:43:00.002-04:00

I just had to share this sweet sleeping Sadie picture. This was taken when she was sick with the stomach virus. She was wiped out. I felt so sorry for her but this was too cute not to take a picture of it. I tried to get this picture many times but the light on the camera kept waking her up so this is as good as it gets.

We are happy that our family is on the mends.

New Look

2008-03-07T16:46:00.002-05:00

So, raise your hand if you like the new look. It is not perfect but it is something I wanted to try for a long time. With the help of my lovely husband (AKA computer geek) I was able to pull off something similar to what I wanted.

I hope to do a more complex one in Spring or Summer. This is just a trail run to see if I have what it takes to do this stuff.

All the elements in the title are from free digital scrapbook downloads. People pay $35 or more to have this done. Maybe I need to learn more and get a home business going.

Let me know what ya thinka.

This Mommy of 2 Thing

2008-03-06T15:42:00.002-05:00

Ok, don't faint I am blogging twice in one day (it does happen but not often). I have felt the need to blog today for my own sanity (read blog below first).

I knew when we had another baby it would be somewhat difficult to take care of both of them effectively. I never imagined some of the days I would have. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE our girls and you can tell that by most of the entries on this blog but a Mama gotta vent every now and then.

Today during the up-chuck (explained in entry below) episode I knew I had to bathe Mili because she got it in her hair. I could not or would not stand that all day. At the same time this episode is happening Sadie is in her crib waking from a short nap (too short). She starts crying like she always does wanting me to come and get her. I was still cleaning Mili up and so Sadie decided I was not coming fast enough so she starts SCREAMING. I continue to clean Mili enough to let her down from the table and start her bath water. After getting Mili's clothes ready for the bath Sadie sounds like a fog horn in my ear (keep in mind she is still in the other room).

I got Sadie's seat ready for her to sit in it as I bathed Mili. I put Sadie in the seat in the hall outside our bathroom (for those of you that have been here to visit you know there is not much room for yourself in our bathroom much less three of us). Sadie continued to SCREAM and so I decided to bring her in the bathroom in her seat. I call Mili to her bath and she starts crying because she doesn't want to take a bath right now. Now both are crying (SCREAMING). I am about to pull my hair out so I start screaming which scared Sadie even more and made her louder.

After I calmed myself down, I tried to explain to Mili that her crying was not helping Sadie calm down and if she would calm down then maybe Sadie would. Then Mili stopped for a minute and then her sad cry came on.. She said, "I sorry I make Sadie sad, you forgive me?" I had to explain again (all while Sadie is still SCREAMING) that it was not Mili's fault it was just worse when she is crying too. Mili stopped for a bit and Sadie is still SCREAMING. While bathing Mili she said, "Why Sadie sad Mommy?" I had no idea so I couldn't answer that question. Mili kept saying as I got her out of the tub, "Mommy, I need Sadie to smile." (I would have paid money to see that happen at this point).

With both crying or screaming through more than half (Sadie the entire) time we were in the very tiny bathroom I was about to go insane. I was trying really hard to keep my composure but I am sure a tear or two probably escaped.

After dressing Mili, I picked up Sadie and she immediately stopped screaming. I am so glad she is not old enough for a good old fashioned whippin' because she would have gotten one. I was so mad that all of that was about me picking her up. She was fine the entire time I was drying Mili's hair. I am not even going to try to figure this one out.

I just thought I would share this since most moms are scared to share stories like this one in fear that they don't look capable or that things are not what they are suppose to seem. I have a friend who has some issues about what she feels as a mother and I think a lot of that comes from moms NOT sharing the bad along with the good. New moms have this preconceived notion that everything is suppose to look perfect and it is NOT. Being a mother (especially a stay-at-home mom) is hard work.

I still wouldn't trade it for an outside job for anything but I am tired and will go now.

Our Little Sicklings

2008-03-06T11:38:00.002-05:00

Most days I think I pretty much have things under control here in our home with the two girls (I never have Brian under control...smile). I wouldn't say that I have the house under control but I try to do something related to the house each day.

It has been a strange week due to the fact that the stomach virus has planted it's roots deep into our tiny apartment. It started with Sadie on Friday night. She had a small up-chuck before I left to go to scrapbooking club at church. Brian kept the girls and he had to clean up another spew while I was gone. Sadie only had one other episode on Saturday during the day and then she was pretty much back to normal. She still is having some issues from the other end but enough talk about this.

We went to our potluck for our Marriage Life Group on Sunday night at church. Everyone seemed to be fine and Sadie was starting to drink formula again after me syringe feeding Pedialyte through the two nights before (I didn't want a dehydration run to the ER to complicate things anymore). We had a great time with our class and got to know them all better.

Sunday night during the night, Mili woke up puking her guts up. After changing sheets, clothes, and disinfecting everyone and everything, it of course happened again. Another round of cleaning up everyone and everything. I can't remember now if it was Sunday night or Monday morning when Brian got it. He stayed home from work on Monday with many trips to the bathroom.

On Monday it was like a hospital here. Sadie was on 2 oz of milk every hour to try to get her back on track and Mili was complaining, crying , throwing fits because she hates Pedialyte. Mili is our milk baby (and NOTHING else). She doesn't like juice at all (not even juice boxes). After much bribing to get fluid into Mili we were settling in a little more. Sadie had some blow-out diapers and I was becoming very tired of changing clothes, sheets and myself by this time.

Tuesday morning before Brian could get off to work, Mili was up-chucking her milk. We went all day without milk again trying to make her eat Popsicles or something to get some fluid in her. Tuesday night I went to the church to practice for a white glove/black light hand show we are doing.

Wednesday morning Brian went to work out (he was obviously feeling much better) and I tried to get some normalcy back to the house. Sadie was up to 6 oz every three to four hours and maybe one bad diaper. Mili was eating small amounts of soft foods and back on milk.

This morning Mili ate her oatmeal for breakfast like usual and drank a little milk. Later about 10 AM she asked for a snack. I gave her some Veggie Tales fruit snacks and on the first one she gagged and puked again. I think it is gag reflexes rather than sick this time. After a bath (that is a whole other entry) we are back to soft foods that glide down so there is no gagging going on.

Enough about all this sick talk but I had to get it out. I will post another entry about our bath experience later.

Hope all my friends and family are well. It seems like the season around here to be sick. I pray that I will stay puke-free!

Hugs and Kisses to all that want to come close enough!

Mommy's Letter to Mili

2008-03-04T13:14:00.004-05:00

***I added to this post if you have already read it today!

I didn't get around to doing this for Mili last month and I am late putting it up this month but I was determined not to leave my sweet Mili Bear out this time. This should have been done on the 2nd but our family has been battling the stomach virus.

My Sweet Mili Bear,

You are now 2 years and 9 months old. I love the stage you are in right now. You are so much fun. I love the play time we have together and as mentioned many times before, I LOVE your wonderful, deep imagination. You are such an attraction to people and children at church. Everyone loves you and especially loves having conversations with you (since you are one of the only kids in your class who will carry on a conversation with your teachers).

Your favorite friends at church right now are all boys (James, Clayton, and Nicolas) however, you play well with anyone who will play with you and listen to you read stories to them. You are a little bossy when it comes to story time, telling your friends where to sit while you "read" to them.

Your favorite activity in the Blue Classroom is to make a train out of the chairs and have your friends ride with you.

Mommy's favorite things about you right now are the fact that you can have a conversation with me (although sometimes it goes on forever).

I love....

the way you say "bascebi" for spaghetti

the way you say, "Mommy do you forgive me." especially when you didn't do anything wrong
the way you say, "Ahhh, you welcome sweetheart." when I say thank you to you.
the way you say, "Sure" for your answer to many of my questions.
the way you say, "I guess you're right, Mommy."
the way you pray to God each night thanking Him for EVERYTHING in your life.
the way you say, "Shall we....." when you want to do something.
the way you say, "no thank you" even when I am telling you to do something (it always makes me smile, but I still make you do whatever I was telling you to do).

****I decided to add some more great things I love about you
the way you are obsessed with bible stories (I pray you will always love the bible this much)
the way you can recite bible stories word for word
the way you pick a bible story DVD over anything else
the way you already LOVE Jesus so much
the way you always want your lesson papers from church hole punched and put in a book to keep so we can read them over and over, and we do....smile.

Mili you are telling me a bible story now and that is what reminded me to add the lines above. You are so passionate and animated while telling the stories. I think an atheist would believe any story you told them about the bible.

Mommy LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the fact that you are fully potty trained (even at night) and have been for the last few months.

Mili, I love you all the way to the moon and back and then some!!!! I am so glad God gave you to me!!!!

Love,

Mommy