Easter 2014

 I love spring time! I think I appreciate it more now than ever since we live in a place that has harsher winters. With spring comes the wonderful celebration of Jesus' resurrection! The week of Easter Jude's letter was Rr to represent "rescue"...Jesus came to rescue us from our sins. Our learning activities for the week revolved around this and we enjoyed reading the stories in our Jesus Storybook Bible through out the week.

We also started the tradition of dying Easter eggs. Jude liked the science behind it and watching the colors dissolve.

 His favorite part of the eggs though was throwing them on the paved drive way and watching them bust afterward. Thanks Dad for encouraging that mess. :)

 We got the kiddos a little something for Easter and Jude really enjoyed his surprises.

 What do you get a 5 month old for Easter? A teething toy, a book, and new adorable TOMS of course.

 So what if she thinks her TOMS are also a teething toy.

 She realized she had bunnies on her feet on her Easter jammies and cracked herself up.

 Jude was pumped to get some outdoor things. We got new side walk chalk, bubbles, and one of the velcro ball things. (Do those have a name?)

 Of course the Reese Easter Egg and Peeps were a hit too. He wanted to put the peeps in the microwave to watch them blow up...thank you JJ.

And this is the best Easter picture I could get...I'm a little bias but I think they looked pretty darn cute.

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter service at church starting with a brunch and then the service. Afterward, we had Easter dinner with a wonderful family, the Baumann's. We enjoyed a wonderful meal, an egg hunt, and kite flying. Though we were away from home on another holiday, we had a blessed day celebrating Jesus' greatest gift to us.

NC Visit, Part III-Asheboro

 Pop is totally in love with his grand daughter! I was a Papaw Brackett's girl and Jillian was our PawPaw Lamb's girl so it's so good to see that Sadie adores her Pop too!

 I was actually surprised at how much attention my Dad gave Miss Priss. He kept her 2 different days including feeding her, playing on a quilt outside, walking her, and putting her down for a nap all on his own. It was quite precious.

 Eli and Sadie are only 10 months apart and it was so cute to see them interact. He loved helping her jump. We had some fun times with all 3 kids sitting in the back seat together.

 We had a great time at the zoo. It was nice to go this time of year before it gets too hot. We had 2 strollers and the Ergo and were ready to go.

 The NC zoo has a new Kids Zone which Jude and Eli really enjoyed. There are a lot of hands on activities and it was a great break between looking at the animals.

 I am really proud of how great Zach did. We walked 2 miles and he did the whole thing with only a few breaks. His new physical therapist has been great for him and we all can see great strides in his improvement.

 The boys really enjoyed watching the monkeys as the last exhibit for the day. I know we'll have some crazy fun adventures together as these boy grow up.

 Boofee and Sadie has some great snuggles and Martha and Jude had some rough and tough time. My Mom has always told me you are blessed if you have a handful of true friends in your lifetime and I can say that I have this gift. My college roommates and I are all still in touch. I got to see 2 of them during this visit. We try to see each other any time we all are in NC and it's always a blessing to spend time together. For 10 years now, we've prayed together, laughed and celebrated together, and even cried together. So thankful for these girls!

We had a great visit including a trip to the zoo, visiting with my college room mates, and lots of quality time with family. I am so thankful for our home visits and the time we get to spend together.

Our summer visit will be here before we know it!

Miss Priss at 5 Months

Sadie's nickname around our house has become Miss Priss or Prissy and Justin has said several times the name suites her well. Sadie is very sociable, smiles often, and loves watching her brother. Her new favorite toy is her singing puppy from MoMo and Pop's house. (It's one Jude had but we left in NC and she loved playing with it. It sings songs and moves and she will watch and laugh at it forever.)

Sadie is rolling all over the place, turning 360's, and scooting on her belly. We will be surprised if she's not crawling soon. She is wearing some 3-6 month clothes but has moved to some 6 month clothes as well. She is definitely on her last size 2 diapers. (We only use them at night and at church.) The next pack we purchase will have to be 3's.

Sadie prefers to be held, by me. She has began reaching for me and it melts my heart. We moved her to her crib at night (she's been napping there since we moved) when we got back from NC and she's done great! We've dropped her dream feed and her schedule is as follows: Her last feeding is around 8:45-9 pm. Asleep by 9:15 (Yes, we do have late bed times but it works for our family...I think it will bump up when we drop our cat nap in the evening.) She sleeps until 4:45-5:15 am for a feeding, then goes back to sleep until 8-8:30 am. From here she's on a 3.5-4 hours schedule and doing great. She naps well and actually prefers to be put down to fall asleep on her own. If we hold her, she fights it but if we put her down, she'll fuss for only a few minutes and go right to sleep. She continues to not want a pacifier.

We started solids just a few days ago at dinner time. We have tried rice cereal, carrots, and avocado. She loved the avocado. I do think this has helped her with sleeping longer at night.

Every day goes so quickly and I can't believe it's been 5 months since she made her debut. Happy 5 Months Miss Priss!

 Yummy, yummy!

 Finger lickin' good!

Hanging out with Uncle Zach which in N.C.

Trip to NC, Part II-Jude's Birthday Party

The 2 families usually meet in Concord to switch off. I really want Jude and Sadie to have memories of family birthday parties (as much as possible) and since we were close enough to Jude's birthday, we did a belated Lightning McQueen party at Chickfila. It was great to have family there to celebrate Jude. I still can't believe this boy is 3!

 Uncle Zach's girlfriend Brittany owns a bakery near Raleigh and she made Jude's amazing birthday cake. She surprised him with a Tow Mater Rice Krispie cake too!

 Jude couldn't wait to get some cake. We were afraid he would love it so much he wouldn't want to cut it. Instead, he said, "Let's cut this Lightnin'!"

 Needless to say, Jude got LOTS of fun new toys.

 Jude and Eli had a good time in the play place. It was so fun to see these 2 interact on our visit, except Jude's inability to share.

 Jude is like his Daddy...it's difficult to take a posed picture with his eyes open. :)

 Nana and Hannah, the twins.

And, I had to post one of this cutie. This was a few weeks ago, but I haven't posted her in a picture in any Auburn gear yet. In lieu of A Day game, I thought I would add this one. 

Another birthday has passed and I'm trying to soak it all up, day by day.

Visit to NC, Part I

We spent 2 wonderful weeks in North Carolina that went by entirely too fast. I was very nervous about flying with both kiddos solo, but prayers were answered and both trips, coming and going, went smoothly. (Minus our long wait in the Subway line and Jude started saying "I'm doing the pee pee dance." when I was the next person to pay. Needless to say, we bolted out of line to the bathroom and ate yogurt parfaits for dinner instead.)

We flew into Charlotte and spent our first chunk of our visit with the Dellingers. We were able to see lots of family and spend some good time with Justin's parents again and his brother. This visit was very special to both sets of family since it was the first time many were able to meet sweet Sadie.

 Papaw Jerry with Sadie...she really enjoyed his duck sounds.

 Sadie with Mamaw Mart, her great great grandmother.

 Sadie with Mamaw Ann. Sadie loved her polka dot sweater. We could not get her to look up.

 Jude with Uncle Cody and his girlfriend Sydney. Jude might have a slight crush on Sydney.

 Jude was really interested in Cousin Hunter's dirt bike magazine.

 Cousin Hannah (aka Nana's look alike) with Sadie. She is such a sweet girl. I would be blessed for Sadie to turn into such a caring and respectable teenager one day.

 Uncle Cody getting some smiles out of Sadie. (Look at those legs!)

We are greatly blessed to have my inlaws open their home to us and for the opportunity to make such special memories.