us & our girls

easter 2011 ~ part 1

2011-09-18T21:46:00.000-04:00

(the problem with writing about this in september is i can't remember all the details- believe it or not- but i'll give it my best shot : )my parents live in a great neighborhood that had a fun easter celebration and egg hunt at their clubhouse. there was a bubble machine which you can see from the pictures, one little brunette THOROUGHLY enjoyed... then inside there were yummy easter goodies and crafts which marni seemed to enjoy the most with her LOVE for all things scrapbooking, etc : )afterwards, we enjoyed going back to my parents' home for a wonderful meal together where my mom outdid herself with beautiful decorations and personalized candies for each of us!

ava's baby dedication

2011-09-18T21:34:00.001-04:00

ava was dedicated at buckhead church in the same format as bella, which i love!! we had (2) tables that were assigned to us and we were able to invite family and friends to come celebrate with us. jason and i were asked by the church to prepare some thoughts, comments, etc to share with our guests. in addition the church shared blessings with each of us, pictures of the children and sweet treats.

-ariel & me

-jason's aunt lou ann from ct was able to join us!

-loved that marni & pepere were able to be there!

-this is the picture we chose to have on the slideshow during the dedication

it's about time

2011-09-18T21:16:00.002-04:00

is what i keep saying to my self as i type this entry... where have i been you ask??
-working MORE than full-time in our business
-taking care of (2) VERY busy but sweeter than pie baby girls
-caring for my wonderful husband who is still very dedicated to training for triathlons
**Have to brag on him for a minute-- he's LOST 40+lbs since he's been training-- go baby!!
-attempting to get our dining room back in order after jason & alfonso finished building our new table
-spending time (not as much as i'd like) with family & friends
-going on trips (dominican republic just J & me, SSI w/ our family & my in-laws, & our staycation)
-trying to get my home organization notebook organized : ) (includes family budget, weekly meal calendar, party/design ideas, etc)
-cleaning out closets and the girls' playroom
-preparing to lead our small group
-our first time volunteering in waumba land at buckhead church
-and i am sure much else that i am forgetting...

so, no i am going to try to do a few posts w/ pics and more specific details.

2 thought provoking...

2011-01-22T14:15:00.005-05:00

and VERY wise posts that i read this week:

1. http://infoforfamilies.typepad.com/blog/2011/01/one-mothers-powerful-and-insightful-observations.html
2. http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-dont-want-my-children-to-be-happy.html

i am looking forward to wrestling w/ these some more both in my own heart and mind, as well as w/ some friends. i hope to come back to them as well, so i wanted to make sure i posted about them

where to start?!?!

2011-01-21T23:12:00.002-05:00

i feel like i won't ever be able to get caught up, so i might as well not even try... but i am trying to fight those feelings and remember that while i definitely don't need to put additional stress on myself, it will be so fun years from now to read what was going on!

so because i am tired and a lot is going on, i think bullet points will serve me well right now.

-deedee is officially keeping the girls on a consistent schedule week to week and i am working full-time. our usual routine is the following: monday- school & then deedee picks them up, brings them home and hangs out. tuesday- deedee has them all day. wednesday- the girls and i go to CBS and then deedee picks them up from Bible study and takes them home and hangs out. thursday- school & then deedee picks them up, brings them home and hangs out. friday- we have time just the three of us girls either at the house, running errands or playdates. so far the girls are adjusting great! deedee watched them a good bit previously and they L-O-V-E her so it's not too much of an adjustment.
-jason & i are staying very busy with work and are so thankful
-we are now leading our small group thru our church. we so enjoy each of the couples in our small group. we just finished "The 5 Love Languages" and are getting ready to start "Radical"
-jason just signed up for a half iron man in september so he is starting to train for it
-i love CBS still and am getting ready to join/start a monthly book club with some of my favorite girls
-bella is as sweet as she can be... every once in a while, just like all of us, we have some melt downs... but she is constantly making us laugh and amazing us with what she is learning. she is officially potty-trained. only wearing pull-ups at night time and bed time. she is also officially done with pacis (praise God!). both changes happened over the holidays. christmas eve she put her paci on the plate w/ the cookies for santa to take it to baby Jesus... we talked about how baby Jesus needed it more than she did. for the first (3) nights or so there was some adjusting but after that she did fabulous and now it is just a memory. as far as potty training- we just picked a day at home and switched to panties... we had a few accidents... but picked up the concept pretty quickly. i believe we are now on our 3rd week and she didn't have any accidents, even at school, church, CBS, etc. (except one little one at home while watching Dora-- who doesn't forget everything around them while under Dora's Spanish influence?!?!).
-bella LOVES dressing up in her princess outfits... heels, crown, wand, dress w/ tutu underneath and all... the outfit is simply not complete w/out each component. if she is not dressed as a princess, she is dressed as minnie (her halloween costume this year). she has the minnie shoes, ears and dress... jason and i just laugh when we hear her prancing around in her minnie heels... she loves puzzles, books, singing, her sister and is now really developing quite the imagination. so fun to see!
-ava is our sweet babe who keeps growing so quickly. she has no desire to have baby food but would rather go straight to "big girl food" like her sister. she gets so happy when sissy shares her goldfish. she is sitting up by herself really well and attempting to kind of army crawl/scoot... but not crawl quite yet... she is still toothless, but i think her bottom (2) are getting close to coming in. she loves being tickled and playing w/ big girl toys. she's a great sleeper both at night and at nap time. she is one of her teachers favorites- both at school and at church in waumba land.
-we are so blessed and even though we have had some pretty big challenges in our lives lately, we know GOD is so faithful and praise HIM for bringing us through, one day at a time.

my bella... such a little mama

2010-11-21T20:16:00.002-05:00

so i am recording this now so i remember for later... sweet bella in her 2 and 3/4 yrs of life never fails to crack me up... yesterday was more of the same. she & i went to do some errands/shopping and had a great time. we went to tuesday morning where she quickly found multiple "treasures" she wanted to buy. some of those treasures includes bright pink flip flops w/ polka dots for her and a "lovely" bright yellow pair of flip flops at least 2 sizes too small w/ 2 in. heels that she insisted were for mommy... when checking out i snuck the yellow ones to the cashier and he tucked them away so as not to let her know that mommy wasn't a huge fan of her fashion choice... bless her heart : )

then later while en route to pick up sissy's cake for her dedication the next day, i began hearing her making this sweet little noise with her mouth... i kind of looked in the rearview mirror and couldn't figure out what she was doing... well after about a minute of this noise, i finally turned around and asked what she was doing... she quickly proceeded "feeding my baby my booby... she hungry, mama"... sure enough her shirt was up (she had managed to pull it up under her carseat straps) and she had assumed the position w/ her baby doll. after running in to grab the cake and getting back in the car, she proceeded to tell me "she all done... her night-night"... and pulled down her shirt, patted baby doll's back and acted quite sleepy herself. HA! i couldn't contain my laughter and had to call jason to share the sweet story... my sweet girl... such a little mama : )

nani's birthday part 2

2010-11-15T08:00:00.003-05:00

then on saturday we all headed up to nani's residence in buckhead- atria... we brought cake, flowers, balloons and celebrated with her and some of her friends from atria. side note on the balloons- bella & i went to pick out the balloons earlier in the day and bella insisted on getting nani the princess balloon... needless to say we selected it for her and then decided on some others for nani : )

bella thoroughly enjoyed the festivities- esp. helping nani blow out her candles and then eating the cake. afterwards bella spotted a georgia bulldog statue in one of the courtyards and made a beeline to give it kisses and hugs : ) go dawgs!

nani's birthday part 1

2010-11-15T07:53:00.003-05:00

nani (my grandmother on my mom's side) turned 83 on Nov. 4th... my mom and her two sisters worked hard to make it a wonderful celebration for her! on her actual birthday we went to Emory's Hotel & Conference Center for a ladies luncheon in her honor. we all had a wonderful time and nani seemed to really enjoy herself!

nyc

2010-10-04T21:56:00.003-04:00

we had such a fabulous time over labor day weekend. jason & i had decided that we wanted our family to do something "out of the box" so we booked (3) tickets to nyc and did just that... and now, i am hoping it becomes a family tradition!

david (my brother) is in his 2nd year at NYU law school and then jason has family (his aunt lois, uncle joe & cousin chris) who live in long island and then many more family members who live in CT... so we decided we would go and spend time with everyone.

we left on thursday morning and the girls did really well in the airport and on the plane... cousin chris picked us up at the airport and they both took great naps on our way to aunt lois' house. mommy & daddy were so thankful!!

friday we woke up and took the train to nyc to meet up with david... we had a GREAT day... jason and i kept saying it was like "a kid's dream day on steroids"... first we walked around central park, then we went to FAO Schwartz and looked all around and played on the life-size piano that is in the movie "Big"... then we had lunch, headed to the petting zoo in central park where bella had no fear- she petted each of the animals, gave them kisses and fed them non-stop... then teri (david's girlfriend) met up with us and we headed to dylan's candy shop (ralph lauren's daughter's shop) for AMAZING sundaes, candy, etc... the decor in this place was so fun!! i wish we lived there so i could have the girls' birthday parties there. after finishing our heavenly treats we headed to the village to see NYU, walk around some more and then eat some pizza. at that point our family of 4 headed back on the train to long island.

saturday david and teri headed over to us and we all went to some local outlet malls. we really enjoyed our time and found some fun things... in addition we found bella's halloween costume- an adorable minnie mouse costume. can't wait to share those pictures! we took bella to a play ground at the pier near aunt lois' and then went back to their house and ordered greek take-out.

sunday we headed to port jefferson to meet up with our family from CT... we enjoyed a delicious brunch on a patio area and then walked around the downtown area. afterwards everyone came back to aunt lois' house where we enjoyed hanging out more and then ate dinner together. after everyone had left to head back to CT i suggested that we go to friendly's... cousin chris was immediately on board : ) friendly's is one of my most favorite places... i was so excited to go- i always remember my childhood fondly when digging into a friendly's sundae : )

monday we headed back to atlanta... it was such a great time. we are so thankful for such amazing family!!

where to start

2010-10-04T21:45:00.003-04:00

i am noticing a theme... i keep thinking/saying that i am going to get back on this blogging train and somehow it keeps leaving the station without me... somewhere between raising (2) little girls, attempting to love my husband well, doing a weekly Bible study, a weekly small group, working multiple hours a week, laundry, cooking dinner, play dates and more, blogging just seems to take a backseat.

anyways, i am looking thru the pictures that are still not up on the blog and thinking i'd like to catch up a bit tonight.

my sweet bella starting at Decatur First United Methodist Mother's Morning Out

ava just along for the ride : )

the house

2010-08-25T22:47:00.007-04:00

before ava's arrival i went crazy (as some might say : ) with organizing as well as redecorating, etc. some of the rooms in our home, but i THOROUGHLY enjoyed it & have even done a little more, which i will post about soon... you can see some of the before pictures here:http://theizzyfam.blogspot.com/2009/12/redecorating.html>

and now, here are the after pictures:

our master bedroom- love the new sitting area

master bedroom- jason built our bed!

the girls' bathroom (had the shower curtain made)

the guest room converted to bella's big girl room

another view of bella's room

my birthday celebration

2010-08-25T22:31:00.003-04:00

my sweet mom arranged a little birthday celebration for me... one of my all time favorite desserts is strawberry pie so she made one for me, along with a nice dinner.

jason was out of town so it was great to be with my family and have some extra hands- esp. considering ava wasn't even a month old yet.

my mom & i with the girls

4 generations ~ my mom, her mom (the girls' nanni), me & the girls

nanni enjoying her time with sweet ava

getting ready to enjoy dessert!

one word ~ yum!!

bathing beauty

2010-08-25T22:09:00.003-04:00

one of the weeks i had poppa's camera daddy & i took pictures of sweet ava during bath time...

back with a vengeance

2010-07-22T21:19:00.004-04:00

well... where have i been you ask?!?! and i ask too : ) between our family growing to 4 with this sweet babe ~

and the business continuing to stay busy, hiring a project manager, having lots of family in town throughout the summer, going to the beach, our camera needing a new part (was at the "camera doctor" for 2 mths and is still not fixed- a big shout out to poppa for letting us borrow his camera so much!!), etc. LIFE HAS BEEN FULL! Not to mention that i have had a complete blonde moment w/ the blog the last few times i have considered updating- i couldn't seem to get pictures to upload... but i have figured it out ~ yay!! i am determined to be more consistent with updating. life just passes by too quickly and i want to remember these sweet moments & capture our memories as much as possible!

so with this whole preface- here comes a lot of catching up!

powerful quotes

2010-06-03T14:57:00.002-04:00

so the other day we went to the outlet malls. my brother is in town for just a few more days (on a break b/t finishing his first year of law school and starting his summer internship) so he and i went along with my mom and ava. upon meeting up my mom gave me an email that i sent her back on 2-16-07... and any of my JFBC friends know this is right after our annual women's retreat... anyways my email included 4 quotes that i were shared at the retreat that really spoke to me... and now more than 3 years later they still do and i want to document them and share them...

~ "Pain & suffering legitimize our testimony. Authentic compassion is often formed in the kiln of ache."

~ "Suffering gives you something to share."

~ "On my worst, whiniest days, God doesn't leave... He is not a fair-weather Father."

~ "May we not go through the Refiner's fire coming out burned and smelling of ashes, but rather smelling of the sweet aroma of Christ." ~ LOVE this one!

thanks, mom, for sharing these with me again...

her story

2010-05-14T19:36:00.003-04:00

so around 2:45 am tuesday, may 11th, i started having contractions... i couldn't tell if it was just back labor so for a few minutes i tried to endure the pain myself... about 15 minutes later, i decided jason needed to be awake with me : ) so... we started timing and the contractions seemed to be very regular. at 3:20 am or so he was sure we needed to call becky (aunt becky to bella, our fabulous neighbor who had middle of the night duty), my mom & his mom... i was a little nervous about the phone calls as i didn't want to wake anyone if this wasn't indeed true labor... well, thankfully jason was thinking clearly and insisted he was calling... about 10 or 15 minutes later becky was at our house, jason was showered and we were finishing our packing for the hospital... becky said we needed to hurry as it seemed my contractions were closer than every 5 minutes... i was sure i was fine and said we'd leave in just a minute- i just wanted to make sure everything was where it needed to be for jason's parents who were coming to get bella, etc...

we'll we got in the car and jason seemed to be "hauling bananas" down dekalb avenue- i asked him to slow down as i felt like i was on a roller coaster- his response "babe, i have one job to do- get you to the hospital in time"... how does one respond to that?!?! other than clutch everything in the car in severe pain as yet another contraction comes.

eventually we arrived at the hospital and i still had thoughts in the back of my mind that they were going to say i was in false labor- HA! were we in for a surprise! i was 8 cm dilated, fully effaced, etc. my first question/concern was what about the epidural... the nurses assured me that there were no concerns- i would still be able to have one and that they would start the bag of fluid immediately... well that was a funny joke- it took (2) nurses, one of whom seemed to dig for over 5 minutes to find a vein for my IV... they said i had "tiny veins"... whatever that means ~ all i knew was that i was in INTENSE pain and that time was of the essence... something it felt as if they were missing... i believe it was when the first nurse left to find another nurse to find another to locate my vein, i said that i was pretty sure i needed to use the bathroom- however, that was actually my water breaking- upon making the nurses aware of this they began to seem a bit concerned/unsure of whether i would really be able to get an epidural- one of the nurse's responses to me was "i don't know" regarding the epidural... talk about being nervous and upset... i literally didn't know what i was going to do. before i knew it the dr was in the room, i was told i was 10 cm, her head was coming and there was NO TIME FOR AN EPIDURAL... WHAT?!?!?! this was NOT MY PLAN!! i was quick to tell them that i didn't want to do it... i didn't know how... and that "damn it, i want my epidural" ~ the last comment was followed up w/ an apology to the nurse- i told her i don't talk like that normally and feel so awful to be so rude, but this was completely freaking me out... and in jason's words i became possessed for the remainder of the delivery... the dr did do a great job helping me (thankfully she had delivered her 2 children naturally so she knew first hand what i was going through)... when asked if i wanted to touch ava as she was being delivered, i quickly answered, "NO, i just want her out of me!!!!!!!!!!!"

when all was said and done i had delivered a beautiful baby girl and jason and i agreed he can never, ever, ever say that i don't have a high pain tolerance : ) and now we like to joke that if we go for #3 (and please note, that is a HUGE if) we will just need to leave for the hospital the minute my first contraction starts if i don't want jason delivering him/her on the highway!!

she's here!!

2010-05-11T21:01:00.002-04:00

we are so blessed!! God is SO good!! the story to come tomorrow. In the meantime, see her sweet picture on the right.

toe toes

2010-05-04T21:11:00.005-04:00

yes, that is what sweet bella refers to her toes/tootsies as ALL the time ~ and i just LOVE it!! she cracks me up when she says it : )

anyways, on easter sunday i polished her toe toes for the first time and she loved it... then this past sunday while we were getting ready for church she spotted the polish underneath my vanity... she proceeded to take off her shoes and say "toe toes mama, toe toes mama"... i told her we'd have to wait as we needed to leave... but i am planning to make time in the next few days so she can enjoy them being polished again ~ doesn't every girl love a fresh pedicure?!?!

(i am bummed b/c i have the cutest pics to post but there is some sort of error message ~ have to get the hubs to help me out later)

easter

2010-04-14T16:21:00.005-04:00

only a few days late : )

we had a wonderful easter! we attended the Good Friday service at buckhead that was phenomenal ~ as always! then we had dinner with teenie & poppa...

saturday we headed over to my parents in the late afternoon to enjoy an easter celebration dinner with my mom & dad, grandmother & my parents' neighbors. the food was delicious and the company was great ~ we all enjoyed our time!

on sunday we were ready in record time and picked up becky, grabbed coffees and headed to church to make sure we were able to get a good parking space, get bella in her class and save great seats all before the big crowds arrived... thankfully we were fairly successful!

after amazing praise and worship and a great message, we all- jason, me, bella, becky, teenie & poppa, todd & staci, christian, noah, emerson and jonathan & elizabeth- headed to wahoo grill for a delicious brunch buffet. by the looks of bella's dress after eating, she thoroughly enjoyed it too : )

precious bella just waking up

her easter goodies ~ notice the picture of her on the right side w/ the bunny ~ so sweet!

finding her dora ball in her easter basket

me & my hubs

our family

ava's sprinkle

2010-04-05T21:59:00.004-04:00

my sweet friends got together on saturday at the swan coach house to celebrate ava's coming arrival!! we had such a wonderful time and i am so blessed by God to have each of these precious friends in my life. we laughed, talked, ate LOTS of wonderful food and received some wonderful gifts.

**and the sweet picture of bella & aubrey is right before ariel & i left and they were enjoying their "special cups" that ariel & chris brought them back from their cruise**

heather franklin & me

me & heather hayes

kirstin & me

mary & me

me & ariel

me & katie

a little babymoon in savannah, ga

2010-03-28T20:52:00.006-04:00

is what jason and i just got home from... and we had such a wonderful time!!

we left friday around 9:30 am and met teenie half-way to drop bella off... then jason and i made two stops- one at a motorcycle store for him- and the other at a local store that has the BEST snack ever ~ peanut butter filled pretzels... can you say yum?!?! jason ran in and came out w/ 4 big containers : ) should hold us over for a while...

we arrived in savannah around 4 pm... we checked into our bed & breakfast ~ olde harbor inn...

me & my man

our inn~ loved the location ~ we could walk almost anywhere...

after unpacking, we headed out to river street where we walked around for a while and then had dinner at the cotton exchange restaurant. afterwards we hit up savannah's candy kitchen for some fabulous treats ~ they had ice cream, homemade salt water taffy, old school candy (pop rocks, fun dip, etc.) and all kinds of fudge & "heaven dipped chocolate"... we headed back to the room, watched a movie, ate our goodies and hit the hay by 10:30 pm...

saturday we woke up, ate breakfast at our inn & went for a great trolley ride throughout the entire city... we saw some beautiful architecture, gardens, etc... it turned out our friends, kathi & louie, where in savannah for a weekend getaway too, so we met up w/ them for lunch after the tour at a little greek place.

following lunch, jason dropped me at the savannah day spa for a prenatal massage, while he went cycling throughout some historic neighborhoods... when we got back to the room we enjoyed some downtime and i napped for a bit and then we browsed through some antique shops before dinner at cilantro's, a little mexican place. afterwards we shopped for a little bit, and then went back to get our car ~ which wasn't there!! we quickly realized it must have been towed, which made NO sense... we had a special city parking pass from our inn & there were cars parked in all the surrounding spots ~ none of them had "special permission" and they didn't get towed... needless to say, the guys who had towed it were pretty sketchy, so we just paid the fee and were glad to get our car back! and, of course, because i couldn't live w/out it, we hit up the candy shop again : ) and, since it was our last night, we went BIG... jason tried chocolate covered oreos & a "gopher" as they called them... i got a chocolate covered s'more... and some jelly bellies... we enjoyed another movie and our goodies... it was a GREAT day!!

today we slept in and jason went cycling again before we met kathi & louie for brunch. afterwards we drove around a bit more to take in the city and then headed home to pick up sweet bella bean... boy we missed her!! but we also had such a wonderful time away and are so thankful that we had the opportunity before our family grows to 4!!

7 weeks from today, sweet ava is due to grace us with her presence!!

petite & perfect

2010-03-12T10:38:00.002-05:00

basically sums up bella's 2 year appointment... thank you Lord for your blessing of this precious girl!!

height ~ 2' 8.25" & weight ~ 25 lb 6 oz

she did great and didn't even cry when she got her shot... the drs & nurses were amazed! but we did all get laughing b/c about a minute after the shot all she kept saying was "ouchee" and letting everyone know that her leg hurt : )

come on spring!!

2010-03-12T10:29:00.003-05:00

we are all so ready for spring ~ between the unusually cold atlanta winter and all the rain we've had, we are so ready for sun & temps that are a bit warmer... when spring decided to give us a sneak peak this past sunday we all headed to the park, including max, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

pure joy!!

LOVES the slide

so proud of herself for being able to climb without any help!

bella's friend, abby, who lives in our neighborhood

bella's 2nd birthday celebration

2010-03-12T10:03:00.003-05:00

we still can't believe our little girl is now 2 ~ everyone always says time flies but it really is true!

since we went all out & as some might say- overboard- for her first birthday, we decided to keep this year's a little more low-key esp. with ava coming soon, etc.

we had family and a few close family friends over for a steak dinner, strawberry lemonade (yum~ one of my key cravings this pregnancy) and delicious birthday cake. bella seemed to have a blast and even blew her #2 candle out all on her own!

we didn't do a fabulous job of taking pictures, it is so easy to get distracted w/ hosting, etc... but here are a few.

blowing out her candle

teenie, poppa and cousins all helping bella celebrate!

the beautiful birthday girl

aubrey & ariel

the pink polka-dot birthday cake ~ marble cake w/ butter cream frosting ~ yum!!

lock-in

2010-02-13T22:13:00.004-05:00

yesterday we had a big snowfall - at least for GA... i think it was around 3 pm that it started to fall... jason checked in on our friends, chris & ariel, to see what they were up to and to see if they might want to come hang out with us and spend the night...

ariel's bosses were a bit reluctant to "release" everyone from work so it wasn't until around 6:15 or so that jason, who went to navigate them, along with chris, ariel & aubrey (or as bella calls her best friend- "bobby") showed up... while bella and i anticipated their arrival, we made a cake and started making spaghetti & meatballs, and garlic bread, all the while talking about how bobby was going to be over soon... she was quite thrilled, esp. because she is really starting to enjoy the kitchen and helping me stir and prepare things as much as possible...

we all enjoyed a big meal together and then the girls had a blast in the tub together. afterwards they went to bed and us adults carried out our tradition when it is the 4 of us... the guys play playstation 3 & us girls watch a chick-flick and fall asleep... so this night was no different... the guys played and we flipped b/t "you've got mail" & the olympics' opening ceremonies... then everyone went to bed...

this morning we enjoyed a big pancake breakfast and just relaxing... then we got the girls dressed for a snow adventure with their daddies and some of the neighbors.

we had such a great time together and are so thankful that God has blessed us w/ such awesome friends!

chris, aubrey, bella & jason

little snow bunnies ~ bella & aubrey

getting all clean

where have we been?!?!

2010-02-13T21:36:00.004-05:00

well... that is a good question ~ i am trying to figure it out myself : )

-probably the biggest reason we have been absent from blogging is that our church did a 21 day fast and challenged each person in the congregation to give up something... i gave up blogging & facebook... so that is part of it ~ although that was over a couple weeks ago.

-we have bella's big girl room almost done. our friend byron came over and painted stripes in what used to be the guest room and we have set up her bed. we still need to finish hanging pictures, etc. and i need to complete the cornice boards.

-our room is pretty much done... we gave it a "face-lift"... i do still need to find fabric for some throw pillows, a dust ruffle & window treatments.

-we finally obtained our variance for adding our detached garage in our backyard. we had to present our "case" in front of the city commissioners twice & finally they approved it... we are very ready to complete this project as it will allow us to move our home office out above the garage and convert the current office to a playroom for the girls. in addition we'll be glad to have the extra storage and parking for our cars.

-we went to nashville for a weekend to visit jason's brother, jonathan, and his wife, elizabeth... we had a GREAT time... and thanks to teenie, poppa, todd, staci & cousins for loving on bella while we were gone!!

-jason turned 36 on feb. 2nd... that same night a group of our friends and family went to fogo de chao for a FABULOUS meal ~ we can't wait to go back... and he is now participating in a boot camp w/ 3 of our neighbors... 4 days a week at 7:15 am for 6 weeks total.

-we have been slammed w/ work ~ which we are very thankful for!

-i am working on a potential new business and thoroughly enjoying the planning ~ as i know the end result will be well worth all the preparation ~ more to come on this : )

-last weekend my mom & i attended our past church's (jfbc) women's retreat... it was wonderful!! and we even got to start the time away off with a girls' lunch and massages ~ all of which was followed with rich, Biblical teaching, testimonies, fellowship and delicious food! can't wait to go again next year, mom : )

-i am continuing to carry our second baby girl... and getting more and more excited to meet her... can't believe that i've already filled out the hospital registration paperwork... she'll be here before we know it!!

so... all that to say ~ i think that is why i haven't been involved in blogging for a bit... but i am ready to get back on board... some big events are about to unfold...

priscilla the (pretty) pink pig!!

2009-12-31T13:28:00.004-05:00

a huge tradition here in atlanta is to ride the macy's pink pig during the holidays. we didn't make it before Christmas due to the LONG lines, so we headed over on tuesday with our good friends heather & grace. what fun we had!! the girls loved the ride and then we went and had chick-fil-a for lunch ~ what could be better for 2 little ones?!?!

bella LOVED putting all these pink pig back packs around her neck : )

heather, grace, bella & me

redecorating

2009-12-17T15:20:00.006-05:00

now that we have another baby coming, it means that i am doing quite a bit of rearranging in our home. upstairs is the guest room & bella's nursery along with our master bedroom. around mid to late february (right at bella's 2nd birthday), we plan to move her into the guest bedroom which is going to be transformed into her big girl room... we are talking stripes being painted on the walls, pillows being sewn, cornice boards being built, furniture being refinished, etc. we are quite excited!! the nursery will then be changed a little bit for our next baby girl and the hall bath is going to become a bit more whimsical.

in addition my christmas present from jason this year is to re-do our master bedroom... i really haven't done much to personalize it b/c of us thinking we might move... but now that our plan is to stay put for a while, we have decided to truly make it our own little get-away... so bedding has been purchased, 2 chairs (that i am in LOVE w/), a new dresser... and an accent fabric has been chosen...

so below are some before pictures and as soon as the after pictures are ready, i will post them!!

stay tuned!!

a dresser for our room~ that will be refinished

the guest room (pls. ignore the storage bins & Christmas presents ~ it is serving as a "catch all" for me : )

the hall bath

nursery

master bedroom

trey ceiling ~ can't wait to "play this up"

2 new (well to me ~ they are antiques) chairs for our bedroom

santa baby

2009-12-17T15:00:00.004-05:00

on sunday, bella, daddy and me headed to lenox mall... we went to see santa and potentially ride the pink pig... the former happened, but not the latter... we were "waited out" by then (i.e. done being lines w/ an almost 2 yr. old : )

the whole time we were at the mall bella had a blast... she ran around, helped me buy gifts for her cousins, christian & noah, and wanted to run up behind the ropes surrounding santa & his display constantly... however, the mood suddenly changed, as reflected in the photo below, once mommy put her in santa's lap... she looked at me like "how dare you leave me with this strange man and walk away... and then on top of that let daddy take pictures?!?!" : )

no tears tho... then we saw the lengthly line for pink pig and opted to fill our tummies with some good food at the mall rather than wait... afterwards we headed to marni & pepere's and bella was out like a light within 10 minutes or so of leaving the mall.

btw, this frame is from Glory Haus... they have beautiful things!! my friends, ashley & claudia, have an annual "merry marketplace" where they sell numerous items from Glory Haus... this frame was one of my purchases this year : )

a little elf

2009-12-17T14:25:00.004-05:00

oh how i adore bella & this age... she tells me thank you all the time ~ even after changing her diaper and putting her shoes on... she loves to give hugs and kisses... max is her favorite. she is a social butterfly ~ loving when we have friends come over to play or when she goes to nursery & school.

today we brought her teachers some little christmas goodies and she made a glitter ornament... upon picking her up, one of her teachers was quick to say that she is very motherly and likes to take care of everyone in the class... i quickly asked if she meant this was a good thing (didn't know if she was trying to kindly say that bella is bothering everyone or nosey)... anyways, she said yes, it's great... that she is wonderful to have in class ~ so that was so fun to hear ~ esp. since she is going to be helping me with her little sister soon enough!!

It's a...

2009-12-10T10:11:00.004-05:00

GIRL!! And we are beyond thrilled!! Obviously, we would be happy with either ~ but we love the idea of Bella having a little sister, especially with them being so close in age.

Jason & I found out on Monday when we went to Nestled Newborn in Marietta for an early gender determination (the Dr waits until 20 weeks and I just couldn't wait that long : ). We had a great time... it was funny b/c she didn't want to unlock her legs- they were crossed very tightly (which of course Jason & I said we hope they stay that way for a VERY long time : )... anyways, after a bit of trying to move around the tech had me drink some Coke to really see if she would get moving... a little bit after that, sure enough, she was moving all around. Opening her mouth, putting her little hand b/t her legs, etc. We saw a very healthy spine and 10 fingers & 10 toes!! Right at the end the tech asked if we wanted to know and of course we said, Yes, and that is when she told us it is a girl and that she saw "that" 5 to 10 times so she is very confident : )

And, we have about two or three names that we are considering... as soon as we've decided we'll be quick to share : )

foot

waving at mommy & daddy

face

bella = future big sister

2009-11-01T14:46:00.003-05:00

yes, you read correctly!! bella is going to be a big sister come may!!

we found out in August that i am with child and that my due date is may 16th. we are thrilled, as we definitely want/wanted bella to have a sibling.

so far this pregnancy has been drastically different from my first. jason often says that i only spent an hour vertical during the first trimester of my pregnancy with bella. this time around, thankfully, that has not been the case... if anything i have been too vertical : ) just been tired and had some nausea here and there... but i am now in the second trimester so even that little bit of discomfort should be on it's way out very soon!! as friends & family keep reminding me- maybe this time we'll have a little boy... who knows?!?! honestly, i will be happy with either- i love dreaming about having 2 little girls only 2 years apart who i can dress in matching clothes and watch be best friends... but then i also love the idea of having a little boy, esp. to see jason experience a son and because neither of us are convinced we'll go for a third : )

either way we are praying for a healthy and happy baby!! and are so thankful for a great ultrasound at 8 weeks and getting to hear a strong heartbeat at 12 weeks!!

i have started pointing to my belly and telling bella that there is a baby in it... she then lifts up her shirt as if searching for the baby in hers ~ don't think she quite knows what is going on : ) but in due time, she will!!

**note to my valued readers: you can comment at the bottom of each entry, even if you don't have your own blog : )**

our little monkey

2009-11-01T14:17:00.006-05:00

we had a great halloween this year. it started off with going to the college heights fall festival - where jason graciously volunteered by grilling almost 100 hotdogs and hamburgers. bella and i played in a ball pit and tunnel, walked around and then enjoyed lunch with daddy and friends. afterwards we came home for bella to nap ( and mommy : ).

after naps, it was time for the GA/FL football game. we went over to our neighbors for a party which was great fun and then headed home at about 5:45 pm. at that point our friend heather and her daughter grace, along with ariel & chris and their daughter aubrey joined us. we got the girls all ready to go trick or treating and then headed out. they had a blast. they "stair step" eachother in age - grace is 28 mths, aubrey is 24 mths and bella is 20 mths... so it was so funny to watch each of them with where they are in understanding the process. grace was definitely "cool as a cucumber", aubrey was a bit scared by some of the skulls, bella was just trying to keep up w/ her friends by walking the whole time and also enjoyed waving and saying "bye, bye" to each homeowner. so fun!!

afterwards we came home to eat pizza that chris & jason went to pick up for us... and each of the girls enjoyed a lollipop... bella probably only had 3 bites of pizza because she couldn't stand to put her sugar down!! then the girls just played and the adults enjoyed talking.

grace- the fairy princess, aubrey- spot the dog, bella- the monkey

the monkey & mommy

making sure the candy was really staying her bag

chris, spot the dog & ariel

the monkey with her daddy

they tied the knot

2009-10-04T22:00:00.003-04:00

shaune & ella that is : )

it was a beautiful wedding weekend away in dahlonega ~ north ga. jason was a groomsmen and i was in charge of doing all the bridal hair (the bride, the mother of the bride, 5 bridesmaids and the flower girl to be exact : ). we enjoyed getting away and staying at a hotel for the weekend...

marni & pepere and then the armistead clan all took care of bella ~ thanks y'all!!

jason, shaune (the groom) & daniel (the best man)

at the rehearsal dinner

at the wedding

ella (the bride) & me

she's italian!!

2009-10-04T21:50:00.005-04:00

a couple weeks ago i made spaghetti for dinner and it was enjoyed by all of us ~ but especially this little one : )

**we have a really cute video of this but due to technical difficulties, we haven't gotten it uploaded yet ~ hopefully soon**

surprise!!

2009-09-07T21:41:00.005-04:00

poppa (jason's dad) turned 65 yesterday, sept. 6th... in honor of him, teenie (jason's mom), spoiled him like crazy!! a surprise party with a bunch of friends and family at pappasitos~ a wonderful mexican restaurant in atlanta... and then, in addition to that, we all surprised poppa this past weekend at a cabin in pigeon forge! he told jason that it was his best birthday ever!

we played games, watched movies, went in the hot tub and one of the highlights was the horse-back riding on saturday. some of us were more scared than others (please no one point their finger at me too quickly : )... the whole time we were on the trail the guide would yell "tina (my horse) get a move on, stop eating" to say she was slow, is the understatement of the year, yet that fit me just fine~ considering i was contemplating jumping off of her and walking back to the stables : ) our sweet baby girl was the complete opposite of her mama~ so relaxed on henry, the horse, with her daddy that she was asleep within minutes. ha! check out the pics.

thanks teenie for a wonderful weekend away!! poppa~ we love you & are glad you felt so celebrated!!

aunt staci & bella

daddy with our sweet, sleepy girl

so tired.....

me on tina~ doing what she did best~ eating!!

uncle johnny & aunt lizzie

driving the big tractor

twins!! not really, but that is what everyone thinks : )

christian hanging out

the guys

the gals

sweet cousins modeling their hats

could she be any cuter?!?!

poppa & teenie

red bull soap box race

2009-09-05T20:35:00.004-04:00

this past saturday we went to the race at piedmont park. we had a great time. one of our neighbors works for red bull so we got to visit with her and saw some other people we knew there. they handed out cans of red bull, pink beaded necklaces, paper fans, etc. bella loved holding everything. we visited the pits, which were fun to see, then had hotdogs and funnel cake and watched a little bit of the race. the race itself didn't start until 1pm which is bella's nap time so we only watched about 2 races and then headed for the car to eliminate melt-down : )

happy birthday uncle david!!

2009-09-05T20:02:00.004-04:00

one of the most wonderful parts of having marni & pepere here is being able to celebrate holidays, birthdays, etc. and simply "do life together"... right before uncle david left for NYC for his first year of law school at NYU, we celebrated his birthday. bella had a blast helping blow out the birthday candles! the funny part was that nanni had brought these candles with her from her kitchen in AZ and they were trick candles that took FOREVER to blow out : )

baby stella anastasia

2009-09-01T20:45:00.003-04:00

our good friends louie & kathy, along with their 2 sons, george & stavros, just welcomed this little girl into their family. she is beautiful and all 3 of us, especially bella, enjoyed visiting them at the hospital.

beautiful bella

the proud papa

sweet stella anastasia

bella hanging out in the hospital bed

bella wanting to reach for stella's bottle

humorous

2009-08-11T21:38:00.002-04:00

yes that's what our little girl is... day after day it seems there are so many funny things she does and i try so hard to remember! anyways, i keep trying to remember to blog about this past week... both involve panties~ yes, you read correctly : )

instance 1: jason, bella & i went to the outlet malls last week to meet up with marni & uncle david... we got there a little early and/or they were a little late, so we went to a lingerie store so mommy could get a few new things... well, bella insisted on holding something so i handed her a few pairs of panties i was planning to buy... before we could turn around she had pulled one of the pairs up around her ankles... so smart! even the sales ladies were laughing!

instance 2: on saturday morning we were all in our bedroom getting ready for the day... in the midst of getting dressed, making our bed, putting on my make-up, etc. jason motioned for me to look at bella~ she had grabbed "our daily bread" (a small magazine devotional) from the magazine holder in our bathroom and was walking around our room standing very straight acting like she was reading it, all the while with my panties around her ankles. ha! seems a little contradictory! : )

oh, how we love her!!

for dog lovers only

2009-07-31T20:35:00.003-04:00

one of bella's fave places now that she is walking is max's bed in our great room. she loves to get in it with or without him and thankfully he doesn't mind a bit~ as you can see! : ) they are great friends!

photo shoot

2009-07-28T16:22:00.004-04:00

on saturday bella & i went to meet her cousins for a photo shoot in roswell... afterwards we had donuts and then bella & i headed back to our neck of the woods... bella fell asleep in the car so i thought i would lay her right down, since daddy was at home in the middle of a work meeting... well, no such luck! bella wanted nothing to do with going back down for a nap... so, we went out on the front porch and played and i was able to get some great pictures! for once~ i am actually pretty glad she didn't go to sleep : )

so here are the pics of our little love~

vacation pics

2009-07-23T22:36:00.005-04:00

disclaimer~ jason & i invested in a new camera prior to this trip... we'd talked about it for a little while and then realized that it would be really beneficial for our business as well... so thanks to chris at the little green family blog, we have a nikon that we are thoroughly enjoying~ as you can see by the number of pictures we took!

fun with teenie!
sisters! (in-law)
our family on the balcony of the house
teenie & poppa
dancing with my girl

elizabeth & ella
christian & staci

the furry cousins enjoying time on the beach

bella practicing her walking with emerson at the beach

vacation

2009-07-21T22:35:00.006-04:00

we had a wonderful time away. on july 2nd, bella & i flew to boston with marni, pepere & uncle david. the five of us drove up to waterville valley, new hampshire, where we met up with marni's extended family. it was a wonderful family reunion filled with amazing food, hiking, canoeing, biking, sleeping and a wonderful celebration of marni & pepere's 30th wedding anniversary. we celebrated with a surprise family dinner at diamond's edge north restaurant. david & i picked up a wonderful chocolate & mocha cake that we all enjoyed!

then, on july 11th, bella & i flew from boston to wilmington where jason picked us up for a week at topsail island with his family~ teenie & poppa, staci, christian, noah & emerson, jonathan & elizabeth, and our good friends, shaune & ella. the beach was beautiful~ we had great times in the waves, playing in the sand, taking walks, going for ice cream, jet skiing, of course eating and more!

and, because, of course i am biased, i have to brag on bella for a minute... she was GREAT. she slept so well while we were gone... she was so quick to adapt to her surroundings, she loved canoeing~ and even fell asleep while we were on the river, she practiced her walking, enjoyed going for a bike ride, and was awesome in the waves... jason would throw her up in the air when the waves would start to crash and she'd just laugh... she also enjoyed the fish float we bought for her... and playing in the sand was lots of fun too! sweet bella, we love you so much!! thank you for being our baby girl and blessing our life so much!!

our family

emerson, elizabeth & jonathan
teenie & bella
just precious
yet again... : )

**more pics to come**

decatur beach party

2009-06-26T18:59:00.005-04:00

last friday night was lots of fun! the city of decatur~ where we live~ has a beach party each summer... they pour tons of sand in one of the main streets so that the kids can play, have tons of games, music and food~ including corn dogs and funnel cakes~ yum!! we walked down in the 95 + degree heat, with some of our neighbors and sweated out all the calories we ate! we all had a great time!

our sweet girl playing in the sand
mother & daughter
ilana & michele
our family

elizabeth & abby

surprise!!

2009-06-15T22:36:00.004-04:00

so my husband rocks... yes, he does!!

i am still so amazed~ he pulled off a surprise birthday party for me!! ~with the help of a few special ladies~

let me start at the beginning... my birthday was this past monday, june 8th... i turned the big age of 27... obviously not a year ending in a zero~ so a surprise party was the last thing i expected... the night of my birthday was lots of fun~ we went out to one of my all time favorite restaurants~ wahoo... it was extra special because my parents were in town house-hunting so they joined us, as well as jane & jim~ my aunt & uncle~ who are responsible for introducing jason & me... needless to say, it was a great celebration, especially because it included my all time favorite~ bread pudding!! yum!!

so i thought that was that... thursday i received an email from shannon inviting us over for a "low-key, last minute" dinner w/ our mutual friends oliver & ashley... we emailed back and forth about time and what to bring and the plans were set. we saw them friday night too and talked about being together the next evening, etc... so saturday was a nice family day~ we spent time at the pool, took naps, did a little work and then jason insisted that we get ready... well anyone who knows us well, knows that jason is about as laid back as they get, and i am the one who says "we've got to hurry... we're going to be late"... so it was a bit strange for jason to be so concerned about us being at shannon's right on time... anyways, without thinking about it anymore, i quickly got ready, thankfully put on a cute dress : ) and we got ready to head out the door... while doing so, we got a "worried call" from becky- one of our favorite neighbors- saying that she had a leak... jason told me that we'll just stop by on our way to the scheafbauers... well, again, i didn't think anything of it... when we got to becky's i saw the biggest leak, i ever had... i started to get a bit panicked, considering our company had done a lot of remodeling at becky's home, including plumbing work... i couldn't believe there was such a huge "leak"... as i got to the end of becky's driveway, i see a group of people to my right yelling "surprise!!" and a hose to my left spraying a ton of water- i realized why i had never seen a leak that big in my life. ha!

so then the party began and i was so thrilled and so surprised by everyone's effort and involvement!! we had a great time!! we had barbeque, sangria, shrimp boil and best of all~ more bread pudding~ paula deen style~ chocolate!! yum!! thank y'all for everything!!

staying in love...

2009-06-10T20:08:00.004-04:00

for 30 years!! yesterday, june 9, 2009, was my mom & dad's 30th wedding anniversary!! happy anniversary mom & dad!! we love you!! thank you for the amazing example you have shown us of a godly marriage!! to help them celebrate we arranged for them to vacation here.

on a similar love note, andy stanley wrapped up an AWESOME sermon series a few weeks ago. it was entitled "staying in love" (opposed to falling in love)... visit here to listen!

truly blessed

2009-06-04T08:37:00.006-04:00

in three specific ways that i want to mention here~

i was privileged to have the opportunity to meet kelly from kelly's korner in the middle of may while bella & i were in northwest arkansas (nwa) visiting my parents!! what a blessing!! she is even more beautiful in person~ as the love of our Lord radiates from her and her daughter, harper, is precious!! thank you so much kelly for the ministry you have to the blogging world and for meeting bella & me at mimi's cafe for lunch. check out her entry on our meeting here

secondly, one of the blogs i enjoy reading and am so blessed by each time i read, is sweet caroline's blog... and i was absolutely thrilled & blown away when i saw our family listed on her blog~ see here

lastly, while bella & i were in nwa, my parents announced that they are moving to atlanta!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can you sense my enthusiasm in the # of exclamations i used?!?! God IS SO GOOD~ He truly answers prayers, not always in our timing, but in His perfect timing!! we have prayed for a few years now that mom & dad would be able to move here and now they are!! my grandmother (my mom's mom) will be living with them and dad will still be with clorox~ they created a position here in atlanta for him that he is thrilled about. this past weekend they came in town to house hunt and as of today put an offer on a house and their home is already under contract~ praise God!!

so like my title says i am truly blessed... thank you Lord, for your blessings. now, may i always remember that i am blessed that i might be a blessing.

pLeAsE pRaY

2009-04-20T14:45:00.004-04:00

for sweet stellan... his heart surgery is tomorrow in boston and he is only five months old. read more here

Boating

2009-04-20T13:48:00.003-04:00

our good friends, shaune & ella, have a boat and we all went out to lake lanier on easter weekend. we had a blast and bella thoroughly enjoyed herself! one of her favorite things was leaning over the back and/or side and feeling the water and wind against her face. given that it was quite chilly mommy, ella & bella did not get in the water... but shaune & daddy went tubing which was very entertaining to say the least! we'll definitely be going out more so we can all get in the water!

sweet time with daddy
nothing like snack time in the sun!

bella, ella & shaune
oh, how we love her!!

easter

2009-04-14T21:03:00.009-04:00

we had a wonderful easter this year! a few highlights are having our sweet girl to share it with, one of our favorite neighbors, becky, joining us for church & brunch, AMAZING preaching from andy stanley on sunday which was preceded by a good friday service that literally knocked jason & my socks off... click here to see the end (it was finished with phil wickham's song "true love" but that can't be shown for copyright reasons)... and then last but not least, a great afternoon with jason's family...

thank you sweet jesus for choosing to stay on the cross to save us, not because you didn't have the power to remove yourself, but because of the power of your love for your children... thank you for the truth of the resurrection! we are blessed and love you!

sweet expression : )
had a hard time getting bella to look at the camera!
holding marni & pepere's sweet easter gift
feeling sleepy

the zoo

2009-04-14T20:55:00.002-04:00

this past week was spring break for bella's cousins so on wednesday teenie & poppa, staci, christian, noah & emerson, and bella & me all headed to the zoo in downtown atlanta... it was our first time and we will definitely go back... bella seemed to enjoy seeing the animals and i am sure will enjoy them even more once she gets older... and she for sure enjoyed having her cousins around! after the zoo we all went to one of our favorite burger places~ five guys~ yum! it was a great day!

mommy & her precious girl
cousins~ christian & bella

noah & bella

new things

2009-04-08T19:09:00.003-04:00

bella is changing everyday~ it is so fun to see! and definitely keeps us on our toes : )

anyways, a week or so ago we went and bought new shoes~ stride rite walkers~ she enjoyed the whole experience. she is definitely standing a lot more and taking a lot more "assisted steps"... soon hopefully, although i know friends say i'll bite my tongue once it happens, she'll be taking lots of unassisted steps! : )

another fun thing bella enjoys is "driving"~ no worries she is not taking over the wheel while we are moving... but when the car is parked she thinks it is great fun to sit in the front and push any and every button... jason & i always laugh when we turn the car on and the flashers, blinker, windshield wipers, etc. are all going high speed on a sunny day...

lastly, she had her first haircut on thursday, march 26th, before we headed to jacksonville. unfortunately i do not have any pictures because it was a bit impossible to take one w/ jason holding her and me cutting : ) next time we will plan better and have a photographer ready & waiting!

look at that cutie patootie driving!
modeling her new shoes!

jetting to jacksonville

2009-04-06T21:01:00.005-04:00

last weekend bella & i went to jacksonville with heather, one of my best friends from high school... it is so neat how God has intertwined our lives... we met on the first day of cross country practice in 1996~ our freshman year of high school... heather was a GREAT runner & knew everyone the team because she grew up there... then there is me~ who knows no one (we had just moved to jax a month or so earlier) and can hardly run to save my life... ha! so heather and i became fast friends and have TONS of high school memories... then we both went separate ways to do the "college/after high school" thing... and now we are both married and living in atlanta... so a few months ago we agreed that we should take a road trip w/ bella to jax to visit some friends from high school as well as her parents who are still living in jax. we had a wonderful time!

bella was a great little traveler. we have a dvd player for the car now so she enjoyed some baby einstein and praise baby videos... while in jax we enjoyed shopping with maressa, one of my other best friends from high school, and her two beautiful children~ makayla & reece. then maressa's husband, ben, cooked us a delicious steak dinner. saturday we met pamela, one of my mom's best friends from jax~ who i have kept in touch with~ for lunch. later in the day, miss nancy, heather's mom, played & played & played with bella~ and they both loved every minute of it! then saturday night, hunter, heather's brother, and his wife, christina, had us over for dinner. sunday bella & i met maressa for one more visit and then we all headed back home... i am so thankful for such wonderful friendships! God is so good to us!

bella, miss nancy & heather
bella, heather & me
at lunch
friends for over 13 years!
bella with precious pamela
makayla & bella~ sweet friends : )

no fear

2009-04-06T20:06:00.002-04:00

so our little peanut has NO FEAR!! : ) on saturday jason & i worked in the yard while bella took a 3 hour nap. upon her waking, we worked for another 2 or so hours. then she and i went to pick up dinner at willy's while jason got a shower. when we got home we all ate and then jason had "baby duty" as i went upstairs to shower... after finishing i had walked over to our armoire to find some pjs... i heard pitter patter, pitter patter down the hardwood floor hallway... "jay," i yell from upstairs... "yes?" he says... "do you have bella?!?!" "i think she's in the office, but let me check," jason responds... well needless to say i open our bedroom door all the way and look down the hallway to see our fearless child bounding towards me with the biggest expression of confidence and pride ever! she was thrilled with herself.

jason & i were shocked and quickly made aware of how much more attention we need to pay to our little dare devil... b/c there is no telling what she'll try next! thank you, Lord, for keeping her safe in her adventures!

bella's birthday

2009-03-16T17:10:00.008-04:00

**update: somehow i got my timing mixed up... i broke my elbow the weekend before bella's actual birthday and then had surgery on the day of her birth**

our sweet bella bean turned one on february 26th... the following weekend, as many of you know, i broke my elbow (no, i wasn't doing anything super exciting or dangerous~ just going on a family bike ride w/ my 2 favorite people~ jason & bella : ) anyways, needless to say life has been a bit full and crazy and i have taken longer than planned to post...

the party was wonderful... we had a fabulous time! one very special treat was marni's presence~ since marni had come to help us b/c of my arm she was able to be here for the party! initially we had thought she was going to miss it.

marni, bella and i had lots of fun shopping for all the birthday decorations and goodie bags. we had a "castle style" bounce house, along with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, face painting compliments of marni, cupcakes and more. bella thoroughly enjoyed the bounce house and her "smash cake"...

the sweet birthday girl
starting to taste the cake...
continuing to taste the cake...
on a year-long sugar high : )
LOVING the bounce house
bella & emerson
our precious girl
beautiful marni with bella

bella with her aunt jane
bella with her teenie & poppa

mommy & daddy with their birthday girl

baby d

2009-03-10T21:22:00.007-04:00

on the afternoon of february 8th, bella was dedicated at buckhead church at their "baby d" as they call at... what a neat time! we so enjoyed it... we were surrounded by family & friends- teenie & poppa, staci, becky, larry & genece and shaune & ella. marni & pepere were there "in spirit & support."we are so thankful for our friends and family. we received a great message about the power parents have in their child's life and watched a slide show with pictures of each baby. lastly, we enjoyed some wonderful cupcakes and coffee.

after the dedication, we came back to our home where we hung out while enjoying pizza and a 2-layered carrot cake i made with cream cheese icing. yum!

what a blessing to be united with my husband in raising our child for the Lord and His glory! can't wait to see the plans He has in store for her!

becky & me
teenie, me, bella, staci & poppa
mommy, bella & daddy
our precious girl

poppa & bella

the carrot cake all decorated with our baby girl's monogram

bitter sweet

2009-03-01T21:18:00.004-05:00

jason, bella & i all headed to white plains, ny at the beginning of february. unfortunately, jason's uncle, jim jordan, passed away after a year-long battle with a brain tumor. we felt strongly about heading north to be with the family and attend the wake and funeral. even through the pain, it was a great celebration of his life and a reminder to everyone that our days are numbered. after being in ct for those events, we headed to long island to stay with jason's aunt lois & uncle joe. on friday, we took advantage of being away and so close to nyc... we headed there with aunt lois and cousin jennifer, along with her husband jim and their boys zachary & nicholas. we only had a day there so we hit some hot spots and are more than sure that we want to go back when david (my brother) is there attending nyu for law school! we saw the statue of liberty, the empire state building, ground zero, china town and more.

a view of the statue of liberty across the bay
jason & me~ freezing!! : )
me & my precious babe
completely worn out from all our travels

the whole group~ aunt lois, me, bella, jason, jennifer, jim, zachary & nicholas

fish & friends

2009-02-06T13:45:00.004-05:00

today our friends mary & will met us at the ga aquarium. we had such a fun time! there are tons of amazing exhibits that are very kid-friendly. bella thoroughly enjoyed watching all the fish, along with all the other children~ some of whom were throwing some pretty crazy fits~ lord, help us if/when bella gets to that stage!! : ) we enjoyed walking around for a while and then headed to lunch. unfortunately sweet will and mary had to leave early, as will got sick while eating~ poor thing~ hopefully he will be feeling better soon!

our sweet friend, will
the aquarium done wore us out!! :-)

bella's buddy

2009-02-06T13:41:00.002-05:00

yesterday bella's buddy, dylan, along with his mom, karen, came over to play for a bit. we all had such a fun time. since dylan is only one day younger than bella they are very close in age and enjoy lots of the same things!

a few of my (bella's) favorite things

2009-02-03T23:12:00.003-05:00

i am constantly amazed at how quickly bella is growing... and just recently i have felt that way even more so...

the other morning we were playing and she worked really hard to pull her phone out of a toy basket- the cord and all was a bit stuck/tangled... upon getting it out, she put it up to her ear and then handed the receiver to me... we played for a while and she was quite entertained with all the phone calls she was getting from her grandparents, daddy, etc... in addition, she is loving to try and brush her own hair after her bath (a girl after her mom's own heart~ given that i went to cosmetology school : ) and put her bows in when we get dressed in the morning.

another recent favorite is eating animal crackers~ she is just starting to eat a lot more "table food" as opposed to jarred baby food. she only likes to feed the crackers to herself... and along with them she loves her elmo chair (thank you aunt staci!!)... so today after nap, she had her own personal bowl of animal crackers while sitting with elmo~ and she seemed to thoroughly enjoy every minute.

oh how i love her!! and i can't believe that i am addressing invitations for her first birthday party! where has time gone?!?!

biking baby

2009-02-03T22:57:00.005-05:00

just recently we have started going for family bike rides. at the end of 2008 jason & i had agreed it would be a fun way to spend time together and get exercise all at once. jason had a bike that he had bought years ago so he put new tires on it, changed the hand grips and a few other things and it is good as new. then for christmas he got a bike seat to put on the back for bella to ride with him. lastly, we found a great deal on a bike for me that we bought. in addition, we bought some helmets and padded biking shorts... we are looking forward to many more bike rides this spring & summer!

so without further ado~ the next ms. armstrong~

25 random facts...

2009-01-29T23:05:00.003-05:00

most of you have probably already seen this thru FB~ but i thought it would be fun to include it on the blog... 25 random facts about me : )

1. My heart's desire is to fall more in love with Jesus every day.
2. I am so thankful for my loving & supportive husband, Jason.
3. We have a beautiful baby girl who I love more than words.
4. We are ready to start trying for #2!
5. I think I want at least 3 children.
6. I LOVE chai tea lattes & white chocolate mochas.
7. Dessert is always more important to me than the main entree!
8. I can be a bit compulsive about having my house in order at all times.
9. I have a hard time sitting still~ I like to be doing something constantly.
10. However, I do LOVE a long afternoon nap.
11. Manicures & pedicures are fabulous!
12. I love the feeling of clean sheets on our bed.
13. I love entertaining.
14. I love to vacation and can't wait to take Bella to Disney when she gets older.
15. The beach is one of my favorites.
16. I love almost all reality TV.
17. Monograms make everything (well, almost everything) cuter!
18. I thoroughly enjoy decorating.
19. My husband says that organizing is like drugs for me.
20. I have "JDD" (job deficit disorder) so I have explored a lot of jobs- but wouldn't trade my role now of being a stay at home mom for anything.
21. I love the world of blogging.
22. We are so thankful for Andy Stanley & Buckhead Church.
23. Purses and shoes are my weakness.
24. I love when my hair is freshly cut & colored.
25. With Jesus' strength, I want to be a grace-filled wife & mother.

hope you enjoyed!

i am off to the Johnson Ferry Baptist Women's Retreat tomorrow. i will post about it soon.

friday fun

2009-01-24T22:33:00.003-05:00

one of bella & my favorite things is to have "fun fridays"... i really try to get the "yucky/mundane" things (i.e. laundry, cleaning, bills, etc.) out of the way monday-thursday so that fridays we can focus on just having fun. these past two fridays we have had play dates with heather & her daughter grace. we all have so much fun together. and, one of my favorite things is asking grace to say hi to bella because she says " hi, baby lala" : ) they are so tender and sweet together.

my friendship with heather is a complete answer to prayer! after moving to decatur in january of 2008 and then having bella in february, i had really prayed that God would provide me with other young, Christian moms "to do life with"... and He, like always, so faithfully answered. in the summer of 2008 heather & i ran into eachother dropping the girls off at nursery at buckhead church. upon talking we decided to try to do the same Bible study in the fall. in september we started CBS together. what a blessing the study has been, and even more heather's friendship!

this past friday heather & grace came over to our home and we played, ate chick-fil-a and then while the girls napped, heather & i worked on tutus for the girls... they turned out so cute! now grace & bella each have a pink tutu... and soon heather & i are going to work on their georgia bulldogs tutus for football season!

the girls getting ready for lunch... and notice bella~ her new thing is trying to climb out of her highchair : )

note: pictures of bella in her tutu to come~ currently they are a surprise!

a little (or big) loin

2009-01-24T21:28:00.005-05:00

wow~ it's been a while! i have intended to post for a long time... and then i started thinking today about why i hadn't posted in so long~ i started to realize that i almost felt overwhelmed about starting because i had so much catching up to do. so i decided to just let it all go and start where i could~ because at this point it is better to do something rather than nothing at all! : )

so while i am enjoying some good television~ the miss america pageant on TLC & deserving design on HGTV- which had a family that we know on it- rob & laura stowers- laura was a surrogate mother in 2007- and the family that she carried the baby for nominated them. kind of cool- i have even been to rob & laura's home because years ago i watched their little boys- robert & parker~ i am catching up on picture editing and posting!

so now on to the meaning behind this title...

my sweet mother in-law, bella's teenie, who is so good to us, kept bella a few weeks ago. jason & i needed a day without distractions to organize our office, along with line up our goals & budget for 2009. therefore, i met teenie at perimeter mall first thing in the morning with all of bella's things. i had gone thru everything to make sure teenie had bella's lovie, pacifiers, food, wipes, a change of clothes, a blanket, pack n' play, etc. we seemed to make the transfer flawlessly and i proceeded to go home. jason & i were able to get so much done that by 3 pm i was dying for a nap. jason offered to meet his parents to pick bella up. upon, waking from my nap, i called jason and he said he would be home shortly and to not laugh too hard when i saw bella...

here is what i found under her pants...

how funny is this?!?!?! apparently teenie had run out of diapers... well, there was another extra diaper but it was in a "secret place" in the diaper bag~ but honestly, i am glad teenie didn't find it... because we were able to see this hilarious sight~ our sweet bella in a loin!! : ) i must say i LOVE those chunky little legs! I can't kiss and squeeze them enough!

continue to pray

2009-01-17T08:03:00.003-05:00

i know i haven't posted in a while... and i intend to soon... maybe even this afternoon. but regardless, i still keep up with the blogging world and everyone's news...

PLEASE, PLEASE continue to pray for sweet Kelly & Scott and their newborn daughter Harper! Each one needs our prayers more than ever now. To follow the complete story and continue to receive updates go to Kelly's blog. http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

Father God, we come before you now on Scott, Kelly & Harper's behalf. Father, please be their stronghold right now- be their all in all. May each one of them experience your closeness like never before. May they know how loved they are. Please be with the doctors and nurses who are taking care of Harper. May they have everything they need and wisdom beyond their years in treating Harper's condition. May Scott & Kelly love one another like never before and be covered in the peace that surpasses all understanding. We praise you now for the miracle you will perform in this situation, knowing that YOUR PLANS ARE SO MUCH GREATER THAN OURS! We love you sweet Jesus, amen.

swings & slides!

2009-01-04T16:08:00.005-05:00

sweet bella loves to swing! over the holidays she went to the park with pepere & mommy to swing and then again with her cousins and lou ann & teresa mae. when we went with her cousins to the park, daddy was able to come by too~ together daddy & i put bella on the slide for the first time~ she loved it! so she went again & again!!

bella's first time on the slide
swinging with cousin emerson
one of the only pictures we have with both boots on~ bella thinks they make good toys : )

christmas at teenie & poppa's

2009-01-04T15:58:00.005-05:00

since marni & pepere were in town over christmas, we waited to celebrate with the insogna clan (teenie, poppa, elizabeth & jonathan, lou ann & teresa mae, todd, staci, christian, noah & emerson, jason, bella & me) until sunday the 28th. teenie made a fabulous meal with turkey and all the trimmings... after we ate, we all exchanged gifts. once again bella enjoyed opening gifts- but seemed to think the wrapping paper/tissue was much more exciting than any of the gifts themselves.

bella's first christmas!!

2008-12-26T23:10:00.006-05:00

around 9am marni, pepere, daddy, bella and i began the festivities. i made a german apple puff pancake and pepere cooked bacon... it was a yummy breakfast. then we headed over to the family room to start opening gifts. i helped bella open her stocking first which was filled with foam bath toys~ they immediately became great objects for teething! then we tried to begin opening other gifts~ but just as everyone told us, she was much more interested in the bows and tissue paper than the actual toys... so i was glad that jason & i didn't go all out this year... we did get her this "little hippo car/toy" which she LOVES... marni & pepere gave bella her first cd player w/ lots of great cds since she loves music so much... and they also gave her a stroller for her dolls which plays music and she LOVES, along with some other goodies. afterwards we all cleaned up a bit and enjoyed relaxing. then around 3pm jane & jim (marni's sister & brother in-law who also live in decatur) joined us for a steak dinner at our home... then a little later our neighbors eric, karen & dylan blue joined us for coffee & dessert. dylan was born one day after bella and they have known eachother since they were first born. they had lots of fun playing and we adults enjoyed eric & karen's company too! it was a wonderful christmas!

bella with her hippo car

greeting aunt jane
bella is wearing one of mommy's favorite outfits that she bought before bella was born
playing with her buddy dylan

wondering why dylan is eating in her highchair and hoping he'll share some of his snacks!!

christmas eve

2008-12-26T12:34:00.006-05:00

christmas eve was a little different this year... our household seemed to be a bit plagued by the "winter cough/cold/sniffles" so marni wasn't feeling very well. she & pepere stayed back home and jason, mommy & bella headed to church. it was buckhead church's very first christmas eve service~ it was great... andy stanley was there live and the music was wonderful... and to top it off they had hot chocolate w/ whipped cream for everyone~ my favorite! yum, yum! we sat w/ our friends chris & ariel and their little girl, aubrey, who is bella's friend. afterwards all 6 of us headed to maggiano's in buckhead for dinner. while we were waiting aubrey headed for the stairs in the main foyer of the restaurant. ariel wanted to go over and keep an eye on her, so bella and i went too... before we knew it, bella was climbing the stairs~ apparently aubrey is a pretty good teacher! : ) we were seated shortly after and our meal was delicious... we are so thankful for such wonderful friends! afterwards we headed home and bella was more than ready for bed! then mommy (& daddy helped a little : ) put the presents under the tree and we watched christmas vacation w/ pepere.

loving the glass table at maggiano's~ bella could see her reflection
playing with her friend aubrey

hanging w/ pepere upon getting home
big smiles~ bella can't wait for christmas morning!!

date night!!

2008-12-26T12:26:00.006-05:00

marni & pepere love spending every minute w/ bella and are also always so gracious to jason & me... so they offered to keep her so we could go out on a date... so nice!! we went to olive garden for dinner which was very yummy and then met our friends shaune & ella to see the movie "Four Christmases" w/ reese witherspoon & vince vaughn~ two of my favorites! it was definitely cute- jason & i didn't think it was the best movie ever, but agreed that it was just great to be out together and having "adult time"... then the 4 of us headed over to cheesecake factory for dessert & coffee... it was such a nice night... thanks so much marni & pepere! i love you babe~ thanks for a wonderful evening out on the town!

my sweet hubby!

priscilla the pink pig

2008-12-26T12:04:00.003-05:00

marni & pepere came in town late saturday night. sunday we went to church and then out to lunch afterwards. we laid low sunday afternoon and then monday headed to the outlet malls. bella was great... she really takes after her mom & marni w/ liking to shop : ) tuesday we headed over to lenox mall to see priscilla the pink pig in all her glory (for those of you who are not from atlanta, this is a long-standing tradition here through riches/macys department stores)... marni & pepere, along w/ bella were great troopers b/c we all waited in line over an hour! pepere ended up getting to ride w/ bella on the train and they had a great time~ wonderful memories to share!

pepere & bella waiting in line
ready to ride!
coming around the bend!

mommy, bella & pepere after the ride~ bella is enjoying the big sticker they give to each of the "riders"

first santa visit

2008-12-19T21:26:00.003-05:00

today we went over to marietta and hung out at teenie & poppa's house. after playing and taking a nap, we headed over to the marietta square. it was there that bella met santa for the first time. he was in a "little house/shed" so when we peeked in initially bella seemed okay with the idea of this big, hairy man all dressed in red. i thought okay we've got this covered~ no problems here~ our little one is going to be just fine~ there won't be any tears~ well, did she fool me!! we stepped into santa's shed and put bella in his lap and immediately the tears began! then for a minute bella saw mommy and thought maybe the world wasn't coming to a complete end~ but oh no, two seconds later the crying continued... maybe next year santa : )

after santa, we pulled ourselves together, took a few pictures with mommy and cousin emerson and headed over to marietta pizza company for dinner with teenie, poppa, staci, todd, christian, noah, emerson, mommy & daddy... that was definitely the highlight of bella's evening~ lots of kids to look at and some really good pizza crust to chew on~ did i mention her two top teeth are coming in??

our visit with nanni

2008-12-18T22:38:00.004-05:00

bella & i were so lucky the other day... my sweet grandmother, who bella will call "nanni", was able to come over for the afternoon! she is on her way to oman to visit my aunt & uncle and their 2 children, but stopped in atlanta for an overnight before flying overseas. we had such a great time visiting. bella went right to nanni upon waking up from her nap and they enjoyed playing, laughing and "talking". how good God is that bella gets to know her great grandmother~ nanni!!

tour of homes holiday style 2008

2008-12-15T18:16:00.006-05:00

i truly love this blogging world! a few weeks ago i was made aware of the holiday tour of homes... what could be better?!?! i mean, i LOVE looking at homes, decorating and especially decorating for Christmas!! so scroll below and see pictures of our home and then click on the link and tour other blogger's homes and their Christmas decorations.

a view of our front porch

candles we light for our holiday parties
a holiday arrangement compliments of my mom & santa compliments of lou ann & theresa mae
a "winter take" on a window box
our evergreen wreath on our front door
our kitchen island arrangement
the mantle on our oven's hood vent decorated for the holidays
our fireplace mantle... notice 3 stockings this year~ our daughter, bella's first Christmas!!
our Christmas tree
my creative way to display the Christmas cards we receive

hope you've enjoyed the tour!! now click here and see links to all the other homes!!

http://boomama.net/2008/12/15/christmas-tour-of-homes-2008/

tree time

2008-12-09T15:41:00.005-05:00

the friday after Thanksgiving, we went with marni & pepere to lowe's and bought bella's first Christmas tree. we found a fabulous 7 foot tree for less than $60~ woohoo!! we bought a few other decorations and headed over to five guys for burgers and fries~ love their food!! when we arrived home we cranked up the Christmas music and brought all the decorations down from the attic. quite quickly- thanks to marni & pepere's help- it began to look a lot like Christmas!

a thankful thanksgiving

2008-11-28T21:53:00.007-05:00

bella, daddy, mommy, max, marni & pepere
daddy, mommy & bella with daddy's family
two of mommy's most favorite people!!

marni lovin' on bella
poppa, daddy, jim & uncle johnny frying the turkey
the flag football players~ go team!!
the cutest cheerleader enjoying the grassy field

we had a wonderful thanksgiving this year... most of all because we have SO much to be grateful for, especially our sweet baby girl, bella. in addition, we felt so blessed to have all our family together. marni & pepere drove in from NWA and then we all headed over to east cobb... we started with a game of flag football at lassiter high school... then we headed over to teenie & poppa's and began the feasting! we had lots to drink and wonderful appetizers... and lots of friends & family~ jonathan & elizabeth, todd, staci, christian, noah & emerson, jane & jim, laura, bert & alice (bert's mom), marni, pepere, teenie & poppa all joined us for the day... we began feasting around 3:30pm and the food was FABULOUS... lots of wonderful things, including fried turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, deviled eggs, bacon wrapped green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, pumpkin pie, apple pie and chocolate chip pecan pie... all i can say is "yum, yum, yum!!" bella even tried some garlic mashed potatoes (that her daddy made) and couldn't get enough... at 9 mths she is already showing her love for one of italian food's greatest ingredients! we are so thankful for such a wonderful family and such great memories... happy first thanksgiving, sweet bella bean!! we love you!

turkey triathlon

2008-11-19T18:09:00.006-05:00

some of our neighbors
my first winter hat
LOVE the animal print

our family hosted our neighborhood's pre-thanksgiving turkey triathlon... we had over 20 people come and lots of kids... jason, jeremy & jon were in charge of the turkey frying~ i had never had fried turkey~ it was FABULOUS~ very moist, i highly recommend it... so it seemed a great time was had by all!

pumpkin carving

2008-11-07T17:57:00.003-05:00

the thursday before halloween, teenie & poppa, along with cousin noah- who came dressed up in his ninja costume- came over to eat chili and carve pumpkins. daddy was very creative, in that he carved bella's pumpkin with 2 bottom teeth and add a bow~ just like our little punkin' (see the picture at our header). teenie & poppa were very helpful too! after carving, we shot off a few fireworks in the backyard and then lit our jack-o-lanterns... it was a lot of fun!

happy halloween 2008

2008-11-06T15:57:00.007-05:00

me with dylan & bella

chris, aubrey, ariel, bella, me & jason

daddy & mommy with their sweet giraffe
notice the bow in our giraffe's hair!
bella & aubrey chillaxin' on our porch swing

so for halloween bella was a giraffe~ and i must say she was the cutest giraffe ever!! even though she normally doesn't like having things on her head she was fine with the costume being on the whole night~ she was the most cooperative giraffe ever... and now that she is crawling she even moved around and made some noises that seemed to resemble those of a giraffe : ) we had a porch crawl with our neighbors and our home was one of the stops... our friends chris & ariel & their daughter, aubrey, joined us for a bit too. it was lots of fun.

fun with marni & pepere! (lots of pics)

2008-10-26T13:00:00.009-04:00

on october 7th bella & i headed to arkansas to visit marni & pepere. we had lots of fun and were definitely spoiled!! bella visited pepere's office and worked hard at his desk (clorox here is your new team member!!)... she went to their neighborhood's fall festival and painted a pumpkin with mommy & marni... bella also enjoyed some great meals, time with marni's friend sharon, a date night with her pepere so mommy & marni could scrapbook, time in kansas city with marni & mommy, shopping, her grandparents black labs~ shadow & sadie~ and time in the antique rocking chair that mommy used to sit in... thank you marni & pepere for loving us so unconditionally!! what a blessing you both are : )

pumpkin patch

2008-10-26T12:50:00.004-04:00

so i know it's been a while since i've posted~ life has been so full~ but good. at the beginning of october we met one of my best friends from high school~ maressa kiewitt moore~ and her husband, ben, daughter, kayla, her parents, scott & katie and sister, amelia at berry patch farms. this is where bella experienced her first hayride, first pumpkin patch, first bite of homemade vanilla icecream (i think that was the best part for her~ she definitely has her mommy's sweet tooth!! : ) and first time with farm animals... it was a lot of fun and she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself. afterwards we went to a nice dinner at a little italian restaurant in towne lake. thanks for visiting maressa & family!!

go dawgs!!

2008-09-28T16:00:00.003-04:00

even though last night was a tough one for the dawgs, we still enjoyed having some other families over to watch the game... and regardless, bella sported her cheerleading outfit with pride : )

sweet stats

2008-09-25T19:37:00.005-04:00

so tired...

big girl in her highchair for the first time...
so tiny : )
look at me~ i am the princess of messes!!
love my bows~ actually even mommy thought this was a little too big for now : )

tuesday was bella's 6 mth. appt~ even tho tomorrow is her 7 mth. b-day~ with vacations and all that was as fast as we could see dr. epps... so below are the current stats:

weight: 17 lbs. 7 oz. ~ height: 2 ft. 2.25 in.

bella is basically in the 50th percentile for everything... dr. epps said she looks great and to keep doing what we are doing : )

God is so good. we are so thankful for the health of our baby girl and can't believe how quickly she is growing!!

since i haven't been fantastic at posting, i am including several pictures from the last 2 weeks or so...

bye bye bathing suit

2008-09-16T17:00:00.003-04:00

so the pool has closed... bella thoroughly enjoyed the water and by the end of the summer was LOVING being dunked, jumping in (don't worry we were holding her : ), loungin' in her lady bug float and sitting in kiddie pool all by herself!
so with the end of summer comes the beginning of fall... and we are looking forward to it... Bible study has begun, we have joined a small group thru Buckhead Church, where we are now attending... in addition, jason & i are trying to implement more exercise on a regular basis- power walking right now- and aiming for running : )... i am excited about this new season... ready to see what God has in store because i know His plans are perfect for us... are you looking forward to this season? what do you think God has in store for you?

fabulous facebook

2008-09-12T23:17:00.004-04:00

so now i am even more addicted to the internet... i thought i could stay away from f.b. but now i am in over my head... but it is so fun~ talking to people i haven't spoken to in years... and seeing pictures of them, etc... so who knows how often i will update my blog~ but i will certainly try!!

mega mess : )

2008-09-11T17:48:00.005-04:00

yea... that's right~ i think i am starting to go thru a roll of paper towels a day... check out these pics... we are officially eating solids and letting everyone know it. i think max has benefited the most from this accomplishment~ as he gets lots of snacks from little bella bean!

bring the rain

2008-09-05T22:03:00.004-04:00

don't know if you are familiar with Mercy Me's song "Bring the Rain"~ but it is fantastic... the lyrics include "And I know there will be days when this life brings me pain, but if that is what takes to praise you, then Jesus, bring the rain." i clung to that verse myself the fall of 2007 thru some challenging circumstances and still echo it in my head at times... but this amazing woman, Angie Smith, whose husband is Todd Smith of the contemporary Christian group Selah has TRULY claimed this verse... when you have some time, i can't encourage you enough to read her story... what an amazing God we serve. He truly is good~ even when life couldn't seem worse. yesterday, in my Bible study, i read a C.S. Lewis quote "in our pleasures God whispers, but in our pain He shouts"... how true this is... and you can't help but see the truth in Angie's story~ God is shouting to her, and the best part is she is listening to Him. check out her blog @ audreycaroline.blogspot.com.

who has impacted you?

2008-09-02T22:23:00.003-04:00

so randomly, i called my high school youth pastor's wife yesterday. what a blessing it is to catch up with old friends/mentors- people who have truly invested in your life and helped you develop into who you currently are... i hadn't spoken to lisa in over 2 years~ she didn't even know that we had bella, but she did guess that we had a baby now : )

she and her husband, along with their 3 children now live in gainesville, ga where they are starting a church plant- grace point church- of perimeter church in duluth, ga. how exciting?!?! the website is www.gracepointforsyth.org. check it out.

this phone call reminded me of how sweet friendships are... and how i so often forget and/or fail to take the time to call and thank those people who have so greatly impacted my life... who has greatly impacted you- do they know it?

pretty pink polka-dots

2008-09-01T10:13:00.003-04:00

good friends of ours gave bella this dress~ isn't it too cute?! the girl we dropped her off with in the church nursery even said how much she liked it : )

anyways, this entry was meant for yesterday, but since our sweet girl is getting her first tooth she had a hard time going down last night and mommy was too tired to write an entry. nevertheless yesterday was a great day... we heard an amazing sermon from andy stanley- he is truly God-annointed- and then went to lunch at a yummy mexican restaraunt with teenie & poppa. afterwards bella took a nap and we all got ready for friends & family to come over and cook-out. everyone seemed to have a great time~ we'll have to do it again : )

tea, leaves and thyme

2008-08-30T18:12:00.005-04:00

happy 6th month birthday, bella bean. what amazing blessings you have brought to mommy & daddy in such a short time~ our lives will never be the same.

in order to celebrate such a monumental event teenie, staci, noah, emerson, bella & me all went to tea, leaves & thyme in downtown woodstock. from petit-fors to scones with real whipped cream, we indulged and enjoyed! bella tried to eat some homemade green beans~ but made hilarious faces, as if she had never tasted anything so horrid... maybe we should stick with the jarred food, baby girl.

i'm addicted

2008-08-30T00:32:00.001-04:00

so... here it is... jason kept saying he couldn't believe i didn't have a blog for our family... and i kept thinking that there was no need... and now, after being online for over 4 hours, i am sure that we do indeed need a family blog.

it is all because of our new small group through buckhead church... we got an email from our new group and one of the leaders had a link to her blog... before i knew it the blogosphere had sucked me in~ i have been "baptized into blogging"... so since jason is hanging out with the other guys on our street playing video games and bella is sound asleep, i decided now is the time to go for it... now is the time to embark on the journey of blogging... so here, sweetheart, is our family blog.