St. Patrick's Day
We have always wanted to take Isabella to the neighborhood St. Patrick's Day parade but we have always had to work! This year Jason was able to take her, they were able to sit on my Mom's front porch and watch the parade go by! We dressed her up in her green and off they went!!
We did not have any green clothes small enough for Elisabeth! Since she was only 6 days old, she will never know that she did not wear green, or get to go to the parade this year!Easter
My Grandparents and brother were able to come down for a visit over Easter! None of them had gotten to meet Elisabeth before! It is always wonderful to watch my grandparents interact, play with, and love on my children! I know that I am very blessed to have grandparents!
I wish that I had gotten a picture of my brother with Elisabeth, one morning I had just fed Elisabeth and Ben picked her up to hold her and all the feeding came out all over him! He handled it like a champ, but wow was he soaked with breast milk--he had to completely change him clothes!
Mother's Day!!My first Mother's Day of being a Mom to TWO beautiful girls was wonderful!! My grandparents came back to celebrate with us! Their birthdays are both in the month of May so they usually come down to celebrate Mother's Day and their birthdays!! To make this Mother's Day even more special, there was a Dedication Service at church and we had Elisabeth dedicated to the Lord! I know that having her dedicated does not mean that she is saved, but it is a way of outwardly saying that we dedicate ourselves to raising her in a Christian home and instilling Christian beliefs and teachings in her!! Wow, what a powerful charge and responsibility as a parent! I pray everyday that our children will come to know the Lord and live their lives to love and serve Him!!
My Mom had recently purchased a kayak, so the evening of Mother's Day we went over to our sweet friends (Brian and Jennie Edwards) house for Jason and Mom to use her kayak in the lake. 
Playing while Grand kayaked on the lake! Jason putting Isabella "up in the sky"!! 
Jason even decided to try it out!!Our Garden and Swimming!
Since last summer I have been talking about wanting to plant a garden, now that we finally have a yard again! I finally talked Jason and his Dad into helping me plant one! Jason teases me that it all has to do with my "Mommy hormones," apparently I think that I can grow anything since I can grow babies in my tummy! One Saturday morning Mr. Allen, Isabella and I went to Lowe's and picked out a bunch of plants--tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, squash, watermelon and cucumbers; we went home and picked the spot in the yard and got to work!!
We have just started getting vegetables from the garden large enough to pick and eat!! We are so excited, and go outside to water it and look for more veggies everyday!This summer we decided to go and buy a plastic pool for the yard for all of us to play in! The best 10 dollars we have spend in quite a while--Isabella loves it! It totally does not matter to her that the water is cold straight out of the hose! She loves to just "play, play, play in the water!"
Of course, I do not have a picture of Elisabeth in her bouncy seat outside, but she loves to sit, watch and smile at Isabella having so much fun!!Memorial Day weekend!
My brothers wife (aka Aunt Kim) had not been able to come see us and meet Elisabeth yet, so we decided that she would come for a visit over Memorial Day weekend! We were all so excited for Aunt Kim to come! Isabella and Aunt Kim have always had a love affair, they just adore each other! We had a countdown on the fridge for about three weeks before she was to get here, and everyday we marked off a number and talked about how long it was still going to be.
While she was here we decided to go to Charleston for a day. We spent time downtown walking around and shopping, and then ended up at Foley Beach for the evening! I LOVE Foley Beach! We met up with my Dad and Andrea and they go to hang out with us too! It was great to get to spend time with all of them together!
Isabella and Aunt Kim on the beach!
If they made one trip to and from the shore, they made at least twenty! They had so much fun playing together!!
The look of sheer determination!
My Dad (aka Grandpa Nick) and Andrea
Dad trying to keep Elisabeth warm enough, as the sun set it did get a good bit cooler!
Isabella thought that it was hilarious to dump sand on my feet while I acted like it bothered me!
Of course while Aunt Kim was here we had to make brownies--one of Isabella's favorite things to do lately! And she HAS to help lick the bowl afterward, something she learned from her Mommy (my favorite part of making brownies)!We LOVED having Aunt Kim here, and so wish that she and Ben lived closer and we got to spend even more time with them! Thanks so much for coming, Aunt Kim!!
POTTY TRAINING Isabella!
Isabella and I had been working on potty training for MONTHS! I had finally given up and decided that she would "get it" when she was ready. We went over to our sweet friends Brian and Jennie's for dinner one Friday night in early June. Brian and Jennie have two girls also, a 3 year old and a 1 year old--it is so fun to watch the girls interact and play! While we were there I shared some of my frustrations with Jennie and she asked if it would be okay for her to try--of course I said yes! By the time that we had left that night, Isabella had urinated in the potty (and on the floor 2 times--I am still sorry for that, Jennie!!) but ever since then Isabella has had very few accidents! Peer pressure worked for us, (and later lots of pee pee parties and M&Ms) Isabella watched her friend Carlisle use the potty and it dawned on her that she could do it too!! YEAH-we are so proud of her!! Thanks Jennie for being such a great cheerleader for both of us!
(Sorry no pics to accompany that one!!)
Our weekend in Atlanta with great friends!
We decided to go Atlanta for a weekend to visit our friends Chris and Robin! Chris and Robin used to live here in Florence, but have moved to Atlanta and we don't get to see them nearly enough! This was also Elisabeth's first road trip, and she did great! We spent the weekend hanging out and reconnecting, it was so great!
They have this awesome neighborhood pool where we played and swam on Saturday!
Isabella saw other kids going down the slide and wanted to go, I thought for sure that she would chicken out but she LOVED it! She went down it several times, and squealed with delight the whole time!
Isabella sitting like the little prissy that she is!
Elisabeth napped on the bed while the rest of us got ready to go to the pool!
Isabella chillin' poolside with Miss Robin (for some reason Isabella called her "that girl" all weekend)!
While we played in the pool Elisabeth napped the afternoon away on the lounger--I love her little belly hanging out!!
Chris and Robin told us that they wanted to sell their dining room table, and we decided to buy it, but then had to try to figure out how to get it home, in our van! In this picture you can see that they were able to fit luggage for all 4 of us for the weekend, a bouncy seat for E, toys for Isabella, a dining room table, 6 chairs and Isabella's potty!! They were so proud of their packing ability, and the fact that they were right and were able to make it all fit!!
Thank you so much for a wonderful, much needed weekend of relaxation and reconnection! We had a really great time!Some random pictures from the last few months!
Elisabeth's first bottle, she did great!
Isabella and her Grand, on Grand's birthday!
Sweet girl loves!
Isabella and her babies, she is such a little Mommy lately!!
Sleeping babies are SO sweet!!
I just love this picture of her in her Daddy's hat!
"Mommy, I'm ready to go!" --in my shoes and with my purse!
Just too sweet!!
Elisabeth with her Papa!!Whew! That was quite a long posting, but I think that we are finally caught up! I am determined to be better at keeping up with blogging! The last few months of have been some of the most difficult, exhausting time but also the most awesome, awe-inspiring, love filled times of our lives! We thank the Lord everyday for our family, His love for us, and the blessings that he has given us!
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