Monday Funday with Daddy

A few weeks ago on a Monday morning I noticed that Matt put on jeans while getting ready for work. My husband ALWAYS wears a suit to work so when I asked him what was different about today he said that he was just going in to work to do a few things and then taking the day off to spend with the girls and me.  He said he thought we might want to go to the zoo.  What a treat to get to spend time with him on a week day and I knew a certain little girl who was going to be extra excited about spending the day with her daddy!

 I love this picture and these two.

Our little giraffe  

Fun times with Daddy 

 She's a "scawey" lion. :)

 Our smallest angel was perfectly happy in the stroller the entire time.  I was so glad because this little chunk of love gets heavy. 

 Feeding flamingos 

 Playing in the splash pad. Her face is so funny!

Having so much fun. 

Thank you Daddy!

 This orangutan had a baby clinging to her chest.  The momma was really protective and tried to keep the baby hidden.  We got a few glimpses of her but I couldn't get a good picture.  The baby was so precious.  It was funny to me that the momma didn't hold the baby, the baby held her. The mom would walk around with her arms hanging by her side and the baby just clung to her mom. 

 This elephant kept her trunk rested on this rock the for hours.  

Family Beach Trip 2012

My mom with all of her grandbabies. 

Sweet cousins

I just love this picture of her. 

We tried and tried to get a picture with all four of them looking at the camera but this was the best I could get.  

My little loves

Matti trying to pose for the camera. 

And again. She hasn't quite figured out how to pose but she sure is cute anyway. 

Ivey Kate and Lyla taking a wagon ride around Carillon. Ivey's wide eyes in this make me laugh.

Pop reading "Hop on Pop" to the girls. :)

These two had just ridden the airlplanes all by themselves! They had so much fun at the little amusement park in Pier Park.  

Matti is the front of the train and she loved riding it! 

Sweet girls waiting to eat at Pier Park. 

Excited about riding the big train with Gigi and Addie Brown. 

Burying Uncle Pat in the sand.  He's such a good uncle and good sport. 

Ivey Kate's sweet feet in the sand for the first time. 

Matti's feet in the sand too.

Matti and her cousin Lyla sliding at the park in Carrillon. 

More fun at the park. 

Trying pistachios for the first time. I love that they do everything together. :)

  

She loves the water. 

Burping their baby dolls after feeding them. 

Riding behind the bike in this cool little bike caddy.  This thing was awesome and they loved it!  I'd like to get one to ride the girls around our neighborhood at home.  

Sitting with Pop before heading to bed. 

They had so much fun in the pool!

So did this angel!

The week of Memorial Day we went to the beach with my parents, brothers, and their precious families.  We stayed in a house in Carillon.  It was so nice to spend an entire week at the beach relaxing, playing, and catching up with my family.  The house had a pool which was so nice.  We didn't have to pack up everything to head to the pool, we just walked out of the back door.  And while the little ones napped, we could still be out by the pool with the baby monitors. We had beautiful weather the entire week.  Mattilee and her cousin Addie Brown had a really good time together.  We were proud of them; we weren't sure what to expect with two two-year-olds in the same house for a week but they played really well together for the most part.  We found out little Ivey Kate had an ear infection the day before we left for the beach so I worried how she would do away from home all week. But she did great!  She didn't act like her ear bothered her much at all.  Our bedroom had a walk-in closet where we set up her pack-and-play for her to sleep and it was perfect.  We set up the monitor and sound machine and she seemed to love her little oasis.  I loved getting to spend so much time with my family and getting to play with my sweet nieces.  These four girls are gonna have so much fun growing up together.  I always look forward to our trips together and I'm so thankful my parents plan trips like this for us. 

6 Month Sweetie

I have no idea where the past 6 months have gone!  Sometimes I just wish I could slow life down to really savor this time with my little ones. 

Our Ivey Kate is such a sweetheart.  I love her sweet smile and giggles.  I love that she wakes up so happy. I can hear and see her on the baby monitor just talking to herself, playing with her feet, rolling around, etc.  This girl LOVES her mommy.  I love that she loves me, but I also want her to be happy when other people hold her.  She has gotten a little better, she is usually happy with someone else as long as she doesn't see me.  If she gets a glimpse of me, she'll usually start fussing until I take her.  Mattilee did the same thing. It's so sweet when babies love and are comforted by their mommy, it just makes me feel bad for others when my babies aren't happy with them. I want everyone to be able to hold and love on my babies if they would like, and at times neither of mine have wanted to cooperate with this.

 At Ivey's 6 month checkup she was 16.5 lbs (60%) and 27 inches (90%).  She is eating baby food 3 times a day now.  She finally has a tiny tooth coming through. It seems she's been teething for months and now she finally has something to show for it.  

We tried sitting her up by herself last month and sometimes she would sit up for a minute or so before toppling over but on her 6 month birthday she really started sitting up and staying put.  She loves that she can see everything that's going on while sitting up and seems to enjoy getting to pick up different toys that are within her reach.  

I love the love that she and her big sister already seem to have for one another.  When I get Ivey Kate up from a nap and bring her to the room where Mattilee is, Ivey Kate's face lights up and she wiggles with excitement.  Mattilee always says something like "Hey Ivey Kate, Hey Sweetheart! Did you have a good nap?" And Mattilee immediately wants to give her a hug and kiss.   Ivey Kate will just sit and watch her big sister and laugh and smile at whatever Mattilee's doing.  

I was reminded this week of Psalm 127:3 and meditated on it for a while.  Children are a reward from Him.  Wow, I had to let that really sink in for a while. Our majestic and holy God, creator of the universe, author of life and everything that is good has decided to reward me!  How He has rewarded me with these too!!! And for what reason do I deserve a reward??  None whatsoever.  But out of His goodness He has, despite my being so undeserving of any reward from Him.  So thankful for His mercy and grace! 

This is our little sweetheart sitting up on her 6 month birthday.  Even after those nasty 6 month shots she still so happy. 

Mother's Day

Starting Mother's Day off to this, how could it be anything but wonderful?

 I thank God every day for giving me the opportunity to be a mom.  The blessing of being a mom is indescribable and I'm humbled and honored that He chose me to raise these sweet babies. It's such a huge responsibility and I'm constantly praying for guidance and that I won't do any thing to "mess my kids up." Although I feel so underserving and many times ill-prepared, God has given me some AMAZING examples of moms in my family and for that I am so grateful.  My mom, both of my grandmothers and my mother-in-law are all women I would LOVE to emulate.  Each of these women possess so many wonderful qualities that I pray were passed down to me and will surface, soon.  

My family on Mother's Day. They did a wonderful job of making me feel extra loved. 

My sweet girls.

My mom and all of her grand-girls on Mother's Day.

Settling In

Life with these two precious girls is such a sweet blessing. I'm so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to experience this kind of love for my children and so many precious moments with them. Ivey Kate has such a sweet, content disposition. I had forgotten how sweet the first few weeks "getting to know" the little one I'd been feeling for 7 months or so are. Every new experience is so exciting. I love seeing her studying our faces and then recognizing them with a smile. She LOVES "talking" to her daddy. She lights up when she sees him and "talks" to him all the time.

At Ivey's 7 week checkup she was 24 inches (95%) and 10 lbs 12 oz (75%).

My two loves on Valentine's Day.

Sweet little angel!

One of my favorite pictures.:)

Going for a wagon ride on a beautiful day.

Sweet sisters

Mattilee loves taking pictures with her little sister.

Little Ivey Kate

Sweet, precious blessings.  Children bring so much joy and I'm so thankful God chose me to be the mommy of two precious girls.  As I was rocking my Ivey Kate tonight, holding that precious, cozy body in my arms and listening to her soft breathing, I came to the conclusion that holding a sleeping baby has to be one of the closest things to heaven we get to experience here on earth.  There is something so peaceful about watching them sleep. I'm also flooded with an overwhelming joy that I don't think I could really express in words.  All that to say, Lord, thank you a million times over for my baby girls. I know I don't deserve them, but thank you for allowing me to experience this type of love. I can't even imagine the depth of your love and feelings for us.  

Ivey Kate is now 5 months old.  She smiles and cackles all the time, especially at her big sister.    We've attempted sitting up on our own, but she slowly inches her chest forward until it's practically resting on her legs. She's grabbing EVERY thing in site, and it all goes directly in her mouth.    

My favorite things about my Ivey Kathryn:

Her lips. I love how her bottom lip makes a little heart shape.

Her feet. Her precious, tiny toes curl up just a little. And I love that she gets them from my mother.  

Her face lights us every time she sees me.  I remember when Mattilee would do that. It's so sweet and sure makes a momma feel special.

On her left side, she has one faint dimple when she smiles. Makes me want to eat her up.  

Her soft, sweet voice making all those precious baby sounds. 

How she sucks her two middle fingers when she's sleepy. With those two fingers in her mouth, she makes an I love you sign with the rest of her hand. I like to think it's her way of telling me even though she can't speak yet. ;)

How she responds to her name. She always turns her head when she hears it. 

How she lights us every time she looks in the mirror. It never fails. No matter how many times she has seen herself in the mirror she still loves it and gives the biggest grin.  

When she's really excited about something, like the bath water running, she kicks and wiggles with excitement. 

Couldn't you just eat her up?

Happy girl

                                  

Sisterly love

I can't believe I've let months go by without posting about Ivey Kate's baby dedication.  She was dedicated on February 12. This service was a little different than when we dedicated Mattilee.  Matt and I were asked to think about what we want for our daughter's life and who we hope she is at age 18. We were given a small piece of paper and asked to write it down and read it to our friends and family that came to the dedication.  We could never fit all we pray and hope for our precious daughter on that one slip of paper, but we tried to hit on the most important points. This was a great exercise for us.  Although Matt and I pray specific things for our girls, actually thinking through who we hope she becomes and writing it in a letter to her was a really cool thing.

Here's the letter:

Ivey Kathryn,

We pray you surrender your life to Christ and that you continually pursue a stronger relationship with Him. We hope you put the needs and concerns of others ahead of your own, and that you are compassionate and loving to everyone.  We hope you are a happy person and that you find joy in the blessings of life. We hope others enjoy your company and that you always ignite a greater love for Christ in others. We hope you fully understand what a growing disciple of Christ looks like and that you have a desire to be one.  We hope we exemplify the parents/spouses we want you to be. 

We hope you are obedient to us and know we have your best interests in mind. When you begin to consider a spouse, we hope you look for someone that loves Christ more than he loves you. We hope that you are wise and that you understand and utilize the gifts God has given you. 

We were asked to choose one bible verse that would accompany her picture in the bulletin and slideshow. We chose the same verse we used for Mattilee's dedication because it really describes what we pray and hope for our children.  

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. "  Colossians 1:9-10

Ready for her baby dedication in our family dedication dress.

I never posted pictures of Ivey Kate's room so I thought I would.  I don't know if my girls will care to see how their nurseries and rooms looked when they were little but I put a lot of thought into their rooms so I like to tell myself that they will. :)  

I didn't take the best picture here, but that green canvas has an "i" cut out of Ivey's bedding fabric by my very talented husband.  

My mom painted this for Ivey Kate (she did one for Mattilee too). On the carriage it says "For this child I have prayed" 1 Samuel 1:27  I know these will be so special to the girls one day.