4 year pictures!

Babbling

Love that baby babbling!

Doctor visit

Today was Madeleine's 4 year doctor visit. I checked Everett on the scale and he was 16.3 lbs naked, so (depending on which growth chart you use) he is on the growth chart for his weight! YEAH! It has been a battle to get that boy to gain weight!

Madeleine is no longer on the bottom of her growth chart either! (She has always been 5-10% on weight and 25-50% on height). Today she was 34.6 lbs and 40 1/2 inches. According to the doctor that was 50% percentile and 75% percentile (but there are so many different growth charts). The important thing is that both kids are healthy, happy, like to eat, and have good metabolisms! Luckily, Lee did not have to work today so he was able to hold Madeleine down while she received 4 shots!!! She was very brave... here's a photo of her writing her name on her thank you notes for her Birthday presents.

Today's action shots

on the scooter (Madeleine is wearing an outfit that I purchased at Academy for $3 (on sale). It is for gymnastics.


in the new pool (thanks Erica!)


mid-crawl

Playing together

How cute!

Changes...

When I moved to Lovers Lane UMC as Associate Pastor in June 2006, I did so moving from full-time to part-time so that I could spend more time with my family. As a full-time ordained Elder I had something that we in the United Methodist Church call guaranteed appointment, meaning that the Bishop and the cabinet (the District Superintendents) had to find me a job. When I went part-time, that job security went away. So, in May I was informed that my position at Lovers Lane was being eliminated due to the budget. It has been a hard month or so, but God is good.

I am now in my second week of being a stay-at-home mom and it is hard but fun! We have visited a church each week and that has been an interesting experience as well! I have huge amounts of respect for families who visit churches. Where is the nursery? Where do I take my 4 year old? Where is the sanctuary? It is really hard to visit new churches!

Please be in prayer for our family, for Madeleine to have peace amidst all the change. She asks tons of questions about why we are not going to Lovers Lane. For Lee that he will not feel the pressure and feel overburdened from being the sole financial provider for our family. For me that God will help me to feel purpose (I am amazed at how much purpose I felt in having a job. I have a new understanding for those without jobs!). And for Everett that he will be at peace visiting all these new nurseries! Thank you in advance...

Exhausted Madeleine!

This weekend was busy. Lee and I spent Friday night at the W Hotel to continue our anniversary tradition of going away for a night to celebrate our wedded bliss. My mom and stepdad watched Madeleine and Everett with the wonderful help of my sister during the day to wear out Madeleine and Everett. It was a little traumatic, it was my first full night away from Everett.

Then Saturday Madeleine had ballet and then her birthday party! Sunday we went to church and then went to a pool party hosted by our Real Family Sunday School class from Lovers Lane UMC. Needless to say the girl did not go to bed at her regular time any of those nights! Monday, Madeleine attended art camp from 10 am - 12 pm and took a real nap (she was asleep and I had to wake her up) in the afternoon. She never takes a real nap during quiet time. Then, Monday night Lee checked on Madeleine before he went to bed and her found her like this: right in front of her door (I had told her after the 7th time of her leaving her room that she must stay in her room from now on). And yes, she is in flannel, footed pajamas. In her exhausted, grumpy state this is what she wanted to wear! No negotiations, please! Then, again today, Madeleine took a real nap during quiet time and I had to wake her up! She must be running laps or something at art camp!

Madeleine's 4th Birthday

Every day that we wake up is a gift from God. I have been blessed these past four years to wake up with a great love for my daughter, Madeleine. She makes me laugh and I love her so much. She is kind, loves to laugh, loves to draw and create, loves to sing, and loves God. This weekend we celebrated Madeleine's 4th birthday. It was a wonderful party complete with bounce houses, face painting (thanks mom!), a make-your-own door hanger craft, and a pinata! Here are some pictures of Madeleine's in her presents, she got lots of dress up outfits!

To counter all of the princess dress up clothes, here are some more career oriented ones from Nana (my mom)! You can find them here.



Madeleine loves her princess scooter from Mi and Pap (Lee's parents)


And a new tinkerbell costume from Erica and Russell Hall! The other one had gotten too small.

My favorite pictures! Madeleine was dressed in regular clothes (I promise), but then another little girl suggested that we have a parade and Madeleine immediately ran into her room to change outfits into a more appropriate princess dress. This particular one was given to Madeleine from Hallie Grace, daughter of my friend Mary Spradlin. Notice the birthday cupcake, only the icing is eaten!

Prayer Request

I learned of a tragedy that happened this past Sunday and ask for your prayers. The Hart family was killed, including father, mother (Christy), daughter, and two foster girls, after attending worship at Custer Road UMC in Plano. I met Christy briefly in the last few months as she worked as a consultant for Lovers Lane UMC. Please be in prayer for Christy and her husband's immediate family. Please pray also for their church family at Custer Road UMC. Pray for the clergy and staff as they receive many calls, visits, and questions about processing the grief. Please pray for Rev. Ron Henderson, senior pastor at Custer Road UMC, as he leads the congregation through this incredibly difficult time. Please pray for the driver of the car who hit the Hart family and survived the wreck. Custer Road UMC has posted the obituaries of the family and they can be found here.

As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8, "³⁹For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The sweet boy

So he will not feel left out, here is a sweet one of the boy, while we were waiting for Madeleine to finish her ballet class. Hugging Grandma...

A Trip to the Zoo!

This morning Kristin and I took 4 children to the zoo. It went really well! The girls loved the children's area where there is a stream that you can get wet in!

Madeleine is in heaven

She is finally in dance class... Pictured here with Grandma (my stepmom) who hosted a sleepover the night before with both girls! Bless Grandma!

The Owl

So, we have lived in our house for almost two years, yeah only 28 more years left on the mortgage! We have now witnessed an owl on two occasions.

Outside the kitchen window on August 26, 2006.


And today June 13, 2008 on the backyard patio.


The only question is, could it be the same owl? It looks smaller to me, maybe it's the mama and her baby??

Cutie Patootie

Everett has been a bit of a bear lately because of his teeth. In the last week or so his top teeth have come in and now he has gotten an incisor on one side and the other side looks not too far behind. His sleeping habits have regressed back to newborn status! Tonight in the bath though,
he was happy, proof seen below.

Temptations

Today when Madeleine was supposed to go in her room for some quiet time, she said that she didn't want to go in her room, she was too tired. I told Madeleine what a perfect opportunity this was to lay down in her bed, close her eyes, and have a little rest. She turned to me, and said, "But mommy, my toys make me play with them." It seems that taking a nap is not as easy as it seems!

Swimming Day

We had a swimming day in our backyard today.


Madeleine laid out by the pool.



Everett wondered why he had to get in a bathing suit to chew on his toys. He thought, I can do this inside, mom...


And on his 8th month birthday, Everett is pulling up to stand!

More teeth!

Everett's top teeth both broke through the gums within a few days of each other, finally! Although this happened last week, today I caught a picture.

Playing at Kristin's

My nephew Austin got a buzz cut!


And here is a video of what a gentleman Austin is, he pushed Madeleine in the car and then opened the door for her! Not to be outdone in manners, Madeleine does tell Austin thank you.