let me bring you up to date

So, it's been a while since I've blogged!! A lot has happened in one year. Our view of Ella Claire went from this:

and this:

to this!!!

She is such a joy! Our lives have definitely changed! Most of my days are filled with feeding baby, changing baby, playing peek-a-boo, feeding baby, changing baby, reading books, feeding baby, changing baby...you get the idea!!!! Ella Claire doesn't look like that baby picture anymore, of course.

She has grown so much! I know people always say that babies grow so fast, but it's so true!! I feel like I have a big girl on my hands and she is only 8 months! She sleeps all night (which I am LOVING), sits unassisted, eats baby food (more on that in a bit), says "ma ma", "da da" and "bye bye" and crawls (more of an army man crawl than on her hands and knees, but still a crawl)!

Besides having a new little one in our house, Jeremy, Steph (my younger sister) and I have been trying to continue to run. I had no idea how hard it would be to exercise once Ella Claire arrived! Thank goodness for this wonderful Christmas present! I highly recommend a jogging stroller to new moms and dads! It isn't as easy to push as you would think, but that makes for a better workout right?!? So, thanks to this stroller, we were able to run our first 10K! The Azalea trail run was this past March. It was such an amazing feeling to finish just 5 1/2 months after having EC! Our time wasn't the greatest, but for the little bit of training we put in, we were happy! I love to run, but this deep south summer heat makes it extremely difficult to run in the summer months. Hopefully, we will will keep it up and finish a few more races in the fall!

Another thing keeping me busy this year has been making baby food for Ella Claire. I found this great site that helped me in the right direction. So, with the help of my mom, I made my first batch of rice cereal and have been making all of her food since! I love knowing that all of her food is fresh and organic.

Exactly 7 months to the day that Ella Claire was born, my older sister, Kim, delivered her first baby in the same room that EC was born in! Madelaine Joy Myers was born at 4:03 on May 6, 2010. She weighed 5lbs 13 oz and was 19.5 inches long. She is such a precious little bundle!! I love her so much already!!!

One of the most special days since Ella Claire's birth, was the day she was dedicated. Kim, and I, along with our husbands decided to have our babies dedicated together. We go to the same church, so it was perfect! It really was a great day! The girls had matching dresses and bonnets and looked like little dolls. The Lord reminded me of Deuteronomy 6:4-7, a few days before, as I was thinking about what a baby dedication really is about. It is my hearts desire to be an example of Christ to Ella Claire, and all of our future children, to not only teach them God's word, but be an example myself!

Well, these are just a few of the highlights that I missed blogging about this past year. I hope to be back a little more frequently with updates on what's going on in our life. Goodnight for now!