the nativity

Someone sure has grown a lot over the last year.

My prayer is that each year as her body grows physically, she will also grow spiritually. I love little tools like her little people nativity to teach in such a simple way, so that her little mind can start absorbing now what Jesus did for us and how much He cares for us. 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you!"

peace, peace

I've mentioned before that Ella Claire loves for me to sing, "peace, peace" to her. I've been singing it to her since she was little and she has requested it since she could talk. Now that she is bigger, she can sing it with me, or by herself whenever she wants. I videoed her singing it the other day, and thought you might enjoy it too. Just incase you can't quite make out the words here they are..

"Peace, peace, wonderful peace, flowing down from the father above,
Sweep over my spirit forever I pray, with fathomless billows of love."

friday night ramblings...

It's 11:38 pm on Friday night, and I'm sitting on the sofa trying to find the motivation to get up, walk to my bedroom and go to sleep. I couldn't find any, so I decided to blog! When I say blog, I really just mean share a bunch of pictures. :) 

I am oh so proud to announce that I shot all of these pictures in full blown MANUAL! Yep, that's right. No mo' auto! Now, don't look too closely, I have a long way to go. I also have no editing software to clean them up and make them real pretty. But, I am thrilled to be learning how to use the settings on my camera.

And, yes, Ella Claire is wearing a Christmas shirt. I found it in the back of her closet as I was moving all of her winter clothes to the front and it looked so small. I tried it on her and she wouldn't take it off. She has become very opinionated about her wardrobe lately. She either refuses to wear it, or refuses to take it off. I think she is going to be a little strong-willed like her momma. We might have a long road ahead of us!

Don't worry, I don't allow her to jump on her bed. She is my fearless dare devil and has to be closely supervised at all times. She was climbing on all sort of things (our kitchen table and our extremely high bed, included) at just 16 months old.

We took family pictures last Saturday and the photographer kept telling EC that Minnie Mouse was in her camera. So she now thinks minnie is in my camera. :)

I have to interrupt and say that as I am sitting here typing away on the sofa, hubs is tucked nicely in bed. He has to work tomorrow. For about the 5th time now, I have heard this LOUD buzzing sound coming from our room. I went back there to see what it was and the alarm on the clock we have sitting on my nightstand keeps going off. EC pushed a few buttons on it this morning and she must have accidentally set the alarm. We've never used it as an alarm clock and I guess Jeremy keeps hitting snooze!

anyway, back to pretty pics of my babies. :)

I caught a sneeze...

Ok, time for bed! If you have any photography tips that you would like to share, I'm all ears! Have a wonderful weekend!

terrific two's!

Oh my! Are we having fun these days! Two year olds are very picky people. Good thing they are just so irresistibly cute!

Sometimes, even the simplest things turn out to be not so simple. Such as smiling for a family photo.

After we successfully made it to church with 2 tots in tow, Jeremy and I, well, really just me, wanted a picture to document the special day. It took just a few tries. :)

It also takes a steady photographer to get a good picture. ;)

Sitting still and smiling for 30 seconds for a picture is just too hard for a two year old.

And she's done!

Finally, after we bribed her with (gasp) CHOCOLATE! We got a nice, pretty family picture.

They also like to do silly things, such as wear sunglasses in the car, when it's dark outside.

And they can create a great big mess when mommy is changing baby sisters diaper!

Sometimes they like to climb in mommy and daddy's bed in the middle of the night. And then wiggle themselves completely sideways...

This picture was taken at 2am. :)

But a big smile like this makes it all worth it!

         

birthdays galore!

Jeremy's birthday was the Friday before Gracie was born. I made a special dinner just for us, I even pulled out the fine china. At the last minute Ella Claire ended up joining us. :) So much for a romantic dinner at home, but still very special, and fun memories were made.

On the menu: filet mignon, baked potatoes, and salad.

Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of our food, but I used a marinade on the filet's that my family has been using for a long time. It makes the best steaks ever; melt in your mouth steaks. If you need a good marinade or plan on having steaks anytime soon, give this marinade a try.

1/2 cup worcestershire sauce
1 stick melted butter
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
3 minced garlic cloves

*melt butter and add all other ingredients. pour over steaks in a ziplock bag. marinate over night. grill until like doneness.

For dessert, we had chocolate molten cake. I took a chance and just randomly chose a recipe online (it was recommended by the pioneer woman, so I wasn't too worried), and it definitely turned out a winner. I didn' know what a breeze these would be to make either.  You can literally throw them together in no time at all.

Okay, I know this next picture is not that pretty, but I wanted to show the inside of the cake and how perfectly they bake. Just like you would find in a restaurant; nice and firm on the outside and ooey gooey on the inside.

So even though this post is almost 1 month late, Happy Birthday, Jeremy! I love you with all my heart!

Ella Claire turned 2 on October 6th which was the Thursday before the wedding and 2 1/2 weeks after Gracie was born. I didn't plan a big party for her and planned to have one towards the end of October. However, I did want to make the day special for her. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said, "birthday hat, birthday balloons, and CAKE!" I so wish I had videoed her saying this because the way she said it was too cute! If I get a chance in the near future, I'll try to post it. Anyway, I figured if she wasn't having a party, then I could definitely handle a birthday hat, balloons and a cake.

Earlier in the week we went to party city (that's a whole other story, just fyi, don't take your baby to party city during halloween. Sweet, innocent eyes will see too much. Honestly, it was too much for my eyes.) Anyway, we ran with our eyes covered to the birthday theme aisle and picked out some fun minnie balloons and minnie party supplies.

I planned to pick up the balloons on Thursday, make her a small birthday cake and have pizza for dinner; just the 4 of us, since the wedding was just 2 days away. Steph ended up spending the night (and the rest of the week) because of my parents having house guests for the wedding. Andrew came over to help with rehearsal dinner favors that Steph and I were working on, and Brian, Jess, Jon Jon and Su Su (J's parents) just happened to stop by to see the birthday girl. So, we ended up having quite a few people join our party. It was so fun and i'm so glad everyone was able to join us, wish the rest of our families could have stopped by too! :)

This is the look I sometimes get from my big, strong willed, independent and determined 2 year old. :) The terrific two's are just TERRIFIC, and all my friends tell me 3 is even more fun! oh my!

Our family photo. We haven't quite figured out how to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time yet.

This next picture of EC turns my heart into a puddle. She is a very serious girl and I just love this great big smile on her face! It's pure delight.

Steph laughed at my DIY in 5 minutes, minnie mouse birthday hat. They didn't have any minnie hats at party city. So I bought and cover a princess one in pink and white polka dotted fabric that I already had at home and put a black fluff on top. Looks minnie enough for me, and EC loved it!

Ella Claire got lots of phone calls on her big day and she was loving that!

Can't believe this little girl is two! Life with her is so much fun and she truly is a blessing! Happy Birthday, Ella Claire! I love you to the moon and back!

EC's 1st haircut

Hi, y'all! I finally made it back, and I'm still pregnant....38 weeks tomorrow. I have a doctors appointment this afternoon and I'm hoping to get some good news. My doctor will be out of town all next week, so I was really hoping Gracie would follow in her big sisters steps and come a little early. Early as in this week, but not the next! :) It's hard for me to think about anyone but Dr. Max delivering my baby, but I'm leaving it all up to the Lord. He knows exactly what will happen and who will deliver her. I'm just going to have to trust that He knows best, and I know that He does!!!

(sorry for this grainy picture, it was getting dark outside)

In other news, I finally gave in and made an appointment for Ella Claire to have her first haircut. I'm not sure why that was so hard?!!??! Her hair was growing much faster in the back and her sweet Aunt "Steppi" had nicknamed her mullet. :/  I knew I had to do something about that, but she had a few little curls in the back and everyone has told me, once you cut them they are gone forever! Anyway, I made an appointment and off we went to get rid of the "mullet"! 

It always takes Ella Claire a while to warm up to people, so the entire week of her haircut, I kept reminding her of what we were going to do on Saturday. I told her Gus and daddy were also getting their haircut that week and mommy was getting her haircut the next week. It's something we all do. So, when we arrived she seemed ready to go. She got to sit in a yellow car in front of a huge mirror and tv. It was a little challenging to get her to stay in the car at first, but the sweet lady cutting her hair had lots of tricks up her sleeve....tv, games, and candy! 

Most of you that know me well, know that candy is a special treat around here. I save sweets for emergency situations....shopping trips, first haircuts, etc... She thought she was something else with that sucker and all of a sudden, she was completely fine with anyone cutting her hair.

All finished!! We love it!!

Daddy got a sucker too.