tea party

eva, mara and elise got to attend their first annual granddaughters' tea party with oma last weekend!  it was adorable!  it was a party for "just the girls" and elise had been looking forward to it and talking about it all week!  (though you will notice pictures of isaac...the only boy allowed...that's what happens when you're still nursing!)

the girls arrived at 4 in their matching party dresses and pretty shoes.  oma started the afternoon off by making easter bonnets with them, which they wore the rest of the time.  then they made an easter egg craft and a bunny craft.  after that, they had dinner followed by tea and cupcakes, at the special table with the special tea set, complete with little spoons and everything!  it was so sweet seeing the three of them sitting at this large table together looking so grown up!  after tea, they dyed eggs and finished the night off with a movie.

thanks oma for such a fun time.  i am especially grateful that elise gets the privilege of growing up with her cousins so near by.  it's such a cool thing that i didn't have that growing up.  as i watch lisey get older and see her connect with them more, miss them, run to them when she sees them, play with them, talk about them, look up to them...i see more and more how special it is.

 

 

 

what it's all about

i certainly know what it's not all about (yet, i focus my energy on so much of the time)...it's not about how clean my house is, or if i appear to have it all together, or if my kids' outfits are cute, or if i make a good meal when we have friends or family over for dinner...it's not about how much i get done in a day, or if what i do get done is valued as "important" by the world...

it is about me doing what i do each day for the glory of God...

it is about keeping God, my husband whom i love, and our kids my top priorities...

it is about enjoying all the glorious moments i am given with them each day...

Lord, each day, reset my heart's perspective and thank You for these glorious moments.  it's sobering to think these are times and days i will never get back...they are only this young once..may i savor it

helping mama cook (in the smock oma made for daddy when he was litttle)

too young for the big kid swings...but very content to watch everyone

growing more and more brave on the playground each time we go

everyone needs an outfit like this to cook in

i adore this picture of the two of them

he loves playing in the kitchen

milk face :)

fun times with aunt mare-mare

she gets major props for wearing just about everything in the dress up box...all at the same time!  she's such a child at heart and i LOVE it! (so does elise!)

isaac and i playing in the grass-he tried to eat it-of course

grilling with daddy

when did my little baby get so big?!

on the move!

our little boy is on the move!  if i thought he got into everything when he was in the walker...well, i think that was just the beginning!  he's army crawling, real crawling, and anything in between.  but to top it off...i looked in the school room the other day and found him standing up against the music table, playing with all the buttons and sounds!  over the past 24 hours, he's mastered standing in his crib too!  it's unbelievable!  as i was uploading these pics, i started pulling together my twelve month pictures for him.  i want to make a 12 month frame for each of our children, showing what they looked like for each of the first 12 months of their lives.  as a result, here's a small memory lane walk of my little man...

his newborn days...at the time, i didn't even realize how jaundice he was!  i just thought he got justin's olive coloring...turns out, he's got my snow white skin!

two months old...

five months old, wearing mb's sweet hat...

to now...crawling, teething like a madman...can you see the three (yes, three!) teeth coming in simultaneously on top!?

when it comes to crawling, walking, and anything physical, he's so brave, curious, determined...he likes to play with elise's play kitchen now.  he'll sit and empty the cabinets, or stand and play in the pretend sink.  he'll go after any toy she has (and she'll do the same to him...), he'll crawl across the floor to get to me, he's just so darn sweet...i just look at him and smile