I Will Follow

You know when you have one of those moments that you just want to freeze time and etch that moment into your heart & mind? I had one of those moments last night.
 Lately, when we are doing our nightly bedtime routine, the kids have been wanting to listen to Chris Tomlin's, I Will Follow and Mercy Me's, Move while brushing their teeth, putting on pj's, etc. Last night Jackson was sitting at the computer listening to the song, I Will Follow, and just singing away. Ansley was standing not too far away from him, dancing along to the song. Elsie was sitting in the living room floor and I noticed that she was trying to stand up, and I could tell that she wanted in on the dancing and singing that her brother and sister were doing. She had on a gown that her feet kept getting caught in and was having problems getting up. I walked over to her, held out my finger, and she looked up at me with her eyes just shining and a smile so big that it would make any person's heart melt, and grabbed a hold of my finger. I picked her up and put her down beside Jackson and Ansley and she instantly started dancing with them. I stood there watching my three beautiful children dancing and singing along to a song about following God, and my heart was filled with joy. Then I started thinking... Life can be tough. Life can be hard. But, no matter what, through the great times and through the really though times, God is always there- a light unto our lives. When we are down and feel that we can't stand up on our own, I am so thankful that we can always look up. Look up and see that God is holding his finger out to us to grab a hold of. He will pick us up and help us get to where we need to be going. Unfortunately most of our problems are a lot bigger than our feet stuck in a gown, and it will take a lot longer than just a few seconds like it was with Elsie's problem to overcome it, but I hope I will always look to God with trusting eyes. After all,

"In You there's life everlasting
In You there's freedom for my soul
In You there joy, unending joy
and I will follow....."



Ansley's 3!



Today, September 1, 2011, our sweet little Ansley Kate turns three years old.
It's crazy to think that it has been three years since I was walking up and down our road on August 24th, which was my due date (and birthday!) knowing that there was no way she was going to come on time (so what if I did shed a few tears.... ha!). I just didn't realize that with her being my 2nd she would still be 8 days late! But, after getting to the hospital and having a very quick labor and delivery, I didn't mind at all that she was so late, because to us, she was just perfect!

Ansley Kate, a few minutes old. She was posterior, ("sunny-side up"), and when they broke my water they caused those scratches on her face. Look how close they were to her eye- yikes!



  Ansley was a wonderful baby, rarely cried, slept great, and an awesome eater, and today at three years old, she is still a wonderful little girl. She never went through a horrible "terrible two" phase, has always been easy to discipline, and still loves to climb up into my lap and snuggle up. She is definitely our little princess, that loves her baby dolls, dancing, dressing up, and painting her fingernails, and "finger toes".




Ansley Kate- 1 Month Old



Ansley Kate- 1 Year Old



Ansley Kate- 2 Years Old



Ansley Kate- 3 Years Old



It is so hard to believe that our little 7 lbs. 9 oz. blue eyed, beautiful baby girl, is now a big, independent 3 year old that we are so proud of and thankful for.

Happy 3rd Birthday to our little Princess, Ansley Kate....

We love you to the moon and back & pray that every day will be full of love, smiles, laughs, and that life will be a wonderful dance for you.

Here's a little video of Ansley after her birthday party on Sunday, enjoy! 



29th Birthday

Today I celebrated my 29th birthday, and my kids gave me a wonderful birthday present. All three of them decided they would be so sweet and take a nap at the same time today, which allowed me to get my kitchen cleaned AND all of the laundry ironed during their nap time.
Don't be jealous of my exciting birthday.  ;)


I did get an awesome camera bag that I've been wanting (thank you bradsdeals.com, oh, and eric!), and it was decorated perfectly by Jackson & Ansley.

I especially love their turtles, and the smiley face with lots of blush. :)

Jackson was so excited for me to open my present!

My mom did fix supper and had a delicious cake that was enjoyed by me, her & dad, Eric, the kids, Jessica, and some of my sweet cousins.





Jackson & Ansley helping me blow out my "candles." (Good thing we have a great imagination!)

Like all of my other years, I have been so blessed this past year, and thank God daily for my many blessings that I am not worthy of.

Now, time to enjoy my last year in my 20's!

Tweetsie

One of my best friends, Becky, had some tickets to Tweetise Railroad and asked if the kids and I wanted to join her and her kids yesterday. Of course we said, "Yes!" and the kids had a great time!





This was Elsie's first trip to Tweetise, and Jackson and Ansley have only been a few times. Like all kids though, they enjoyed it so much. What seems like just a few short years ago, most of my late spring, summer and early fall days were spent at Tweetise Railroad clogging with some wonderful and hilarious girls. That was seriously one of those jobs that you don't consider a job. We had to clog 5 shows a day, which was great exercise, but in between the shows we would hang out, ride some rides, talk and play with adorable children, and laughed and joked around with each other all day long.



This was on my 18th birthday when Becky, Tanya, & Kim gave me "presents" at every show, brought out these trophies, and claimed that I was some National Champion Clogger! Never a dull moment with these girls!



Isn't it crazy to think of how our Tweetise days went from this:

to this:



in just a few short years! :)

What an awesome job that was, and it didn't hurt that not only did I make some great friends with the other cloggers, but there were so many other great people that worked there running the rides, working grounds, the can-can girls, the cowboys, and my favorite, the Indians!



Chief Blue Feather, aka Eric!
(Yes, Eric and I met while being an Indian and clogger while working at TRR.)



Elsie's Walking!

Elsie is finally walking! She started taking a step here and there about a month ago, but she just wasn't brave enough to take off on her own.  She would cruise all around the house holding onto the furniture or the walls, but as soon as she would run out of wall she would take one (or zero) steps, drop and start crawling! I had asked the doctor at her 12 month appointment if it was okay she wasn't walking yet, because I wasn't use to my kids not walking at a year.(Jackson started walking before he was 11 months, and Ansley was at 11 months.) He said the average age is 14 months, and that his child was 18 months old before they took their first step, so I knew I had nothing to be worried about. Then last week on her 13 month birthday, she took 4 steps at a time, without realizing that she wasn't holding on to anyone or anything. She still was only taking steps here and there since then, until last night when she just decided to take off. I just love those first baby steps when they are all wobbly, shaky and arms waving all in the air. Precious!

Nala

Seven years ago today, eric and I got our first "baby." Well, she was our baby at the time, but then she kind of got pushed over to the side a bit when we had our real babies.

In 2003 I gave eric a boxer, Coy, for his birthday present. Those of you that can remember Coy will remember that he was very energetic, loved cool whip containers, and wasn't a very smart dog. :) But, eric loved him dearly and they went everywhere together. While eric was packing up and moving out of his rental place to our first (& tiny) home that we bought, a horrible accident occurred and Coy passed away. We both loved that dog (especially eric) and knew that we wanted another animal for our home.  So, on August 11th, 2004, I was beginning my first year of teaching and was working out at the school. It was a teacher workday and a parent of some students that go to the school I taught at brought in a box of puppies, and of course I was the sucker that ended up taking one of those dogs home. That puppy, Nala, went everywhere with us, became a member of our Christmas cards, slept in our bedroom, and was our "baby."

Little Bitty Nala

Nala and I getting ready for bed!

Sometimes daddy would come home from work to find us snuggled up like this!

After Nala there were quite a few more cats and dogs that came our way, and everytime we would bring a new animal around, she would bark, growl and smell them for a while, and would finally tolerate them. 

Nala and our 1st Cat, Ginger

One of my favorite pictures of Nala! On our way to Sparta, Christmas 2004





Nala and Lola



Nala made our move from our tiny house to our house that we live in now, and then one day she was not sure of what we were getting out of the car. I'm sure she thought, oh no, another animal, but she couldn't understand why we wouldn't let her smell, growl, and bark at this thing that we were carrying! Thankfully it didn't take Nala anytime to get use to the idea of having a baby around, even if it did mean that she got a lot less attention from us.

Nala & Jackson

She soon realized that this thing would now be the one sleeping in our bedroom, and she didn't seem to mind the move to the porch at all! I wonder if she was as excited as we were when Jackson had his first belly laugh because of her jumping around and playing. (Still to this day when she starts running wild in sprints it will make Jackson laugh and laugh!) Or if she loved that one of Ansley and Elsie's first words was "Nala." When it comes to Jackson, Ansley and Elsie she knows that it is her job to protect them, and she does a mighty fine job doing just that!

She is a great sport, and I know it's gotta be tough with three little ones picking on you daily. 

Even though she likes to bark.... a lot.... at the deer, rabbits, squirrels, anything that moves in our woods, she is a wonderful pet and a great guard dog! (I still wonder why she dislikes the UPS and FedEx guys the least, though!) :)

Happy 7 years, Nala! 

2004

July 2011

"Nite-nite!"

Tonight, after an exciting day playing with Abigail and some of her friends from Greensboro, Jackson and Ansley decided they wanted to spend the night with Mamaw Di & Papaw Fred. Elsie seemed to enjoy having all of mommy and daddy's attention for one night, and she even decided she would say "nite, nite" for the first time. Seriously... how could you hear this giggle and not fall in love with this little girl! :)