Cuties!

Since most people check the blog for the pics, here are a few of my recent faves:)

Tummy time is going a little better for Mr. Cutie

LOVE that smile...and those rolls!

She discovered Daddy's CD from many years ago and was so excited

Doesn't she look so mod and techy cool?!

The hat's a tad big, but he didn't complain at all...unlike his sister who did not prefer hats and let us know it (see last picture!)

Officially dedicated!

What a great weekend with our family and friends. We celebrated Abby's birthday...again! And we had a dedication at church for McAlister with our dear playgroup friends. It was a great time of reminding us that our children are not our own. God has richly blessed us with the privilege of raising them and we want to honor Him in our parenting. It was so nice to be surrounded by the prayers, love, and support of some special people in our lives. I know that their prayers and love are always there, but it was great to have such a tangible reminder during the dedication. And I dearly love my playgroup mommy friends and their precious children.

Yes, McAlister is wearing the family baptismal gown...his daddy and granddaddy who share his name also wore the same one!

Nieces & Nephews

Here are Grant & Blythe. So far they are our only niece & nephew...and they are really cute and really sweet aren't they?!!

Here are Amos and Sarah holding McAlister....but soon they'll be holding their own baby!! Will it be a niece or a nephew?? We're so excited to meet him or her in October!! Congrats you all!! We love you!

And one day I hope to have another big announcement about Malana & Erik...but we'll give them a few years since they've only been married less than a year!!

Playgroup birthday party photo session torture!

I love my playgroup! And we love our kids. But we really like to torture them with attempting group photos. This was the 1st get together of everyone since the 3 new babies were born. Abby loved the attention (and more cupcakes!). Her lunch menu request was hot dogs and french fries, which we never make at home, but since it was her birthday I obliged. What a great day celebrating a truly great kid, except at naptime, but I digress...

Where's Avery? She was not a fan of the head shot!

Happy 3rd Birthday!!

Can't believe how fast another year has gone by!! Abby is all little girl now...no baby left :( We enjoyed a little family time before Daddy went to work this morning...and yes even let her have a cupcake after breakfast...don't tell our pediatrician!!

She got so excited about her door decorations!

Yes, Dora is our new constant topic of conversation and show request

Who's seriously intent on devouring that cupcake at 7:30 in the morning?!!

3 months old!

I have a lot of 3s in my life right now. McAlister is now 3 months old and Abby is 3 years old...and of course I'm in my early 3s! Ha! Abby LOVES to be photographed with him. It's so much fun to see them interact!

Found!!

I bet it feels so good to be found. We found Sadie this afternoon and it has been a great reunion. We posted two signs and a couple of hours later someone actually called us and said they'd been seeing her the past week around their home. We went to try to get her. We called her name and she came running to us. She was very skinny, dirty, and tired...so now she's fed, bathed, and sleeping in her bed. Who knows what she's been up to and what she's gone thru the past week and a half. We'll be retraining her on the invisible fence that's for sure!

Being found...it reminds me of some verses I was reading recently for a Bible study. Matthew 18:10-14 is about how God is our shepherd and how he cares so much about finding the lost sheep. He is so happy when a lost one is found. I am so glad I am found!

Being brushed before bathtime today...see how skinny she is!

Zoo fun!

Since the weather is so beautiful and warm we met our friends (the other Abby!) at the zoo today. This was McAlister's 1st time...he really enjoyed sleeping in the stroller for most of it, but at least it was captured on camera! I've been doing a bad job taking pics of him compared to the million we have of Abby. Greenville's zoo is such an ideal morning outing that's easy to enjoy with in its entirety with young kids. We used to live so close to the zoo, but now it's really an outing! Abby really loved getting out of the house! We are so excited for spring weather so we can do more now that McAlister's older and full of vaccines!!

Let the 3 year old partying begin!

This past weekend my sis and bro-in-law came to visit. I still consider them the cute little newlyweds!! They kicked off the big upcoming 3rd birthday and gave Abby some early gifts. We had fun hanging out...wish it could have been longer than a weekend.

Sadie

Sadie is the dog on the right. She's some kind of foxhound we rescued in WV over 6 years ago. She has not responded great to the recent move, but she's always been really skittish and easily scared. Well tonight when let out to go potty she ended up taking off thru the invisible fence. Stephen drove the car after her and called to her. She wouldn't come to him and ran off like it was a game. She doesn't know her way around this area we just moved to. So we don't know what will happen. She has an ID tag, but no one will be able to catch her to read it!! It's going to be below freezing the next few nights. We're hopeful she'll find her way back to us. So while we enjoyed the snow, we're sad tonight b/c a part of our family is missing.

Night sledding!

Yay! I had hoped we'd get some snow this winter so Abby could play in it. She was a little timid in it last year, but not this year. As soon as we showed it to her she was asking to go out. So at 6:30pm we were playing in the snow. I filmed the trashbag sledding adventures, but didn't get a picture. Here are the ones I took beforehand. Now there is about 4 inches already on the ground and it is truly beautiful...a neat display of God's creativity.

Me & My Kids!

We all finally went back to church today as a family. I've really missed it...just being able to worship corporately, hear great teaching, and see all my friends. It was so nice to be back. Here's a pic before we left this morning. I just thought my kids were too cute not to take a picture of them!

McAlister enjoying his first interactive toy

Recent tree climbing fun...Abby found a tree she calls "baby tree" that's perfect climbing size for her at the new house