one and a half years

*WARNING: YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE SUBJECTED TO A GREAT NUMBER OF PICTURES OF AN ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL.

Okay, with that out of the way, I know I've said this before, but time continues to just fly before me! My sweet angel is now 18 months old, and it seems like yesterday I found out we were pregnant! When I found out we were having a little girl, I wasn't totally sure what to expect after being used to two very active little boys who were constantly into mischief and had no fear. Now I have a little girl, and she's constantly into mischief and has no fear. Seriously! I don't know why I would've expected anything different since she's constantly looking up to her two brothers. Everytime I turn around she is standing on the kitchen table, or the dining room table, or the picnic table. She loves to turn on the bathtub faucets (when it's not bathtime), and she's taken a nose dive into the bathtub before I even had her clothes off. Several times I've found her sitting in the bathroom sink with the water on. She always finds her way to the pantry and loves to pull things off the shelves. At the park, she climbs up to the highest point and has no fear about shooting down the slides. She loves spicy food and eats salsa off her chips over and over. She is a tough cookie--she'll bust it pretty hard and I'm always shocked to see her just get up and keep going without shedding a tear. She chases the boys as fast as she can with a huge smile on her face. She absolutely loves to be outside and wants to go out all the time!

As many things as there are that remind me of the boys, there are plenty of ways she's been different. She is very affectionate--she often walks up to one of us and just gives us a hug or kiss out of the blue. When the boys are watching a movie on the couch she loves to climb up and sit in their lap--they are so sweet to just crane their neck to see around her. She loves baby dolls and walks around the house carrying them--that's totally new for me and I love it. She loves shoes and usually has a strong opinion about which ones she wants to wear--even if they don't match at all!

Every day with her has been a joy. She has such a sweet, happy spirit and loves to laugh and smile. She's my perfect, lovely, little blessing from my very gracious Father!

enjoying chocolate chip pancakes!
sitting in anderson's lap...

stretching to explore the pantry...

happy, happy girl!

have some cheetos, pooh!

she still sits like this!

she LOVES to be tickled!

Playing Catch Up Again...

I'm way behind on my blogging...AGAIN!! These are just some random photos from the last couple of months...one afternoon the kids all climbed into a laundry basket and I grabbed the camera as fast as I could--it won't be long that all 3 of my kids can fit into a laundry basket! (And I know only a mother would find it necessary to post so many pictures that are so similar :)

Griffin finished K4 and I have to say it was such a great year!! Michael and I just saw him mature and develop so much--he was truly blessed with an incredible, godly teacher and I know God put such a sweet group of kids together! It blows my mind how "big" he seems all the sudden--he's becoming more and more like a big boy. I love the age he's at now, but it makes me sad that my "baby" is growing so fast! He's become REALLY opinionated about what he wears now--gingham shorts and appliqued shirts are a thing of the past..sniff, sniff. This is just a picture I took of him when he came down the stairs one day--he knew exactly what he wanted to wear from head to toe (don't you love the crooked shorts)!

Anderson has just become my little sunshine! He's become so easy (and those of you who knew him as a baby know I didn't always say that :)...he loves to play with both Griffin and Collier, he's such a big helper, and he just has the sweetest spirit!

The five of us went to the beach for a long weekend a couple months ago...here's some pics of the boys on a boat ride...

They had a great time fishing...

Collier helping Daddy drive the boat!

Other big news in our house--Griffin lost his first tooth!! We had no idea it was even loose, so we were totally shocked one night during dinner when he suddenly exclaimed, "My tooth just came out!" I tried to keep my composure as the blood was gushing. He said, "I figured it was about to because it's been loose and hurting really bad." We had no idea--he hadn't even said anything about it! Michael and I were both a little sad at seeing yet another way our firstborn is growing up, but he is absolutely thrilled!

I know I didn't post much about Collier this time, but I'm going to post lots of her next time since she's now 18 months!!

Jubilant Psalm

One of my best friends from college (she's also from Knoxville) is in the process of adopting a little boy from Uganda--it's Lindsey Wagner Doyle for any of you who know her. Anyway, she's started a blog to tell about her heart on this, and it has just been so incredible to read! I hope you will go there now and read her blog--you gotta scroll all the way down though so you can start from the beginning (I think there's only about five posts). I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!!! Here's the address: http://doyleadoption.blogspot.com/

Griffin just finished his first season of baseball! I meant to post about it earlier but never did, so I apologize this post has so many pictures! His team was the Red Sox and he had a blast! God gave him such a sweet coach and a team with some really great kids. It was a little busy but we really enjoyed it and look forward to him playing again in the fall!

We have laughed so much because he always sticks his tongue out when he's focused...

neverthirstwater.org

Neverthirst is a faith based non-profit working through local churches in developing countries to bring clean water to their communities. God is using them to do some incredible things in countries like India, where 4500 people die each day from water-borne illness. They are having an Art and Film Exhibition here in Birmingham on May 21 in case any of you local folks are interested. 100% of their donations go to projects on the field--they keep none for administration costs. And just $20 is enough to provide someone with clean water for 20 years!

Neverthirst - May 21 Art and Film Exhibition from Neverthirst on Vimeo.

Easter...

We had such a wonderful Easter this year! Papa Dave, Granny, Nana, Poppy, Nanette, Scott, Bryce, and Elise came to our house for lunch after church!

All dressed up ready to go to church (I accidentally cut Griffin's head off in this pic).
Looking through their Easter baskets...
Elise and Collier

Griffin found an egg in the telescope!

Uncle Scott, Aunt Nanette, Bryce, and Elise
The boys got a kite in their baskets and Poppy helped them fly it!

Some sweet pics of our sweet princess...

The kiddos with Nana and Poppy!