The Newest *Wonderful* Baby

Ryleigh Elaine Weber
January 31, 2009 at 3:04 p.m.
6 lbs. 15 oz.

Isn't she precious? I stole these pictures from Granny and will get to see the little one tomorrow!

Yay!

Expanding Family!

My dear brother in law Ryan and his sweet wife Micayla are awaiting the imminent arrival of their new little one today!!!

I haven't been this excited about the birth of a baby since my own babies were born!

I can't wait to meet little baby *r* and hope that it's soon!

Join me in praying for Micayla today as she gets to experience all the joys of becoming a mother...and the not-so-joyful stuff that precedes it = )

Thanks!

Store Front Inspiration

Upon leaving our favorite local haunt, Treehouse Coffee Shop Extraordinaire), I was browsing store fronts and noticed the Lynn Academy of Irish Dance.
I was a little obsessed with Irish Dance in high school and totally want to sign Amelie up in the fall--I mean, have you seen the cute hair and costumes?!?

And it doesn't hurt that it puts us one step closer to the lord (little l) of the dance.

Love it!

Tag! I'm It. ***updated with new tag-ee =)***

The name of the game is tag and the rules are as follows:

1. Go to the 6th picture folder and pick the 6th picture.

2. Post and wax nostalgic about said picture.

3. Tag some peeps.

This picture is of Amelie and was taken during one of the first "photo shoots" I set up for her. It involved a blanket and a rather large bear animal from one of her uncles. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I love these pictures and her sweet smile. Where did my little baby go? In this picture she was 16 months old--what a little love!

Thanks for tagging me Carol, I love a trip down ol' memory lane!

I don't usually tag people but I have decided to--you know, just cause, and they are as follows:

1. Amy

2. Megan

3. Brie

4. Granny of the East

5. Brianne

6. You! Tag yourself if you want and leave a comment in the comment section--I would have tagged more people but I think a lot of people have already been "hit" with this =)

Working Girl

I'm nearly finished with preparations for our Ladies Bible Study Dinner Party tonight.

Praise the Lord I was only "under the weather" for 10 hours or so and was able to get a good night's sleep and start back in on my projects.

Take a peek at what I've been working on and will be working on for the rest of the day:

p.s.

1. snow days are not that magical when you have caught your daughter's stomach bug
2. they are even less magical when teachers still have to report to school
that is all.
for realz.

THE MOST MAGICAL DAY OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S A

SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!!

WOO HOO!

YAY!

YES!

YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOO!

that is all.

Do you need more cuteness in your life?

Than Click Here and go watch Amelie and Anna's ballet performance!

Daddy Daughter Bonding Time

It all started when I took Mr. Wonderful to AC Moore with me and he saw a "really cool" Kinex Roller Coaster building set. He waxed poetic about the joys of his childhood and building things and so, I couldn't resist buying him a set for Christmas.

Friday night, Amelie and Daddy sat down to build the "roller-toaster" (as amelie, says).

For 3 beautiful hours, Amelie sat perfectly still--helping Daddy sort the pieces.It was no small task since there were like 1,000,000 pieces.

Literally.
Placing them carefully was a challenge.Amelie was this excited every single second!!

And finally, it works!!!

Amelie's excited "IT WORKS!!!" face!

And a high five for a job well done!

Next up, they are going to build the Ferris Wheel...

The only question is,

Where in the world am I going to store these things?!?

Work In Progress

Click Here!

For S & P: The Duggar Family

The Duggar family is featured on TLC because they are unusual.

Jim and Michelle (click here to visit their website) believe in being fruitful and multiplying

A LOT.

Here is a picture of their family (18 kids and counting--HELLO!)

They are very conservative and love Jesus, homeschooling and buying in bulk.

Last night there was a special that aired featuring the wedding of their oldest boy (20) to his sweet, "unspoiled" bride Anna. They have a website too--click here.

Their wedding was a bit unusual as they were saving themselves--and I don't mean just THE saving themselves I mean, they had never even kissed.

They SIDE-HUGGED after the marriage proposal for goodness sake!!!!

I'm a huge fan, believer and survivor of *true love waits* but come on people--a little lip action never killed anyone =)

Anyways, I do think it's cool--and amazing and neat-o that they're so sweet and good and pure.

So, that is what my previous blog was about--the fact that a form of the morning after-pill sponsored their programming on TLC--was a bit shocking.

Ok. Carry on with your day =)

Sick Little Sister Featuring: The Stomach Bug

My little one is ultra-pathetic today.

She started feeling poorly right after church yesterday and didn't eat anything all afternoon and went to bed at 5!!!!

This is how she looks when she is sick and sad:

What a heart breaker!

I finally got some Tylenol to stay in her today and she is perking up a bit =(

Luckily her "well" check was scheduled for today so the doctor can evaluate her sorry situation.

Poor little lamb!

P.S. I'm sorry if your baby was in nursery yesterday...Maeve didn't act/become/look sick at all until right after church.

The evidence in my defense:

A picture of a very happy, smiley, healthy looking Sunday morning Maeve....you know, just for the record and all =)

A Very Duggar Wedding...

Sponsored in Part by:

Plan B--Emergency Contraception.

What the family?!

I'm sorry...but that just seems wrong! Ha!

I Believe

* in absolute truth
* that everyone sins/does wrong in the sight of God
* that no one deserves eternal life in heaven
* that you can hate the sin but you must Love the sinner
* that salvation is a gift
* offered to all
* chosen by some
* that Jesus was and is the Son of God, born of a virgin, and who lived a perfect life, being 100% God and 100% man, and taught and performed miracles and who died on the cross, sacrificing Himself to pay the penalty we deserve for our sin
* that He rose from the dead and ascended to heaven to prepare a place for those who believe in Him, His work on the cross and the salvation He alone can offer
*that He is THE ONLY WAY to Heaven
* that my opinion doesn't matter AT ALL
* that I have done nothing to earn an afterlife in Heaven
* that by God's grace alone has He drawn me to Him, saved me, and continues to work on my sinful soul every. single. day.
* that I will never be perfect on this earth and
* that I have a lot to learn
* but He still Loves Me--even on the days when I'm a big heaping pile of failure and the days when I feel victorious.
*God is good.
Any questions?

Contemplating The Spoils

*J*A*W*S*

We all had a wonderful time at Amelie's dance recital with the notable exception of sweet little Maeve.

My littlest one was very overwhelmed by the people and feeling a bit under the weather because she has some giant teeth coming in!

The entire time she just cuddled Daddy and Pop-pop and was sad and forlorn.

It was sooo heartbreaking--but very cute!

I love these pictures, which show off her sensitive side, but I can't look at them too long because they weaken my resolve to wean her.

What a little gem!

The Most Horrifying Lyrics To A Children's Song Ever In The History Of The World

I will never forget the first time I heard Mr. Wonderful sing all the "verses" to Jesus Loves The Little Children to Amelie.

He was holding her and rocking her to sleep and after the first verse started singing

THE MOST HORRIFYING LYRICS OF THE SECOND VERSE OF A CHILDREN'S SONG EVER.

They are:

Jesus loves the Indian Boy!

Bow and arrow for his toy.

Great big Eskimo,

Little Chinese,

Jesus loves the world you see!

Seriously?!?!? This is the most racist children's song I have ever heard--um, Indian boy and bow and arrows, big? Eskimos and little Chinese? Who came up with that stuff? I have attended a Baptist church my entire life (nearly 30 years now..ahem) and never once heard any verse to Jesus loves the little children aside from the silly one about how Jesus loves the purple orange and navy blue children (Jesus loves the weird ones too...).

Are there any other highly inappropriate verses out there that I ought to be aware of?

Eye of the Tiger Alternately Titled Concentration Face

Where Was I? Good Question! (**updated, apparently I can't do math)

My friend Megan started this meme on her blog so I thought I'd give it a whirl...hopefully I can actually remember what I was doing, ha!

Where were you January 21st....

5 years ago- 24 years old,

I was working at Archway teaching k-12 art (most interesting job ever) while Mr. Wonderful was teaching music at his High School alma mater. We went out every single weekend with our friends Josh and Sarah. We saw lots of movies, played lots of Nintendo and ate lots of take out. I miss those days with our best friends living in the same state so stinkin' much.

Now those were the good old days!

10 years ago- 19 years old

Cloistered at Cedarville working on my degree in English Education and Art but spending most of my time shopping with Patty and Rachel and talking with Jenny Lynn and Sarah E. It was winter quarter so I was probably cold and tired of walking to the fine arts building in a skirt in 20 degree weather. This was my life pre-dating-Mr. Wonderful-life-so most of it is a blur.

15 years ago- 14 years old

Home schooled.

at home with my twin brothers who spent most of their time outside/taking things apart/putting them together.

A little lonely but quiet, peaceful, happy.

Spent lots of time with my many homeschooled friends from church.

Where are you going?

5 years from now-

My Amelie will be in 3rd grade? (prek, k, 1, 2, 3...yep 3rd grade). Maeve will be in kindergarten and I hope to have 1 or 2 more kids by then, and Lord willing, will probably still be home with them but finishing my Master's in Library Science. Mr. Wonderful will either be where he is now or working at some fabulous college--preferably one in a cornfield and not in new jersey.

10 years from now-

Amelie will be 14 and Maeve will be 11--they'll be big and wonderful--I can't wait! I'll be very old and teaching teaching teaching. Mr. Wonderful will be doing the same. Thinking about our future together makes me happy as does thinking about our present--God has blessed us so much.

15 years from now-

Amelie will be in college and I'll be having my first mid-life crisis-letting my baby go =) Maeve will be super old and cool and in high school. Mr. Wonderful and I will be still be in the classroom--maybe teaching at the same school so we can spend lots of time gazing adoringly into each other's eyes and whatnot.

20 years from now-

Maybe my babies will be having babies of their own.

Maybe Mr. Wonderful and I will retire and become salsa dancers or go to live on an island where we spend all of our time in our art/music studio.

Wherever we go, whatever we do...I'm so thankful that God is in control of our futures. He is always holding us right in the palm of His hand. Nothing will befall us that wasn't ordained from before our birth and none of our future will come as a surprise to Him.

What a blessing!

If you want to reminisce about your past and speculate about your future--leave a comment below the post to link up to your predictions =)

The Sweetest LIttle Dancing Chickens In The Universe

Aren't They Beautiful?

More Here

Hula Girl

Amelie's recital was tremendously fun!

We had lots of family there and enjoyed her and all her fancy moves!

She has come so far this year and has improved leaps and bounds over last year--I'm so proud of you Amelie girl and all of your awesome-ness!!

Here's a video of their super cute tap routine, starring: Jackie, Amelie and Anna!

Maeve And The Great 15 Month Old Photo Shoot

Happy 15 Months Maevey Baby!

- Every time I look at you my heart bursts into a million pieces-

I love you more every single second little joy-bringer!

God bless you sweet Beacon!

South Jersey Snowman

Shown Here at actual size
It didn't matter to Amelie that it was tiny--the joy it, and the 1/3 inch of snow we got, were HUGE.
=)

Snowed In

The girls and I, to keep from going stir-crazy, invented a game...called...

"Pull all of the pillows off of the couches, put them in a pile and jump around on them like crazy people."

or PAOTPOOTCPTIAPAJAOTLCP for short.

We had fun and we survived until Daddy got home...and that's all that matters =)

Weekend Work

This weekend we spent a lot of time relaxing and laying low--it's good to recharge!

We also had my in-laws of the east over for lunch--yay for family and food!

I hardly ever have people over--I have a "small" problem with perfectionism and it gets the best of me whenever we invite people over.

(Think whirling dervish)

But the food was edible and the house was clean and the company was the most important thing and we had a nice time!

One of my favorite weekend things to do in my "spare" time is to organize and reorganize the "storage" in my house.

I tackled my closet and rainbow-ed it up...

then I realized it's not much of a rainbow...it's more of a green, blue, purple/pink bow.

it still makes me happy though.

I really love organizing. I could do it all day long!

Although, I'd rather organize your house than mine--can I come over and go crazy with your cupboards and closets? It would mean the world to me =)

Anyways, it's Monday again and I find myself with

nothing

to

do

and the preschooler keeps asking

"But Mama, What are we going to do?!"

I'm always at a loss on Mondays.

I forget how to entertain myself when my husband isn't around.

The good news is that I have 30 minutes before Sesame Street is over and the situation becomes critical.

Off to wrack my brain for a cheap-easy-free-close-warm activity!

God Will Make A Way...

Where there seems to be no way.
He works in ways, we cannot see.
He has made a way for Amelieeeeeeeeee--
to go to preschool.
And all the Wonderfuls said, Amen!

Shelly Just...

....received the registration pack from the pricey preschool and gasped in sticker shock at the now $100 a year price increase.

*gasp*

Viv Ivins

Ode To Cold

nothing says winter

like frozen fingers and toes

what's that you say?

i cannot hear you--my ears have froze.

(and there goes my nose-dripping down to my clothes)

maybe i'll just stay inside

go back to bed

and pretend

that it's summer again

the end.

Brain Cells, Where Art Thou?

I was just at Wegman's with Maeve and while digging out my debit card to pay realized I didn't see my credit card anywhere!

I was a little freaked out and searched my wallet again once we were in the car.

(btw--HELLO winter! Brrrr)

I called Mr. Wonderful in a panic when I couldn't find it and asked him to call the credit card company, to see if there were any charges, and Walmart, the last place I had used it.

He was busily working on calling them while I came home and unloaded groceries and decided to once again look in my wallet.

And then I found it.

Exactly where it was supposed to be.

And my husband? He wasn't surprised at all that I couldn't find something in plain sight =)

It's a good thing that Amelie is spending the day with Granny baking cakes or I would probably lose her too, ha!

Well, At Least We've Talked Her Down To *Snow*

(Although, I'm sure, it's not quite as delicious as butter)

She Strikes Again

Mr. Wonderful was just in the kitchen with Amelie, who tried to slyly take ANOTHER bite of butter. Their conversation:

"Amelie!! Did you just eat more butter?!"

"Um...I think that this was...it looks like....um, I think it looks like a pretzel."

"Um, no--it was obviously a stick of butter!"

"No, I think it was a pretzel."

exasperated sigh.

the end.

The Abominable Snow*Maeve*

Last night I was sorting bins of Amelie's 18-24 month clothes

(yes, I was looking for summer clothes to hang in hopes of summer--maybe it will come faster if we're ready!? maybe...)

and found her old snowsuit.

Since we received a dusting of snow today, I thought we'd break it out and let the girls play in it.

Maeve wasn't thrilled to be wearing the too large suit and very large-gigantic-ish coat.

She couldn't walk very well =)

So we lost the coat and went for plan B.

She was still a little sad.

But then she started playing with sister and couldn't stop smiling.
She smiled the whole time we were outside....
That is, she smiled as well as she could with frozen cheeks!

The end.

Sometimes I Think My Daughter Is An Alien

I left this little girl playing in the kitchen yesterday.

Washing dishes.

Peeling clementines.

Spraying water.
Cute.

I came back shortly thereafter and found the most horrifying thing I have ever seen.

This:

Apparently she was so excited/hungry/ravenous for a BITE OF BUTTER?!?!? that she ate it through the papery-coating.

Is this some strange form of PICA or is she just strange.

I'm guessing it's the latter. We had a heart to heart about asking for a slice of toast if you would like a taste of butter. Let's hope this life-lesson sticks.

What have your kids eaten that horrified you?

That's My Boo Yo! Word. Giggity Giggity What What

School Daze(d)

One of the reasons blog-land is so fun is that I get to hear feedback from so many people and seriously, I love it.

Thank you so much for your advice, opinions and general thoughts on school!

We're not any closer to making a decision but honestly, I feel so much better and at peace about it because of your comments--My brain has been all fuzzy because once you wrap your mind in the same problem/situation for a few days/weeks everything seems to get muddled.

So, Thank you! And please, have another comment or opinion? Share them!

I'd love to hear them all.

In other news, we had a delightful day! Poor little Maeve is in the process of dropping a nap so we had some nap-time issues but I'm sure they'll work themselves out in time.

We had fun at dance class--it wasn't stressful or poorly organized (like some places..ahem...Gymboree P &L of CH NJ) and our friends and favorite Jersey Granny were there with us--yay!

Speaking of Granny (& Pop)--look what she/they ordered the girls for Valentine's day!

It's so nice to be spoiled! Here I am just sharing with blog-land the fun things that I find during my Window(s) Shopping trips and they fulfill my wishes---I like it. =)

Have a good night friends!