Sunday

Patriotic Princess

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

We had a lovely time in NY with my family--

we procured our van, spent time playing in the newly redecorated tree-house, attended my cousin's beautiful, happy, love-filled wedding, and Amelie flew kites with Pop!It was super windy and chilly the entire time we were in NY but it was awesome kite flying weather and they had a ton of fun! Amelie is a regular kite flying pro =)

Friday Five

1. Even though this week was technically short, it felt very, very long. Praise the Lord for two napping children and long naps at the same time every day for the three of us.
Thank. You. Jesus.
2. We had a chance to visit with Mr. Wonderful's Floridian Step-Father this week--it was very nice to see him and some of his very large brood of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren etc. He also brought a present for me from Mr. Wonderful's mother--an Amelie-sized box of many Stampin' Up stamp sets, ink pads, card making supplies, etc.
It. Is. Awesome.

3. I dress my girls in matching outfits so often it borders on obnoxious. I don't care. I heart it and will continue to do so until they're 13 and rebel =)
4. I feel like I'm getting closer on names--and I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL WEDNESDAY!!!! when we find out *fingers crossed we actually do* what brand of baby we're gonna have!!!
I even started an online registry just for fun because I'm in full baby-day-dream mode.
Fun times.
5. I hope that all of the questions Amelie has been asking lately turns her into some kind of super genius. My ears and mouth are tired people--this kid has got some CURIOSITY!! It's good and all, but what do I look like, the Encyclopedia Britannica?!? Tee hee!

Happy Weekend!

Thursday Three In The Form Of A Summary, Question And A Statement

1. we had a lovely day--i finally got some much needed groceries, we met up with some good friends, the girls and i took excellent naps, i actually had the strength to make a yummy dinner and now everyone is playing outside--except for me, who is, of course, enjoying the air conditioning.

2. is delilah too devilish a name for a baptist baby? talk to me people. i *loveeee* that name--the husband--not so much (but, hello?! cute nickname possibilities galore! and really i think more people now-a-days think of delilah the radio hostess as opposed to delilah the temptress who tricked samson. it's not like i want to name the baby jezebel or judas--right? and maybe it's a boy so none of this matters anyways....)

3. i'm going out with one of my favorite prego friends tonight. woot!

good night and have a pleasant tomorrow!

Bittersweet Memories; That Is All I'm Taking With Me

The good news: we got an awesome new van for our growing family!
The sad news: we didn't need 3 vehicles and decided to part with Mr. Wonderful's as it was worth a little less than my car.
I wouldn't say I've ever been attached to a vehicle before--I'm not really what you would call a "car person."
I'm happy with a car as long as it gets me from Point A to Point B in a dependable manner.
Mr. Wonderful isn't really a car person either--but this car was a little special!
This was the first car he bought.
He picked it out new and paid for it himself and has driven it solely for the last 11 years.
He owned it the entire time we dated--he picked me up from Willet's dorm in it
(he looked so handsome and fabulous in his new car sitting there waiting for me!).
We drove to our honeymoon in it (he drove, I opened up cards and counted $$ tee hee!).
It's become a part of the family and we were a little sad to see it go.

Goodbye car!
You've been with us for the very best years of our lives.
We'll miss you!
p.s. this photo wasn't staged--he really loves this car enough to hug it to say goodbye!

Crisis

Okay...so maybe that title is an overstatement of the "problem" but I'm having serious mental block on a baby name.
With my girls I had lists and things but always *knew* exactly what I wanted their names to be.

**Next week we find out what we're having and I want to have a few good names in place because I like talking about my baby by name not by "the baby" you know? **

Names I considered with Amelie:
1. Amelie/Amelia
2. Isabella

(Boy names: Aidan, Ian)

Maeve:
1. Maeve
2. Aurelia

(Boy Name: Jacob)

I want a name that is distinctive enough to make sense with Maeve and Amelie (you know, one you can't find on a key chain when you're on vacation)--like a name in the top 1000 but not the top 10. I was leaning towards Isabella again but know there are a lot of them out there--which for me, is a negative. I have a couple of good boy name ideas (neither popular nor weird) but neither boy name I like goes with any middle names I have lined up.

Names I have liked all along for baby numero tres:
Boy:
1. Deacon
2. Dean

Girl:
1. Lorelei

(I know two of these names are from Gilmore girls-I didn't realize that at first when I decided I like the name Dean but realize it now. hmm)

Names I "like" *today*:
Boy:
1. Everett
2. Emmett (urgh, just realized this is a twilight name = more popular?)
3. Brayden (which i just found out is also for girls?!)
4. Thatcher/Forest/Grayson and similarly unusual boy names

Girl:
1. Sophia
2. Nora
3. Maisie
4. Isabella (also twilight-mer)

Names I love that have been taken by close friends and family:
Olivia
Isabella
Gwyneth
Joshua
Jonathan
Sadie
Jude

Now, go forth and comment and help a girl out--not that I'll take any advice--I have in the past always picked the names people liked least--I'm a rebel that way. =)

Our Front Yard Alternately Titled: I'm So Stinkin' Glad That This Didn't Land On Our New Van Parked 10 Feet From Here!!

Happy Memorial Day!

Sometimes Big Girls Get The Blues

She's A Professional

On a whim we decided to get pictures taken of the girls the other night.
Amelie loves getting her pictures done and Maeve....well, Maeve endures it.
Amelie did such a wonderful job that even when her little sister was doing this:

and this:

she still kept a smile on her face and eventually we ended up with this:

and this:
and this:
and a lot of these:

What a little sweetie!

Friday Five

1. What a lovely day we had! Such warm springy/summery weather! We enjoyed an impromptu visit to the zoo with one of our Wonderful cousins and her Mommy. And I didn't bring my camera--I seem to have enough on my hands lately wrangling Maeve and keeping an eye on a 99% obedient Amelie. =)

2. I have been totally lusting after these sweet baby bonnets I found on Etsy
(after being pointed there by Britney of 4 Little Men. )3. And this maternity dress from Target that I found on the back of Baby Talk or some such magazine:4. We took the girls tonight for an impromptu Picture People outing and their pictures came out so cute! Maeve even smiled like a big girl. It kind of made my heart hurt (in a good way).

5. And another thing:
So. Happy. It's. Friday.

Happy Memorial Day!

May Flowers

Happy 19 Maevey Baby!

You are so beautiful to me!

I love you little one!
Happy 19 months!
You're starting to act and talk like such a *little* big girl!
Asking for things...stringing words together and you can even count to 3!
(well, sometimes =)
Thank you for sleeping through the night, lots of squishy kisses and hugs, buckets of laughter and for having a head full of hair.
Muah!

Happy. Sad.

The Newest Wonderful

I was taking pictures of Mr. Wonderful's car (so as to list for sale) and thought I'd snap a picture of the newest Wonderful.
I must admit I'm terrified to drive it--it's much too pretty and my driving much too spotty.
I feel it's doomed to sit in the drive looking lovely. =)

Amelie Learns...

For weeks and weeks now, Amelie had been "packing" for a trip to NY.

I tried listening to her

reasoning

pleading

cajoling

but nothing could convince her that we weren't coming for a visit until June.

She has been dragging a suitcase and a trash bag full of things she "needed" for NY for days and days--even sleeping with them and going so far as to tell people that she was going to visit her Granny Blue Swing (code name for my Mom).

I told her that if she really really wanted to go to NY that she had to pray that God would make a way.

And guess what?

He. Did.

(And I still can't even believe it.)

Amelie prayed and that very night my Mom called me all excited about a van that they had found "by chance" on the way to run an errand.

They tested it out. (they liked it)

Asked the people to lower the price (they did).

Called me to tell me about it.

I talked it over with my husband.

Jumped through a few hoops to procure a loan.

Asked the people to lower the price again (they did).

And we ended up taking a last minute trip to NY!

All because the 4 yo prayed.

Isn't that amazing?
It's so cool to me that this is a way in which God is working that Amelie can understand and had a part of!

Isn't it amazing that the God we serve heard her prayer and answered it so concretely and QUICKLY?!?

I am amazed.

Now, can I have a volunteer to tell Amelie that we actually have to go back to NJ sometime soon!? AHHHH. =)

I Miss You Honey. =(

Oh The Awesomeness Of It All

Behold! Our New Van!

Woot!

It is amazing! I am so happy and blessed by this answer to prayer!

Amelie Says...

While stepping on the bathroom scale at my parent's house--

"Granny!! Do you want to see how old my feet are?!"

HA!!!

Well, the van is one step closer to ours as we have ensured financing and are now working out all of the little details of buying a vehicle out of state.
We're heading to NY tomorrow!
It's not going to be quite the peaceful weekend we had hoped for as Mr. Wonderful is heading back home bright and early Saturday morning to play a wedding in the area. The girls and I will stay a couple of days in NY to recover from the trip and head back home Monday or Tuesday. I'm not thrilled about driving a new vehicle 6 hours with both girls by myself--so pray for me my peeps!
On a happy note we do get to attend my cousin's wedding which I didn't think we'd be able to make and we'll get to spend some time with my parents doing fun stuff (zoo!).
I have so much to do today to prepare I don't even know where to start!
And to top it all off Mr. Wonderful's Spring Concert is tonight!!
I'm very excited about his concert but hoping I have enough time to accomplish the packing, the shopping and the cleaning that must be done.
Yeah...maybe I had better stop blogging now and get to it!
Happy Thursday!

Joyful Joyful I Adore Thee

The Cutest Cookie Chef

Amelie girl loves making cookies!
She inherited her love of baking from her Mama and it's something we enjoy doing together.
(well, I don't totally enjoy the mess we create--but other than that it's enjoyable!)
I spent much of my growing up years on the farm cooking--baking snacks for my brothers and parents and even cooking a lot of our meals while everyone else was out doing farm stuff.
Anyways, back to the cookie maker:

The cookie she made for Mommy--very artistic!

Decorating Daddy's cookie!

Note the smiley face =)

Yay for fun times!
(and delicious cookies!)

To Be Or Not To Be Excited....That Is The Question.

It's no secret that we've been looking for a van for our expanding family.
It's been a stress in my mind for a while now and I've been keeping an eye on prices and vehicles but it's near impossible to find something affordable, economical, dependable and with low enough mileage to make it worth all the effort.
The only things I've found are $2,000 more than I want to spend with 50,000 more miles than I can stomach.
Well, my parents may have found us a vehicle with low mileage and a good price!
We're off to the bank tomorrow to see if we can get approved for a loan-
-easier said than done in this economy for a Christian school teacher's family!!!
Say a little prayer for us and for the Lord to reveal His will in a clear (gulp) way.

All This Talk About Mothers Got Me To Thinkin'

Boy oh boy--do I know a lot of ladies having babies this year!
Why, me for one =)
Not to mention my sweet sister in law and brother who are expecting their first this Fall
(Amy here, pictured with baby Maeve!).I have 10, count 'em TEN good friends and relatives
(that I can think of and this is not even counting plain old acquaintances)
having babies this Fall!
I mean, is it just me or is it in the water now?
I love it!
I don't think there could ever be enough babies!
And you know, I like having people around who can commiserate with the pregnant woman and all! tee hee!

Happy Mother's Day Madre!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!I wish I could spend more of these special days with you!
I'm so thankful for our long-distance love and the time we do get to spend together.
Thank you for teaching me all about what it means to be a Mother.
I love you! And I miss you!

The Best Mother's Day Gift Of All!!

Pictured here.
Sitting on my couch.
Wearing matching dresses and smiles.

I'm so thankful to be your mother little ones!
I love you!