Engrossed In The Posts

Lately I've been nostalgic and have been spending time re-reading old blog posts.
Observations:
1. I used to be funny and interesting. Now, not so much.
2. Time has flown. I used to think Amelie was so big when she was so small and that Maeve would be a baby forever and she isn't.
3. I used to take a LOT more pictures. I need to get back on that!
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I think the nostalgia stems from Amelie heading to the big *K* in the fall.
I'm sooooooo not ready for that.
And Maeve heading to 3....
And Ezra closing in on 1.....
Can't think about it any more.
Shutting down emtionally in 3...2....
Ok, crying crisis averted.
I'm overwhelmed by this joy-filled life God has given me.
And thankful! So. Thankful.
It's going so fast.
Too fast.
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Happy
Happy
Joy-Joy
Love is all around me.

Success!!

Story Book Land! With The Weber Clan!

We had a really wonderful time at Story Book Land with Granny, Aunt Micayla and Ryleigh today!

The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS and perfect!

No humidity! A cool breeze! Not cold. Not hot. Awesome!!

There were no crowds at all and the kids were the first or only in "line" for every ride!
This park is sooo cute. It's completely wooded and all the rides are geared for young children (like 1-8 ish). The park is super sparkling clean and peaceful and just lovely! They also have many story book themed vignettes (think animatronic dolls--yes, a little creepy)
of different nursery rhymes.

I had hoped Ezra would take his morning nap on the way there, in the car....but he didn't--luckily he was totally perfect all day!

(Hopefully he sleeps tonight since his day was thrown off!)

Here are some pictures from our day!

The kiddos in the car.

You know. Just 'cause I was bored and had the camera in my hand. =)

Story Book Land!!

The first ride!

Amelie is a ride pro but this was Maeve's first big year of participation. She did great! She even looooved the super fast roller coaster!

Ezra boy!

Happy as can be all day in his stroller! (He got out for a few rides too--Merry Go Round and Old Fashioned Cars. =)

The best picture I could get of the girls.

Naughty Maeve! Ha!

Another spinny ride!

I can NOT do these!

Amelie-Dwarf!

Maeve-Dwarf!

Aunt Micayla, Ryleigh and the girls!

The fun birthday cake!

We had a really great day! Thank you Granny (and Pop) for treating us!!

Today:

Story Book Land!

Yay!

Thinking Out Loud

I'm not sure I've ever really discussed with anyone why I named my blog

*Desperately Seeking Shelly*

It's a little dramatic, no?

I started this blog in December of 2006, right as Amelie was turning *2* as a cap to

the worst year of my life.

To sum up:

*miscarriage of our second baby (5/22/06)

*sold house located in beautiful wooded nature preserve

*moved into nice apartment located in a NOT NICE area 8/30/06

*went back to work and left Amelie (in excellent hands, but not *my* hands) 9/7/06

*small skin cancer issues

found because of:

*the ear infection from h&#% that lasted for 2 weeks and kept me debilitated in bed

*miscarriage number 2 (12/5/06)

((and of course i was at work that day))

I was discouraged

(to say the least)

angry at God

angry at anyone near me

lonely

sad

and Desperate to reclaim who *I* was

or who I thought I was

So, I suppose the dramatic title was perfect for the me that was *then.*

I have learned a lot over these nearly 4 years.

I have learned that anger at God accomplishes nothing and is absolutely ridiculous and prideful and gross.

God's plans for me are for good, to teach, to grow and better me.

I learned that it doesn't matter who I want to be or who I was

what matters is who I am

*His child*

Made for God's glory

to serve Him

not to seek self.

Things aren't always easy....

and if they were I think we'd be boring and stagnant.

Or at least, I would be.

I'm so glad God has used the things He has in my life to teach me.

I'm a different person and not quite so desperate to seek *shelly*

but much more desperate to seek

shelly's Savior....

What are you desperate for?

Maeve-y Cakes

My parents were down visiting a few weeks ago and whenever Maeve walked into the room my Dad would say,

"Hi MaeveyCakes!"

So, as the visit progressed, whenever Pop-pop would walk into the room Maeve would say, "Hi Pop-Cakes!"

And I'm writing this down because I want to remember it. =)

Halloween? Already?

I've been hunting for some Fall/Winter clothes for my big girl Amelie

(who grew like a freakin' weed over the summer and barely fits in the school clothes I bought her for September--GAH!!!).

I haven't found much of anything I like but the girls were "helping me" and found some costumes they liked =)

Amelie has been telling me that she wants to be a Jack O Lantern.

?!?

Yes. Weird.

I convinced her that a Pumpkin Fairy was almost the same thing =)

And I think Maeve would be just about the cutest bumble bee ever! Also, I'm a sucker for striped tights!

Old Navy Has Cute Baby Boy Clothes. Literally.

9 Month Update!

Our little E-boy had his 9 month check today!

Here's the new stats:

20 lbs 11 ou (60%)

28 in (50%)

(5 lbs bigger than Maeve and 2 lbs bigger than Amelie at the same age!)

I can't wait until Maeve has her 3 yr visit so we can compare our tiny girl to our big guy! =) Isn't it funny how they can come from the same exact background and be soooo different?!

He's sitting, crawling, standing and even standing up without holding on to anything for short periods of time!

He's babbling and sleeping well (going down around 7:45 and waking up once at 4:30 and then down until 6:45/7).

We love you handsome guy!

What a blessing you are to us!!

Amelie Says,

"I can't wait for Kindergarten to start so that I can take naps there!!"

Cupcake Dinosaur Haiku Por Vous

dark chocolate solves the

weirdness that others leave me

feeling inside of my self

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whipped cream is divine

when it's next to a cupcake

of mine on my plate

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yum yum yum chomp chomp

take a bite and eat it up

gone in my belly

A dozen I made

too bad Mr. Wonderful

doesn't enjoy sweets

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Interested much?

Recipe can be found here.

You won't be sorry!

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((It's Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake in cupcake form with dark chocolate centers and chocolate ganache and whipped cream. Yum. O.))

A Happy Weekend Tale

I can't stress enough how much I *L*oooooveeeee the three day weekends my husband is enjoying this summer! Woot!

Yesterday we enjoyed a visit from our favorites from Amish-land and we had a lovely bbq and enjoyed the kids playing nealry perfectly in the back yard.

It was awesome!

I was too busy enjoying the good company and watching the children that I didn't take any pictures! You'll just have to take my word for it that it was a lovely day!

We miss you J&S and are so glad you and the 2.5 kiddos could come to play! =)

Yesterday was also the closing program at the Vacation Bible School Amelie attended at our church! It was very nice and the babies did well even though it was past their bedtime! I didn't get to participate this year (due to the sacredness of the morning nap) and I really missed it--but next year--we'll be there with bells on!

Today we ran errands and settled on a new countertop color! I'm so excited to see our kitchen come together--what a blessing to have a home that we can do improvement projects on!

This afternoon I had lunch with a lovely lady and her SIL while the husbands watched the littles. Olive Garden = Love!

And now, the rest of the day has nearly flown and I am working on coupon match ups (so exciting. NOT! ha!) for grocery shopping tomorrow. Yep. Boring. Usually though, I really like boring and wish things were boring most of the time =)

And, since this post can't stay picture-less--my two handsome guys!

I never thought I'd say it, but, Ezra's hair is definitely starting to get too long to spike! Ha! Oh well, he's still a cutie pie!

AmeMaeEzr-ing

Maeve was in a strange mood this afternoon and actually asked me to take her pictures! Of course, I had to oblige!

And because Amelie and Ezra were there (and being cute too)....=)

What Day Is It?

These past few days have been exhausting.

Which, when stacked against the past three weeks, (during which we entertained an even more exhausting out of town guest) just add up to tiredness.

Ezra is more mobile than ever before and he's in that stage where you need to watch them like a hawk b/c of the tumbling and the shaky standing and the getting-into-everything-ness.

Amelie has VBS this week and has really been enjoying it (and, I'm sure the fact that she's in love with her table leader has almost nothing to do with it! Ha!).

Maeve hates to miss out on things and is always sooo sad to see Amelie go! Hopefully we can have a special adventure today after Ezra's inconvenient but necessary morning nap.

I'm so thankful that the kids all nap in the afternoon or I'd be in trouble!!

I'm looking forward to having my husband home Friday and hoping we can just relax this weekend!!

My parents were visiting this past weekend and my Mom and I gave the kids a bath. And here's the proof:

Here's my handsome shaky-standy-cruiser Ezra boy!

For the sake of full disclosure, I erased the booger hanging out of his nose with Photoshop.

I also drew shirts on the girls.

You're welcome. =)

Maeve's *I'm scrared of the flash* face!

Happy Wednesday!

Sit, Stand, Crawl, Climb; *Nine* Is Fine

My handsome little guy is getting so big!

He spends his days practicing his sitting, standing, jumping, crawling and cheerio-eating!

Ezra takes a 2 hour morning nap and a 3 hour afternoon nap and spends his nights mostly sleeping from 8-6:30 (waking once or not at all, usually =).

 His favorite foods are green beans and squash and he despises bananas! Ezra is really enjoying learning how to eat Cheerios!

I can't wait for his 9 month appointment to see how big he is!

We love our little handsome guy so much and we're so thankful that God sent him to us!

It's been quite a whirlwind (as it alwasy is) with my parents here!

We accomplished some yard work and ate some delicious food and have just been enjoying each other's company.

Here's a picture of our new puppy, Cosmo that they brought down!

 I guess puppy is a misnomer--Cosmo is an adult Shih Tzu (my favorite kind of dog) and recently belonged to my Aunt who is in the process of moving and he needed a new home. He'll always be small so that's like being a puppy =) Also, there's no need to potty train an adult dog so win.win.!!!

We love him so much already! He's adjusting very well and is very peaceful and sweet!

*Tomorrow*

Our family is expecting a new member tomorrow! Woot!

She Is Not Allowed To Ever Grow Up And Leave Me.

Precious Maevey!

She's our little sunshine girl!

*Nearly 9* Months Of Handsomeness

Seriously?

I opened my email this morning to find this:

Ezra is nine months old! At this age, babies are learning to test their parents and push for what they want. But you'll have to learn to say "no" to that sweet, yet demanding, little face.


1. Ezra is not allowed to turn 9 months old! He's toooooooooo big! Wah!

2. Hahahahhahaha If a parent thinks it's "hard" to say "no" to a 9 month old they sure aren't going to survive 1, 2, or 3 (or 4 or 5 or 5 and 1/2 for that matter!!).

3. Also, the more children you have the easier it is so say no to a sweet, demanding face! Unless you're a Granny than you are exempt from this =)

4. I will not even contemplate Ezra turning 9 months until the 1st. Until then I'm going to block this and the rest of the email from my mind =)

Happy Thursday!