Belle's Fish Party

Tonight was Belle's fish and bubbles party. She really likes fish, and she really likes bubbles. I wanted to do a princess Belle party, but Bekah convinced me that Belle REALLY likes fish and bubbles, so we did that instead. I'm glad. It was low key, with just a few families, since many were sick or just unable to come. That was kinda nice for me. Anyway, it was fun to let the kids play- we did have the sprinkler and slip 'n slide, so they had a blast with that. And we got to visit with friends, which we always love.

Belle is SO funny. Every time she's received a gift, she takes her time opening it, peeling every last bit of paper piece by piece (oh the patience!) before she'll even attempt to open it. And any clothing she gets, she immediately holds up to her and then tries to put on by herself. The independence of a two year old is so cute at times. Here are some pictures of Belle's birthday festivities:

The girls at the play place at the mall in Jonesboro, on Belle's birthday. The forecast called for rain, so my mom and I took the girls out to shop and spend the day together in Jonesboro.

Belle, the birthday girl, riding a "turtle". 

Here she is trying on one of her new outfits. It was SO funny!

Bethany, all smiles, during Belle's birthday party.

Bekah with Taylor and Brenna enjoying the water fun.

The slip 'n slide!

Like father, like daughter- Tim and baby Kara- with matching heads!

The birthday cupcakes

Max thoroughly enjoying the birthday cupcakes. :)

Isabelle Joy

Our  little Isabelle Joy turned 2 today. Oh my, and 2 she is... she is so fun. Isabelle means dedicated to God, and that we definitely pray, that her entire life would be about Him. And Joy is fitting for her, as she is such a joyful little girl- very expressive. Her personality is explosive. I wonder where she got that from?!  :)  

We were reminiscing today about her birth and how much joy it brought to our hearts as God brought healing full circle from the pregnancy we miscarried before her. I distinctly remember being in Houston, visiting, back at First Baptist in the worship center where Gary and I were married, holding her as we sang "Blessed be Your Name."  Do I need to tell you I was bawling, my heart full of joy and overwhelmed with God's graciousness to us in bringing healing, revealing Himself, and choosing to bless us with another baby I was holding in my arms?! Oh my! What a gracious God.

So today, our little Isabelle Joy, we want to tell you that we love you. You certainly have been used by God to bring joy to our hearts, and we pray that you'd be a tool to point others to the true source of joy with your expressive personality. We so desire for you to be wholly God's, convinced of who He is. We know that with your personality, once you're convinced, there will be no one who can tell you otherwise. :)  We pray God's mercy that He would turn your little heart to Him, that you'd be convinced of the Truth, and know the joy that is found only in Him.

Happy Birthday, Princess Belle!

I heart credit card rewards

Okay, so we've been wanting to get a new camera for a while now, but it's not exactly in the budget. Well, as I was browsing our credit card reward possibilities, I saw a camera that would work for us. It's not the most elaborate or whatever, but it's decent, and definitely a lot faster than the camera we have now. We saved our credit card rewards and I cashed them in for our new camera- it arrived this past week, and I'm so excited!!! We'll even have it for Belle's birthday party- yeah! (She's the main reason we need a faster one- the 2 year old that is constantly on the go!) Anyway, so today I took a few pics of the girls...

This Past Weekend

So, this past weekend I got adventurous and brave (or went crazy). These past couple of months we've been involved with a house church start here in our area. A few of the men (5 of them) went to Kansas City together to visit another house church to get some info, ask questions, and just get some wisdom from others who are older, more experienced, and reputable. 

Anyway, so since we were home alone with our children, me and two other women whose husbands were gone decided to take a trip. I went back and forth debating, but in the end, decided this may not happen often, and I really didn't want to be a party pooper. So, this prego momma loaded up herself, three girls, and all our gear for a weekend getaway. I'm so glad we did. It was a good time of just hanging out with Robin and Paige and their kids. Robin and I traveled together, and met up with Paige, her mom, sister, and nephew. Here are some pictures of the fun weekend getaway.

The bigger kids in a "boat" at the play place at the mall. After a long drive and lunch, they needed to get out their energy. And, it was great after a lot of shopping too. They did SO well for how much shopping we did. And yes, those are twin girls, Ellie & Allie. Belle was so funny, looking at them back and forth, not so sure. They all had a great time together.

I found a nice hotel-nicer than the guys stayed in!  :)  - and this table was part of the suite. The girls got to color after their baths. They were still all smiles after a long day and being up way past bedtime. 

After hitting the outlet mall in Branson and lunch, we went to the Butterfly Palace. We watched a 3D movie on butterflies, that was kinda funny at times (especially during the explaining of how they recreate, and when in the end, the butterfly was eaten. Robin was telling the butterfly to fly away...)  Bekah was concerned that a ton of butterflies were going to swarm and attack her. It was a bit comical.

You can tell in this group shot that Belle was ready for her nap...and Bekah was nervous of a butterfly touching her, which cracks me up, since she catches them. I think it was the idea of a whole bunch of them at once.

Just a pretty picture of some butterflies. I had no idea how many different kinds of butterflies there are. There were some very pretty ones. It's amazing how our Creator has designed things.

The weekend went pretty well. It was my first attempt at taking the girls out by myself (without Gary or my Mom) for anything other than our normal routine. Other than my frustrating time of trying to put up our pack n play (the new one we're using as Bethany's "bed" for right now, which hadn't been taken down in a while)- thank God for Melissa, who I called to talk me through some ideas. She had set it up at my baby shower, so I thought she'd remember. It ended up being comical- but I DID finally get that thing figured out, after at least 30 minutes of trying. Other than that, the weekend was smooth. And fun. A good time of just being together, and building relationships. I'm looking forward to more times like that. Good stuff.

 

Today

Today, four years ago, we experienced the loss of a precious baby. I was two days shy of being 14 weeks pregnant. It was physically and emotionally painful, but God was so good to us during that time. He is Comforter, and Peace. I remember, on the way to the hospital, realizing that there was music playing (it was the cd we'd had in there) and as I slowly heard the words and what was being sung, I knew God was very present, near, and all would be okay in the end. It was Matt Redmon's "Blessed be Your Name"- Blessed be the Name of the Lord, blessed be Your name. You give and take away, You give and take away, My heart will choose to say, blessed be Your name. 

And now, four years later, we have two more beautiful girls added to our one from then, and another on the way to add to our family. The beautiful full circle thing for us is that Belle's birthday is in two days. She was born two years and two days after that loss. And, as God would have it, Belle was delivered by the same doctor who had been there at the hospital during the miscarriage. The one who performed the d and c two years later delivered our next baby. It was a sweet time of healing for us. And an awesome opportunity to share with him how God used him in that process of healing.

So, Lord, as we girls go out and enjoy the day, I am SO thankful for my sweet babies! Thank you for your nearness, in joy and in pain. Blessed be Your name!

This is what a Rainbow Tea Party looks like

No, we are not celebrating anyone coming out of the closet...just our 6 year old's birthday who REALLY wanted a Rainbow Tea Party, whatever that is! Really, finding stuff like this was impossible, so we made it up ourselves. It definitely stretched our creative thinking, but it worked. 

Birthdays are a big deal in our family. It's the one day that we celebrate God making that individual for His glory by allowing them to pick what to eat, what kind of dessert they want, etc. It's the only day in our family that we allow the kid to "boss." Not that we don't take their ideas into consideration every other day, but just because we're celebrating God making them them, they get to pick everything. (Which is NOT the case any other day!- and also why we don't believe it is going to create a "it's-all-about-me" mentality- cause it's one day, and it's to be looked forward to for EACH member of the family.) So, that is why we worked with the Rainbow Tea Party theme. It definitely wouldn't have been my pick since it's not easy, but it wasn't about me. 

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the party ...it was a good time.

Baby Bethany decked out in Rainbow for the party- she loves all the people.

Belle's cuteness- she enjoyed the food!

Bekah, the birthday girl, all excited!

The Rainbow cake- mmmmmmmm.....

Bekah with Brenna and Taylor

Bekah with Gavin and Aslan

Bethany is so excited about being able to pull up all by herself

Bekah (and prego Mommy) handing out guest's gifts

Belle enjoying her cupcake

Bekah with some of her friends

Six years ago today...

I gave birth to our firstborn daughter, Rebekah Grace. I cannot believe she is 6 years old! She is such a beautiful little girl, inside and out. (Most of the time!)  :)  She is growing. We pray for her to really grow in the grace of God, that He would use her in service for His name. 

It cracks us up, cause we named her Rebekah after Rebekah in the Bible, with the prayer of her being one who serves those around her and goes beyond what is expected...and Grace because God just blessed us with her, and thinking of graceful- that is so NOT the grace she is! She is known to just fall out of nowhere, off her chair, and then pop right back up saying- I'm okay! Or turn around and knock her head into the wall. She is not graceful in that sense, but instead, we've found her to be gracious. Very sensitive and caring. Motherly. She's an incredible big sister. And she is very aware of people who are hurting around her, and often will ask us about them when we're alone in private. She cries with and for people. That is what we want to nurture in her as well.

So today, our sweet Rebekah Grace- We love you. We thank God for you. We pray you will experience the love of Christ as your Savior, surrender to Him as your Lord, and cherish Him as your greatest Treasure- that your life would reflect those truths of who He is by  living a life of grace and truth, and by graciously serving others, hurting with them, loving them, pointing them to Him. Happy Birthday, our little Princess!

For now, we're going to eat lunch at the park with Gammy, Tia, ChiChi, and us girls. Then, we'll have dinner at her favorite chinese place around here. Friday we're having a "Rainbow Tea Party" with family friends. We'll post pics of it later.