A little pre Halloween fun!

I LOVE fall!!  And I think I it may be my favorite time of year in our new home.  We are surrounded by trees and its just so pretty this time of year!  And collecting pumpkins for our porch has been fun!

 

 

We decided on Sunday evening to go to Siler Presbyterian, which is just down the street from our house to their Trunk or treat.  I am all about the girls wearing their costumes as much as possible!

So after getting all ready to go

Cinderella

And Belle were ready to collect some candy!!

We met friends there and it worked so great!  Clare had Lelia and Jayden to trunk or treat with,

And Elle had Maddy!  Aren't they so stinkin cute????

They did a great job collecting candy.  Elle was kind of the ring leader because Maddy wasn't so sure and Clare kept saying Elle could just go first.  And of course Elle did not care what anyone else was doing...if candy was involved she was happy to lead the way!

This will definetely be a super fun year to trick or treat with these girls.

And this little church went all out!!  They had bounce houses,

And slides!!!!  We had so much fun and I think Siler may be a stop for us every year on Halloween weekend!

Since we had such a fun and busy weekend, we did not have time to carve a pumpkin.  LD is not the biggest fan of pumpkin carving so he was more than happy to leave this project to mommy.

At first the girls were really timid of getting messy in the pumpkin guts, so we started with spoons.  Just wait - in two years when our little boy has arrived I have no doubt he will show these girls how its done!

But after a little coaxing....

They were ready to get messy!!!

And this was our little pumpkin we ended up with.  Notice the girls in their princess dresses.  Yes, while I was slaving away carving they got super bored and decided the play room looked much more fun!!!

 

Have a great Halloween!!

Elle's Birthday Celebration

Elle has had quite the 2nd birthday celebration!!  Just last month we started her celebrating with a joint birthday party for the girls in Michigan and a trip to the circus!!  Then last weekend LD and I took the girls to Disney on ice for a special treat...and celebrated again!

 

The girls were SO excited about Disney on ice and Clare wanted to wear her very favorite party dresses.  We actually settled on these dresses because Clare really wanted to wear her Belle princess dress, but since we were going to dinner before, LD was not a huge fan.

And Elle looked so cute and ready to see some princesses!!

 

The show was super great and both girls were VERY into it.  Such a fun family night to celebrate a family of girls for another few months.

Elle's actual birthday was Sunday and we did our normal church, lunch and nap routine, and then had a little family celebration!

Elle had her very favorite Dora cupcakes and loved that we sang to her.  She actually asked us to sing to her a number of times.

Elle had already dug into her cupcake in this pic as you can tell by Elle's bright pink lips :)

These girls both love sweets....

A LOT!!!!

Then we opened a few presents and did the one thing Elle requested:

Jumped on our neighbor Mrs. Melanie's trampoline!!!

The girls would live on this thing they love it so much.

And love it even more when daddy's around to jump!! 

 

Elle - you are such a sweet and fun little girl. You never meet a stranger and have a gift of making everyone you see feel incredibly special.  You are afraid of NOTHING (even though sometimes you would show a little fear about things like heights, strangers, bugs, cars, etc).  You keep up very well with your sister and pride yourself in acting bigger than you are. Your daddy and I are so amazed at the physical abilities you already have like walking up and down the stairs by yourself, riding Clare's scooter and jumping. 

 

I absolutely love watching you and your sister play together, even if its mixed together with little fights and bickering.  You love when Clare teaches you and love when she allows you to play in her games.  You have a huge imagination already and are extremely curious.  You keep everyone in our house on their toes, especially when you disappear and we are left scrambling all over while you play your own game of hide and seek. 

 

You bring our family so much joy sweet Elle Adair and I cannot wait to see you become a big sister in the months to come.  You are going to be so good at taking care of your sweet brother.  You posses the perfect personality to play a middle child.  Thank you for allowing your daddy and I to love you and to teach you.  It is a JOY every day. 

I love you sweet 2 year old :)

A broken world

I am blessed - a lot.  I look around at the life LD and I live and am in awe of where God has placed us and all he has entrusted in our care.  We have two beautiful, healthy little girls.  We have a precious little boy on the way.  LD has a job that he enjoys and provides abundance for our family.  I love our new home and truly love our neighborhood.  I love the church we attend and the friends God has placed in our lives.  I am blessed. 

I know that others cannot say the same right now in their life and this pregnancy has caused me to be very aware of the pain of friends around me.  As I carry this healthy little boy that we prayed for I cannot help but think about a sweet friend who lost her baby at 16 weeks in utero for no medical reason.  I think about our dear friends who daily live in heartache for their son who was taken from this world at age 6 - 8 short months ago.  My heart is heavy for a friend who has been unable to have children of her own and waits daily to get a call that a mother has chosen her to adopt their baby.  I wait anxiously with friends who are on an adoption waiting list, waiting for two little children from Ethiopia.

This joy that I have of carrying this sweet child has caused others pain - simply by being.  I know that not one of those friends desires to feel heartache.  Today I read 1 Peter 2:19 "For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering beacause they are conscious of God."  Not one of those individuals would choose the pain they have suffered in order to be commendable.

I live with a small fear, a fear I fight with daily.  In the back of my mind I am always wondering "when will the other shoe drop?"  "when is God going to give me my test of faith?"  I know in my heart that my God does not work like that.  Romans 8:28 says that God works all things together for GOOD for those who love him, and I know that, so why do I fight this fear? 

We live in such a broken world and the heartache is so great.  Today I choose to be thankful for the blessings God has placed in my life, be aware of the pain that surrounds me and be faithful to lift up those in heartache.  I also choose today to trust that my God is good, even though the world is broken, He is faithful.