Clare's big surprise

I've already posted about how much Clare loves Barney. It's quite an obsession. She talks to him when she's in her room by herself and when she's allowed to pick a video, its always, always Barney. So when we heard from a friend that Barney Live was coming to Charlotte, how could we resist taking her?!? ;)

We didn't tell Clare about it until the day of event. The biggest reason...I did not want her asking about it 1,000 times a day, and we also thought it would be fun to tell her together. So I woke Clare up from her nap a few weeks ago and told her she was going on a special date with just mommy and daddy. We had a sitter for Elle and we went up to LD's office to meet him. We went to Panera for dinner and told her we were going to see Barney. Her response? She said without much enthusiasm, "oh good, lets see VeggieTales too." She totally did not get it.

When we got there of course there were Barney items for sale everywhere. All growing up my parents took me to see Sesame Street Live and I always got a souvenir to take home. So, much to LD's disapproval I got Clare a wonderful $15 wand with a star on it. Clare also asked for cotton candy and a $5 balloon, but we refrained.

So the show starts and Clare kinda freaks out because its dark and the lights are going and then she says, "oh look its Barney, I need to go say hi" and hops into the asile like she's just going to walk onto stage. Clare did not sing every song (which she knows all the words to), nor did she clap her hands or stand and dance in the asiles like every other 2 and 3 year old. She said as still as a statue for an hour and a half and I don't think she even blinked. Not the response we thought we would get, but she definetely enjoyed the show.

As soon as we left, Clare sighed happily and said "Lets do that again tomorrow!" It's so fun to spoil our kids from time to time and it was a good little surprise date :)

PS, the wand broke before the end of the show, go figure!

2011 Home Makeover

I am so incredibly blessed to be a part of Next Level Church. Two weekends ago we completed our FOURTH home makeover. You think a church does a home makeover and you assume 50 -100 volunteers get together and paint and give them some new furniture, but seriously....this ends up being more like the tv show than people realize! A team of 11 people start in January by selecting the family and plan for the next 4 months! The family selected is sent on a little vacation where all of their meals, activities and lodging are paid for from Thursday til Sunday. While they are gone 300 volunteers seriously tear apart their home and put it all back together! The home was re-roofed, torn down to the beams inside, new floors, new ceilings, new walls, kitchen, appliances, light fixtures, heating and air system, bathroom, carpet, paint, furniture....and even restocking her cupboards and fridge. It's an incredible thing to be a part of and I seriously feel like a kid at Christmas every year the weekend of the event!

Just watching so many volunteers come and give themselves away, working through the night with tents set up in the yard, coming and bringing meals to the volunteers...all so one woman can know that Christ loves her. The thing I love best is that there are no strings attached. The woman selected did not have to fill out an application, nor did she attend our church, nor does she ever have to. The best part....she has been coming every Sunday, not because she has to, but because she experienced selfless love!

My parents came in for the week/end to watch the girls and if they had not been here I would not have been able to be a part of it, so thanks mom and dad! Also, a huge thank you to my husband who allows me to serve and be a part of the things God has called me to, even when it takes away from time with my family. I am blessed beyond measure and so thankful I am able to live life with people who understand that God created us to give love away...selflessly...

Here is the video...it may make you cry :) www.vimeo.com/23441011

Easter 2011

Easter was always a big event at our house growing up...lots of family, food, celebrations, egg hunts, easter baskets...the works! When we moved to Charlotte we always had a ton of family here for Easter and the traditions carried on. The last few years it has not worked out for family to be with us, but our family has grown and we've loved to create and carry on the traditions we have always celebrated! The most exciting part is this is the first year we were able to explain to Clare the true meaning of Easter and what Jesus did for us when He died on the cross. Yes...it will be a few years before she gets it, but I love hearing her sing her little songs that she has learned at Bible Study about Jesus being alive.

We had so much fun Easter morning watching Clare search for the eggs she had decorated. Her and LD had numerous practice hunts during the week to prepare for the big search, so she had gotten pretty good. Then of course she found her Easter basket and ate a LOT of candy at 9am. The girls looked beautiful in their matching dresses all ready for church. I am a bit frugal in the clothing department so its not often the girls have matching outfits just because I won't spend the money on them. But these dresses they will be wearing in our neice Kristyl's wedding this summer...and I LOVE them!

In the evening we went to our dear friends Kimmy and Min's. We are so blessed to have them in our life and consider them part of our family. We celebrated Christmas with them this past year as well and we truly are thankful for their friendship. They recently welcomed a second little boy, Azariah into their home 13 weeks ago, so now Azariah and Elle will be able to grow up together!

Here are some pics of our Easter adventures!

"Singing" six month old

My dear sweet Elle,

It is incredibly hard to believe you are 6 months old! I remember the time going by fast with Clare, but I truly think it got even faster with you! A part of me gets so sad because I feel like you have mastered some great tricks and hit some big milestones without the celebrations you so deserve. You are the sweetest baby I have ever seen, truly. You bring so much joy to anyone who has the honor of spending time with you. My favorite thing ever is to pick you up from the nursery at church or come home after you are with a baby sitter and listen to them gush about how happy, smiley and sweet you are! You have a joy for life that is very contagious!

One of my other favorite things is watching you interact with your sister. My prayer everyday is that you and Clare grow up to be very best friends like your Auntie V and I are. I know there will be days when you don't get along, but the two of you will always have each other to lean on. My prayer is also that you will one day you will give your heart to Jesus. Every night when we say our prayers and I sing "Jesus Loves Elle" to you I pray that the words of the song already begin to shape your heart for Him in the future.

It has been so fun watching you learn to roll both ways and learn that rolling gets you to where you want to go. You've learned that you can participate in dinner time by grabbing the spoon and making a huge mess. You've learned when you squeal really high and really loud everyone laughs and pays attention to you. You've learned how to scoot on your back using your feet, moving you backwards and causing a beautiful bald spot on the back of your head. You've masterfully learned how to sleep through the night 8 out of 10 nights. And thankfully you have also learned how to play sweetly in your crib when you wake up until someone comes to get you.

Thank you so much sweet little girl for being such a blessing to our family! I am so very excited to continue to watch you learn and grow. I am so thankful God has allowed me the privilege of being your mommy and teaching you all about His creation in this beautiful world!

Happy Half Birthday Elle Adair!

New Cousins!

Joseph Wesley Vann :)

Last week was very fun for two exciting reasons!

First: We welcomed our new nephew: Joseph Wesley Vann into the world!! My brother and his beautiful wife Patti welcomed their 4th boy into the world! We are traveling to Michigan in May and are so excited to meet him!!

Second: We met our first great nephew Tyce! LD's neice Kristyl had a sweet little boy who is two months younger than Elle, but you would never know it! He is 2 lbs heavier and is incredibly strong! They were so cute together and Clare loved having her new cousin around for a few days. LD's sister Lynette came with them for her first trip to visit us in NC and it was fun having an extra baby in the house!

Busy Days = time going too fast!!

I really wish I could slow down the days right now. Elle is a little over 5 months and Clare just turned 2 1/2 and I feel like everytime I blink we are one month ahead. We are so over the crazy newborn days and have settled into an awesome schedule. I love my days with the girls and am SO blessed to be home with them!

Right now Elle has gotten really good at rolling from tummy to back and can scoot on her back across the floor. She has sweet high pitched squeals that she loves to practice too. She eats 2 meals of "solids" a day, has dropped her dream feed and sleeps 12 hours a night...unless the teething fairy decides to visit! No teeth yet, but I dont think it will be long before one pops through!

Clare is busy busy busy. Her sweet little mouth never stops, which is quite like I was at this age (or still am LD would say). She has started the "why?" game, has learned the art of procrastination and also the game of negotiation. Every night at dinner she'll ask for ice cream, when I say no, its how about a cookie, and then she widdles her way down to an M&M and by that time I usually give in. She knows very well how to work the system! She is really into shapes right now and her newest one is an octogon, which she learned from the stop signs while we were on walks. She sounds like a little dictionary when she says, "Mom, look there is a stop sign, it is an octogon, it has 8 sides." But when we were watching LD's basketball game and she noticed the clock was shaped like an octogon I was quite impressed. Every now and then when she doesn't recognize a shape she'll say "Look a rexagon" or some other combination. I love love love this age. She makes me laugh all day long!

We have been incredibly busy lately! We were blessed to have LDs sister, Lei, her husband and their 3 kids down for a visit last weekend. Clare just called Kara, Evan, and Cassidy, the cousins when speaking about the entire group, but was extremely fond of Cassidy. It was SO great having older kids here that wanted to play with our girls and love on them. As always, I am so thankful when they have the opportunity to come and visit us. Clare and I took Kara and Cassidy to a little ballet, which was cute, just LONG. Clare made it through the entire 1 hr and 45 min. show, whith just a few breakout songs. At one point it was so quiet and Clare just started singing "Mr. Sun" at the top of her lungs, but we made it through. She also told me numerous times when she gets bigger she would like to be a ballerina. Since we went she has been wearing her red tutu everywhere!

While they were here we also got to eat out lots of times, they made a trip to Monkey Joe's and got to play with Clare's new kite and baseball glove they brought for her. Life is busy, but it really is so fun!! I am praying these next 6 months don't go nearly as fast as the last 6 have!

Our giggly girl

I should make a video of Elle laughing over the last few months because I have so much video of her sweet laugh....but this is cute :)