Sunday, July 24, 2011

Holding her toy like a big girl!







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Comparison

Lucy at 3 months




Annie at 3 months


Well neither of them are starving that's for sure.....but other than the fat cheeks and double chins, they don't favor as much as I thought they did. Annie is shorter and rounder :)

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Conviction vs. Want.....or Need....or what you THINK you need!

I love when conviction is strong. When you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are SUPPOSED to do something because the Lord is calling you to it. For Mark, it was his job at Delta. For me, it's staying at home to raise our children. Those were very obvious convictions for us, and convictions that we have reaped great reward for obeying. My greatest fear isn't disobeying the Lord's calling, its not hearing His calling clearly....or even at all.

I have been dealing with something lately, and I'm trying to figure out if it's a conviction, or a want, or a need.....or something else completely. And I haven't really wanted to talk about it.

HOMESCHOOLING.

There, I said it. Insert judgment here.

I never thought I would consider homeschooling for even a millisecond. But I had no idea what our world/school systems/society would look like right now, and I had no idea what it would be like to be a mother, and to realize that not only are you responsible for this little person's life, but you are also responsible for their mind, heart, and soul. I had no idea how much I would want to control what is fed to that mind, heart, and soul. I'm not talking about sheltering. I want all of my children to be IN the world, and to be a light for Christ, because that's what we are called to be. In the world, not of it. But can she (Lucy) be in the world and be a light for Christ if, at her very young and impressionable age, she is being taught evolution, to not pray in school, and that science, math, and every other subject for that matter has NOTHING to do with our Awesome, Perfect, Creator? No, I don't believe so.

I'm not trying to push or judge anyone. If your kids are in public school, good for them. I'm sure you spent lots of time and prayer over whether that was the best decision for your family or not. In our time and prayer, we have decided that public school is not an option. Atleast for this year, and in the school district we are in.

For our family, at this time in our lives, our options are either Christian school or Homeschooling. Financially speaking, Christian school is not an option. So that leaves.....uh....homeschooling??

Is the Lord CALLING me and convicting me to home school? I don't think so. If we had all the money in the world, I would put our kids in the best Christian school money can buy, at least I think I would. But we don't. We have zero dollars. So.....am I homeschooling out of obligation? Well, yes, sort of. Or maybe the Lord is calling me to home school and He is using our financial status right now to "force" me into it because I'm probably the most stubborn person on the planet. Or maybe I'm supposed to just home school for a year or two until either conviction or money makes us change our decision. I'm all types of confused.

Let's recap.

1. We don't want our kids in public school yet.

2. We don't have enough money to put them in Christian School.

3. I might become a homeschooling mom??

Fortunately Lucy isn't even 3 yet (though the end of the month is quickly approaching!!!) so I have at least two more years to sort this thing out. In the meantime, I would really appreciate your prayer/wisdom/support as I tackle this thing the Lord is throwing at me. I plan on starting some type of structured schooling at home in the fall, just to test the waters. But again, even if we don't like those waters, it might be what the Lord is calling me to.

Friday, July 8, 2011

3 months

Annie turned 3 months old on July 4th, and since we were so busy with festivities, I'm just now getting around to doing her 3 month picture and post! These monthly posts are probably boring but I like going back and looking at them...its like my digital baby book :)



At 3 months Annie:

- STILL has blue eyes!! I'm not completely convinced they are here to stay.....but we'll see.
- has a red tint to her hair, especially her eyebrows and right behind her ears
- has the biggest, sweetest smile
- has laughed a few times!
- is still on a 3 hour schedule, taking 3 naps a day and a catnap in the evenings
- is sleeping from her 11 pm feeding all the way until 7:30-7:45 am
- does NOT like loud noises or surprises. She lets out a really loud squealing cry.
- has her hands/fist/fingers in her mouth constantly!
- is wearing size 2 diapers, and size 3 month or 3-6 month clothing
- loves her bath now (when I actually remember to give her one....)
- is very social and often "talks" to me while she nurses. Sometimes I have to leave the room because she wants to see and hear what Lucy is doing instead of eating
- hasn't made any huge improvements with her reflux since 2 months, but hasn't gotten any worse either. I've heard 4 months is a big milestone for reflux babies so I'm looking forward to that :)
- is definitely a mama's girl! She likes to have me in her sight. If I've been gone or out of the house, then as soon as I come home she starts fussing. Its like she can smell me!
- LOVES her sister.



Trying to get my hand in her mouth



Her favorite toy



As always, watching her big sister!


We love you Annie, you are such a joy and a sweet, easy baby!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A Peachtree City 4th of July

If you live in the area and have never experienced the 4th of July in Peachtree City, please promise me you'll do it next year :) I absolutely love this city and this holiday. It makes me wish we lived there and had our own golf cart :) But we are very fortunate that Mark's parents let us crash with them and borrow the golf cart and pretend like we are natives to Peachtree City for the weekend. Although I guess Mark actually is....

We started off the day very early (ok, not that early, but early for me....) packing the older kids up and heading to the parade. Mark's parents stayed home so the babies could nap. I'm glad we didn't bring them because it was SO hot and they would have been miserable.


Waiting for the parade to start




Lucy wasn't sure at first, but then started to really get into it. They had so much fun and I'm glad we endured the heat for them.



Sharing their candy :) They are such sweet cousins.



Taking a break from the heat. Or as Lucy likes to say, "I need to take a minute."


After the parade, we went back to the Campbell's house, recuperated from the heat, took some REALLY long naps, and ate some delicious food. Including these.....Meredith's yummy cake pops



After dinner we packed the kiddos up again (this time babies on board) and headed to the golf course to watch the fireworks. We weren't sure the weather was going to hold out, but it ended up working out perfectly. They started the fireworks a little early and we almost made it to the end before the storm rolled in. Fortunately we packed up just in time and made it halfway home before the rain started pouring!


Happy cousins in their matching outfits


Not so happy anymore :) I love that mine and Molly's first reaction was, "take a picture!"
Haha. Poor babies.



Me and my sweet girl


Sisters :)


She looks so old here. I don't know when she got so big.



Believe it or not, this is our first family picture of the four of us! We never got one in the hospital because Lucy was really freaked out there, and since then we just haven't had the time or chance to have someone take one of us! I love it though. Lucy's cheese smile is cracking me up.

Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th!









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone