Snow White turns 3!

I seriously cannot believe I have a 3 year old. Or really, that the 3 year old is LUCY. She was just a baby. I think she will forever be about 18 months in my mind....for now atleast :) I wish I could freeze time. I know everyone says it goes by too fast, but that's because it does. I was talking to someone the other day who has 3 teenagers and he said, "I would give anything to have a 3 year old in the house again!" My first thought was, "Seriously? Because you can borrow mine whenever you want...." But I am learning to soak up these moments of messes, tantrums, tears, laughter, princesses, scrapes, and stories. But that's for another post :) One I have been trying to write for a long time. Anyway.....BACK to the birthday girl!!

Sweet Lucy Laine had a fabulous birthday. We celebrated all week long with friends and family. We kept it very simple this year, but it was perfection. We had a few special lunch dates and play dates this week, along with a trip to Jump To It with her closest buddies. Then Sunday night, her actual birthday, family came over for a simple cake and ice cream celebration. Mark's mom got her a Snow White outfit for her birthday that she insisted on wearing for her party :)

Grandma and the girls. Annie missed most of the party since she was sleeping :)

I wish words could explain the nature and personality of Lucy. She is beyond compare. I mean that with all my heart. But I will try to capture in this post what she is to me and so many others.


She is SPIRITED.


She gets excited about the simplicities in life and goes at it with all her heart. Everything is full of energy and excitement. Baking cookies with mommy, throwing the ball to Heidi, going on a family walk, a surprise lunch trip to Chick Fil A. She fills these moments with laughter and life.


She is CLEVER.




She overwhelms me on a daily basis with her intellect and wit. I can recount many times Mark and I looking at each other with eyebrows raised in amazement at something Lucy picked up on or said.

She is inventive. She likes to learn by trial and error. To find the best way of doing something.


She is BOLD.


She is daring in what she says and does. She challenges. She surprises.


She tests boundaries and limits. Good ones and bad ones :) She doesn't accept one word answers. She pushes to find out more and do more.



She is INFECTIOUS.


She is loved by everyone that meets her. She can change the mood in a room in seconds. She senses what people need and when. A touch or a hug can transform your day. She is affectionate and loving with her baby sister.




She is beautiful and charming. She is gracious and forgiving. She is everything I could have ever hoped for. She has changed our family and our lives forever.

Happy Birthday Beautiful Lucy! You are truly one of a kind.

Holding her toy like a big girl!







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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 :)

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.

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!

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!

Happy 4th!

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