Lucy is 2!

My sweet baby girl turned 2 today! I can't believe it. Two years has flown by....and I hear they only go by faster the older they get. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, brilliant, and vibrant daughter. She is such a joy and I am daily in awe that the Lord chose us to be her family.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart"

This verse in Jeremiah means more to us now than I ever thought it could. Lucy is truly a miracle and I thank our Heavenly Father for her every day.

A few things I want to remember about Lucy at this age:

- She knows the entire alphabet already. She can recognize and pronounce every letter. She has to be prompted or reminded on about 4 or 5 of them, but otherwise she knows all her letters. We are just starting to work on colors, and so far everything is either "mink" or "bloo" :)

- She has the most infectious laugh you've ever heard. Ask anyone.

- She gets more excited about new clothes than new toys. A girl after my own heart :)

- She is VERY obedient for her age. I am impressed with how well she obeys. Her downfall is her attitude WHILE obeying. She will obey, but she always lets me know that she is not happy about it.

- She has gotten very good about saying "please" without being prompted. I still have to remind her to say "thank you", "yes ma'am" and "yes sir", but she says them well.

- She is strong willed, independent, but VERY loving and affectionate. She loves to kiss, hug, and be held. Although the days of snuggling are quickly becoming boring to her.

- She is a girl on the move.....as most two year olds are.

- She takes about a 3 hour nap every day, and sleeps about 11 hours at night. We moved her to a toddler bed about 3-4 months ago and I could not have anticipated a smoother transition. She stays in her bed until one of us come in to get her when she wakes up. She often sings or talks herself to sleep at night in her bed. It's the sweetest sound.

- Her hair is getting curlier and curlier.

- She is tall for her age and has already grown out of some 2T clothes...but 3T clothes are still huge.

- She speaks in little mini sentences now, and is a parrot. She will repeat whatever you say.

- She bosses Heidi around, and frequently tells her "no", "hop it" and "place heyee!!"

- She is in a mommy stage right now. But we all know how quickly that can change.

- Mark and I noticed the other day that she no longer calls us "mama" and "dada" but says "mommy" and "daddy" now.

- The girl eats any and everything. She is the best eater. So far the only thing we have found that she said "I no like" to is coleslaw. And to be fair, it wasn't Chick Fil A's coleslaw, so I wouldn't like it either :)

- She has really gotten into imaginative play, and has tea parties with her stuffed animals, calls people on her phone, and talks to and feeds her doll.

- Her attachment object at the moment is a bear my Mimi gave her, which she named "Mama Blue"

- She loves books and loves to "read" them by herself or be read to.

- She still loves Elmo, but actually calls him "Elmo" now instead of "Lala". I really limit the amount of tv she watches, but when she does get to watch it, Sesame Street and Shrek are her constant requests.

Lucy you are such a joy and we are so blessed to be your parents! Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Lucy's Shrek Obsession

If you didn't know by now, Lucy is obsessed with the Shrek movies (AKA "Heck" "He-haw" or "meow"). There's one part of the movie where she sings along with Princess Fiona, and we have been meaning to get it on tape for the longest time. When she first started doing it it was MUCH more expressive and hilarious, but this still gives you the pictures of how into it she is. Notice Fiona's mannerisms on the screen to the right, that's where Lucy is getting all of her cues.

"Do you not know

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and His understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who HOPE IN THE LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40:28-31

I have to constantly correct my self and direct my thoughts on Him for I hope in HIM alone, not children, not my family, not money, not this world...and just when I think I've got it, that I have completely surrendered, a thought enters my mine that is not from Him, and I am humbled again and reminded that I must surrender every moment, every thought, and "take every thought captive" as Paul tells us. We can hope in the things of this world, but we will only be met with disappointment. This world will always hurt and always disappoint. But my God is faithful.

Who or what is your hope in?

It's HOT!!

This summer has flown by. I keep saying, school is starting back soon, summer is almost over! Then Mark reminds me that technically our summer will keep going since we have no school related activities in our family :) Guess that's a good thing for now. Here are a few pictures of us trying to stay cool in this heat.

Every time I try to set the sprinkler up, we end up just playing with the hose instead.

Enjoying one of my favorite parts of summer...watermelon!

And this is the reason we eat the watermelon outside :) Less clean up for mommy.

Lucy and Lil taking a break for a snack in the playroom. They play so well together!

Not much else going on around here....continue to keep Mark in your prayers as he tries to find a job, and pray for surrender and peace for me. I struggle when I see others with what I want...more babies :) I have to continually give it over to the Lord on a daily basis, that He will increase our family in His timing, in His way.

I have written up some things I want to share regarding my miscarriages and my spiritual journey through it. At first I thought I wanted to write a book or start a different blog or website to share it all, and now I'm thinking I may share it here on our family blog. Not sure how I feel about that yet. Starting another blog is definitely a possibility. Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions would be helpful, as I'm not sure how to go about sharing my story. I know the Lord wants to use my story, if only I could figure out a way to get it out! Let me know your ideas!

Celebrating the 4th...on the 3rd

I don't know how other cities did it, but this year Peachtree City had all of their 4th of July events on Saturday, the 3rd. This year we did it all and we had a blast! It made for a really long day and a very tired toddler today, but it was worth it. First thing yesterday morning, Mark, Lucy and I (just our little family :) went to the Peachtree City parade. Here's the crowd view....people love the parade :)

Gotta love Peachtree City and the golf carts. It actually wasn't as packed as I imagined it would be. We took Mark's parents' golf cart and just sat on the back while we waited for the parade to start. Here's Lucy getting a little impatient...

Once the parade started, I thought Lucy would get bored about half way through and start whining. Surprisingly, she stood on the edge of the road the ENTIRE time and waived and pointed and picked up candy to put in her bucket. It was the sweetest thing. I can't believe how much she enjoyed it. I think we just picked up a new 4th of July Campbell family tradition.

We got lots of candy, frisbees, necklaces and rings (Lucy's favorite), coupons, and even some sunscreen :) But whoever handed these babies out was a genius...

After the parade, we went back to the Campbell's house for some swimming, lunch, and a LONG nap. After dinner, we went to the golf course for the fireworks. Lucy was very patriotic.

I LOVED where we sat this year. The kids had plenty of room to run around and play while we waited on the fireworks to start, and it wasn't nearly as crowded as the other places we've gone. We had a blast just playing games, chasing kiddos, talking, and maybe even drinking a little wine :)

I love this girl!

And her daddy too :)

James and Lucy having a conversation about whether to play frisbee or football next

The whole crew. We missed you Jim!

Family pic. Check out that cheese smile and creepy eyes.

Buddies.

And just in case you've never witnessed the phenomenon that is the peachtree city fireworks show....here's our set up and the crowd behind us. And remember, this was definitely the LEAST crowded spot I've ever seen.

Happy 4th of July!