Too Hot to Handle

We had a photo shoot today with Ella in her mini skirt...a Christmas present from her Aunt Jodi. I think she felt beautiful! Plus she is rolling over now from back to front so she is happy as a lark.

Meeting of the Minds

We had the 2nd mommies meeting at our house yesterday. There were 6 moms and 6 babies with one on the way. (Our neighbor Lana is due in 5 weeks and is on bedrest so she came over.) The ages range from 3 weeks to 2 yrs. Our playroom is a great place for the kids to hang out. It is getting a little tight but I am thankful for the opportunity to host the group. If it gets too big we can use our den as well. One of the girl's husband said it was a "desperate housewives meeting". There is some truth to that. We all enjoy staying home with our kids but we value adult/female converstation as well. Just so its not simply a hang out time, every other week we are going to study a book. Some of the husbands with flexible schedules are going to watch the kids for an hour or so while we talk. The first one we are reading is Shepherding a Child's Heart. We are excited about the fellowship this will bring to the group.

Streed and Jadyn decided they needed some alone time.

Streed took the opportunity to help Jadyn with her game.

How do you spell hoss? E-L-L-A

19lb 10oz

She's actually 4 oz over what Streed weighed at 1 YEAR! She's officially off the chart on her weight and 97% in her height. Poor thing, she gained 3 lbs last month, not unlike her parents. So, she is joining us in our healthy eating campaign. All hers consists of is adding an extra ounce of water to her bottle.

The Boys

We visited Birmingham this past weekend for our friend Kim's wedding. We were able to stay two nights with Donna and Marc. It was a great time but as usual it ended too quickly. Streedy and Marky enjoyed each others company immensely and were glad to get reacquainted. Julia and Ella met for the first time. My only regret is that we didn't get 1 picture of the big smiley baby girls. They seemed to be always napping at different times. Thanks Donna and Marc for opening your home. Hope to see you soon!

Beep

Jill came to me a few weeks ago with an opportunity to make a few bucks. Sounded good at the time. However, at 1:05am when we were clocking out of Belk inventory, we decided it wasn't such a great idea. Monday night from 9p-12a and last night from 5:45p-1a we were scanning an ungodly amount of merchandise. It wouldn't have been terrible but we were repremanded within the first 2 minutes of scanning the first night because we were talking. Needless to say when they split us into 3 groups last night we were not in the same group. So, from about 6-11 last night we scanned in silence. After I had finished my section I went and found her and we just laughed at our stupidity. We enjoyed dreaming about how we would spend our pennies. The first part of my night I personally scanned the entire towel wall by myself. So, next time you are in a nice department store and see the neatly organized rainbow of towels, think of me...think of me fondly!

No Sudden Movements

I am pretty sure I broke my pinky toe today. No good story, just kicked Streed's iron bed as I was going to re-pacify Ella. It is quite painful. The reason I say it's broken is because I heard it crack. That was probably the worst part of the whole ordeal. There have been moments during the day when I have made sudden movements and I was quickly reminded to keep the toe still at all costs.

We have been moving now for a week. The good thing about moving slowly is we have unpacked the boxes as we have brought them over. Therefore it doesn't feel like we just moved in. Chip and I really love this house so far. It honestly felt like home from the moment we started to set up our room. Streed seems to have adjusted just fine. It is smaller than our other house but has some good features that make it worth it. I just like to refer to it as "cozy". We are set to close tomorrow, Fri, at 1:30pm. So, hopefully tomorrow afternoon we'll have a big fat check and in a few days our "fill in the blank" loans will have a zero balance.

Strep

Yes, I returned from our annual New Year's Conference with strep throat. I think I left for the conference with a sore throat and it became progressively worse over those 5 days. I am not surprised though. This was my 10th conference and I think I have gotten sick there about 7 of those 10 years. It is painful and I feel really sick due to the fever that accompanies it. The worst part is that I am so fearful of the kids getting it. Thankfully school hasn't started yet and Chip can help me. We are starting to move today! You just gotta go as a mom, sick or not!

Merrill's Blog

Please read my friend Merrill's post entitled "What Child is This?". She is a very talented writer. (Her link is to the left.)

Christmas Eve 2006

These go with the previous blog.