an evening walk

Just wanted to show y'all Scarlett's outfit from our Thursday evening walk....

Sitting with Daddy and her "Singamajig" from Aunt KT

She was asleep before we could even make it to our walking spot. We soaked up the nice fall evening... hasn't this weather been gorgeous?

Kiss the Cook

Growing up my mom had an apron that she wore that said "Kiss the Cook" and I always got a kick out of it. I think it is still folded up in the back of her tea-towel drawer... I will have to look for it next time I am in her kitchen.

Since Fall is finally showing up, Scarlett and I made some soup today. This is one of Mitch and I's all time favorites... Tortellini Soup. I think there are several recipes out there, but we have modified ours a bit to fit our liking. It goes very well with warm, crusty, french bread.

This is how I like to make it:

2 Garlic cloves crushed and sauteed in 1 tbsp. olive oil

1/4 C chopped onions

Dash of Basil and Oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

1.5 cartons of Organic Chicken Broth

2 C water

3 Cans of stewed tomatoes (sliced is easiest)

1 C baby carrots, sliced

1 package of frozen chopped spinach

1 Small package of 3-cheese tortellini

(this is one of those soups that is best cooked

all day and then even better the next day!)

This little "cook" definitely meets her daily kiss quota!

Happy cooking... from our kitchen to yours!!!

I'll Fly Away.

Ms. Jacqueline went home to be with Jesus today. I was told she passed peacefully. I am so glad her suffering is over. The lady who called said, "She sure did love your baby... she always talked about that little red-head." Ms. Jacqueline was a red-head herself. What a privilege it was to know her. I can only imagine her face as she entered the pearly gates.

The most important day of the week.

Conviction. Don't you love the way the Holy Spirit gently prompts conviction upon your heart? I do. I once her it described as a gentle dove that just flutters over your spirit giving you that hint of uneasiness that we all have felt. I think we often confuse it with what the world calls our "conscience." Anyhow, I felt that nudging late Saturday night when I picked up a book I have been meaning to start for some time now, A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George. I skipped around a bit (I am not a big time reader, sad to admit). My eyes fell on the bolded quote on page 132 -- "Talk about church with eager anticipation all week long." I thought to myself, "Do I do that?" I often, often think about how I want Scarlett to view the world since most, if not all, of her introduction will be shaped by me. One of my most earnest prayers for her is that she will come to know Jesus, personally, at a young age and be a genuine follower of Him for her entire life. I am sure this is a prayer that many parents have. Just as soon as I started thinking about that, the focus was put back on me for a moment. If I am the one (as well as Mitch of course) who shapes her innocent perspective of the world, I have got to be intentional at all times. So, back to the quote. It was late (1:00 am +) Saturday night and my eyes fell upon these pages that could not have been more applicable to me. I will just share some of what I read instead of just rambling on here...

As important as it is to pray for our children -- for salvation and for Christian mates -- we must not stop with prayer. We must model a life dedicated to the Lord and train our children to follow His ways. Many times a woman starts off well -- she gets married, wants a baby, prays for a baby, has a baby, and goes through a ceremony at church where she dedicates the baby to God. But then something happens -- the baby becomes a reason for missing church....

Now this is not a lecture on rules about going to church, but I will say that attending worship faithfully instills an important habit in our children's lives and something into their hearts that nothing else can give them. Our decision to take our children to church communicates to them --from birth on-- the importance of worship and fellowship in a corporate body (Hebrews 10:25). And this decision reaps untold dividends. For starters, your children will never know an option for Sunday...

But getting there isn't easy. Believe me, I know! However, in most families the wife and mother (that's you and me!) is the key to getting the family to church on Sunday mornings. And what can you and I do to get our family off to church with more pleasure and less hassle? First of all, talk about church with eager anticipation all week long. Let your children see you looking forward to church. (Elizabeth goes on to talk about practical things like preparing clothes, etc. ahead of time...)

I don't know what this text stirs up for you. Maybe I am totally alone in this, but sometimes I do act like Scarlett gives me an excuse to stay home from church. I think, "Oh, she needs to stay at home other wise she will miss her morning nap...or I can't feed her comfortably at church..." Well, this passage really put all that out the window for me. Yes, Scarlett is my precious responsibility and I am to provide her with the most immaculate care possible, but that does not change the fact that I am to be an obedient child of God. Putting aside my worries such as "schedules" and such gives me the freedom to go and worship God corporately on Sunday-- the most important day of the week. Even if it means Scarlett and I sit in the cry room the entire time, we are there and pledging our devotion to a gracious God that we love. What other thing would I rather model for Scarlett? Nothing comes to mind.

I don't know everyone that reads this blog. I have no idea where some of you may be coming from. I don't want to come off as "thumping my Bible" or sounding legalistic (like, you MUST go to church!). But, I do want whoever's eyes that fall upon our life (and this blog because I started it simply as a "log" of our life happenings) to know the love of God. He is CRAZY about you. And I mean in the way Mitch and I are CRAZY about Scarlett. He thinks about you all the time (Psalm 139 tells us that His thoughts about us are like the grains of sand on the earth. wow.) So, wherever you may be today...whatever season of life you are in, whatever level of "relationship" you currently have with the Lord, just know HE love YOU.

I totally just meant to put up this post sharing what the Lord showed me through a couple pages of a book, but I really feel like I just need to be clear with whoever is reading this: God desires a personal relationship with you. For many, that will start by just setting Sunday aside as the most important day of the week and attending a church that teaches the Bible -- God's very true and applicable word.

And here is our little cutie waking up from her Sunday afternoon nap (which was rather long since she missed her morning nap at church!)

I hope you have a great week. It feels like fall is finally here, yippee!

saturday: tea & a visit

Today I got to go to one of my most favorite places with some of my favorite people...

The Green Tree Tea Room with the "Lifegroup" girls

Chelsea (who looks amazing after having baby Pierce just 5 weeks ago!!!), me and Norah

Natalie and Miranda

The food was DELICIOUS! And, the 2010 World Equestrian Games are in town so there was a big buzz down-town. It was such a fun time together. How grateful I am for these friends.

Then... a visit from Ryan.

We went to Homegoods (yeah!) and enjoyed Qdoba at home.

She ended up just spending the night and we stayed up WAY too late talking.

I LOVE my sweet sister. Ryan, what would we do without each other?

the best of friends

I wondered when this day would come... when Scarlett would notice Callie AND Callie would notice Scarlett. They have become acquaintances thus far, but nothing more. They had some really cute moments together today that I just had to chronicle...

(warning, I may get a little out of control with the quantity of pictures below)

Sweetie pie.

Hoping you had a great Thursday. Great news, it is almost the weekend!

This&That

I have been meaning to do a little more in depth update recently, but it keeps getting pushed to the back burner..... So, here it goes:

-Those of you who know about (and have been praying for, thank you!) our sweet neighbor Ms. Jacqueline... She is getting very close to going home to be with Jesus. I went and saw her yesterday. It was heart breaking. (Well, just the trip to the nursing home is quite difficult). She could not open her eyes and just responded very briefly when I was speaking to her. She said she is ready to go though. The Hospice social worker said she thinks she has about a week. I pray it is even shorter for Ms. Jacqueline's sake. She is such a saint. She was still very polite in responding to the nurses while I was there and I told her the Lord is so pleased by her attitude through all of her sickness. I just sat there and talked to her as if she was listening, which I hope she was. It has been such a privilege to get to know her and I look forward to seeing her (with her new body!) in heaven one day.

- Mitch is working hard and seeing lots of patients. He did his oral surgery rotation last week and pulled lots of teeth. He is so much stronger than I am and continues to persevere. You are the best, babe! Although, I am staring at a HUGE pile of Mitch's laundry right now, AH! WHY?!

- Scarlett is cracking us up all the time. Her little personality is so expressive. She is SO ready to start solids, in my opinion. She has always been a big baby and a very motivated eater (which I am thankful for) but I think she is just not as satisfied with milk anymore. She watches us very closely when we are eating. I am SO thankful we have made it (almost) 6 months breastfeeding. We have had a few tough days but ultimately it has been a great experience. Hopefully we can keep going.

- I went and saw my OB (Dr. O'nan, love her!) yesterday because I had been having some pain above my c-section incision. Thankfully, she put me at ease. But, it was so fun and surreal to go back to the office where I spent so much time in anticipation of Scarlett's arrival. I LOVED seeing my favorite nurse, Brooke! We got to catch up which was so nice. Brooke, if you are reading... you are awesome! Thanks for always encouraging me.

- We have recently gotten some new neighbors and needless to say we are not huge fans. Loud music at all hours of the day and night does not make for a good welcome. I am really trying to look on the sunny-side when it comes to them... but there does not seem to be one. ah!

- Scarlett is going to be an owl for halloween... Well, Mitch always says, "We celebrate Harvest, not halloween." Too funny. I totally agree. So, I saw this owl costume from Pottery Barn Kids that is darling... but too expensive. So, my mom is making Scarlett's costume. She always made ours when we were little... she is amazing. We went and got the fabric yesterday and I think it is going to turn out SO cute and for less than half the price. Can't wait!

- Okay, I cannot end this post without showing y'all what I am looking at right now:

This girl... I am in LOVE!!!

- Okay, better run because little missy just filled her drawers, but I just wanted to say thank you for reading. It is so fun to share our life with y'all. Thanks for your sweet comments on my last post, I love that we can be miles and miles and miles away but still know what is going on with each other!

XOXO,

Bouncin'

The perfect Saturday morning activity... Bouncin'

A visit from Lolly and Pop

Mitch's parents came up tonight and we enjoyed dinner and a walk through the garden at the Arboretum....

riding a little horsey!

Look at this darling little baby we found sitting among the flowers.

The apple of her Daddy's eye... Look at the smile on Mitch's face. Priceless.

Tomorrow we begin our weekend to-do's. Our list is not as rigorous as weekends past, but one of my very favorites is on... Sam's Club! Hello delicious soft pretzel.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Working Saturday ... Lazy Sunday

I hope you have had a nice weekend! The CATS won yesterday and the weather has been such a nice change (I actually like thunder storms).

We worked hard yesterday. It is kind of ridiculous because every weekend we end up creating this long to-do list and working our Saturdays away. So, Mitch and I decided no more of that! We are going to TRY to use the weekends to relax, not to play catch-up.

Scarlett is taking a little snooze and Mitch had to go to the lab for a while so I am just browsing the blogs I love to read and trying not to find some project around the house (they are NEVER ENDING, can I get an amen?).

Scarlett wore a darling thing to church this morning that I just had to show y'all... it is a smocked Little Bo Peep outfit (consignment sale super find!):

She has gotten SO good at sitting up on her own....

So focused....

And the paparazzi are here again!

No hands!

Now, if only we could master rolling from back to tummy... I always laugh and say don't get stuck like a turtle Scarlett.

5 Months

Scarlett! Where is the time going? You are already 5 months old. You are so FUN, SWEET, CONTENT and a million other wonderful things!

Here is some info about you right now:

- We think you weigh close to 20 lbs

- You are getting really good at sitting up on your own

- We are waiting for you to roll from your back to your tummy any day now...

- You love for people to talk to you! You eat up any conversation.

- You are on a really good schedule right now. Thank you!

- You get SO excited when I come in to get you out of your crib after nap time... it is seriously one of my favorite times of the day!

- You love to be outside. You are very observant and enjoy looking up at the trees and hearing all the noises going on around you.

- You love to look at your hands. I catch you gazing at them all the time.... you move them around, open and close them and seem to just be fascinated that they are yours!

- You love to take your paci out of your mouth yourself, but have not quite figured out how to get it back in.

- Your Daddy and I are CRAZY about you! We get in bed every night and talk about you (that is after we have taken a little peek at you while you are fast asleep)

- You are a treasure to us and so many others that love you. Happy 5th month sweet girl!

You love to play "ride a little horsey, mousey, elephant, ect" You just laugh and laugh!