Allie's Big Sister Class

This past weekend Allie got to take part in a Big Sister Class. We have been talking about it for awhile and she was super excited about it. The hospital where I am delivering Sam at has an awesome class for the older siblings to take. They teach them how to hold the baby properly, how to feed the baby, how to change the diaper, but most importantly, they teach them about safety. They taught them not to share their toys with the baby until they got older. They explained that the baby can't eat food like we do. They even explained the difference in the baby drinking from a bottle and drinking milk from the mommy.

They let them get all dressed up and then they had them make their new baby a card to give them on their "Birthday"

Learning to feed the baby

Learning to change diapers. Too Funny!

It was so funny to watch how careful she was trying to be. She was being so serious about this Big Sister thing!

I loved that they let them take a tour of the Labor and Delivery rooms. They spent a lot of time explaining what all of the machines do so that they won't be scared when they come to visit their Mommy.

So I have a picture of me in 1985 that looks almost identical to this one. I will try to find it and add it later.

At the end of the class, they had cookies and sang Happy Birthday to their baby brothers/sisters. Here is our big girl on her sugar high! I can't for her to meet Sam.





Beginning Ballerinas Part 1

I have been waiting since Allie was born for the day that she could start taking ballet. I started as a toddler and have so many fun memories doing dance. There is a dance studio close to us that has a wonderful reputation for being Christ-Centered and being a place where the girls truely learn the fundamentals of dance. Allie will be old enough next fall to start taking dance at this studio. In the meantime, they have a 6 week camp that allows the girls to get a taste of dance and see if they enjoy it enough to sign up for classes.  I have been able to take some great pictures and some pretty good video.

 This was Allie's first class. She looked so cute in her tutu! They start the class doing some gymnastics-type skills. Allie's gymnastics training was very short-lived, so she started out a little behind some of the other girls who clearly have been taking gymnastics for a while.

The first class was a little rough but I am so proud of how hard she is working on the things that she couldn't do at first. Here are a few videos from that first class.



The second class went a little better. She was proud of the things that she was getting better at. They started with a reward system know as the "Princess Necklace." Each time they practice a skill, they pick one girl who does the skill the best and lets her wear the Princess Necklace. My Allie is not used to not being the center of the attention. I know that this is a lesson that she needs to learn, but it is hard watching her face anytime that she doesn't get the Princess Necklace.

Here are some videos from the 2nd class:



This video was from the 3rd class. She is now able to do her roll-overs by herself and she is really getting better controling her arms. We still haven't gotten the Princess Necklace and it's starting to hurt her feelings, but I am trying hard to teach her that it is more important that she work hard and have fun. We have really focused on her getting her roll-over and praise her for her hard work.

We have 3 more classes....Hopefully I will be writing soon saying that we got the Princess Necklace!

A New Year and a Renewed Relationship

As 2012 began, I thought long and hard about what I wanted out of this new year. Like most Mom's of toddlers and a soon-to-arrive baby boy, first and foremost, I want a healthy family (an a well-behaved toddler). I don't have enough foresight to make a list of accomplishments or goals because honestly, I just want to be able to continue to shower on a regular basis once Sam gets here. Ha! So I tried to come up with a word or idea about what I wanted 2012 to look like. The word laid heaviest on my heart was "Faithfulness." I want to grow in my faith and constant trust in God as well as become a more faithful servant of His. Part of that journey meant renewing my relationship with God and getting into His word daily, seeking Him hourly, and following Him always, no matter the cost. My personal mission for this year, happened to follow closely with the mission of our church. Funny, how that happens! Our church is at a cross-roads with what direction to pursue next. Our church has been richly blessed by God and seeks to serve Him and obey Him in every decision they make. I love that about the church family that God has given our family. As part of us seeking God's will for our church, we entered into a 21-day Fast. Now, I know what you are probably thinking (because it is what I thought), "A FAST?!" Isn't that sort-of "Old Testament" and maybe a bit "Radical"? Well God quickly convicted me regarding the fast and John and I set out on this journey of discovering who God really is and what He wants for our lives. Now, you know that I am 8 months pregnant, so I obviously can not follow the Daniel Fast to the "T" so John and I decided to give up things that we believed were sources of "Earthly Pleasure." Namely, Fried Foods and Soft Drinks. Oh, how I love my Diet Cokes!

We are now 15 days into the Fast and I have to say that this has been the most eye-opening experience in my Christian life thus far. Guess what?! When you actively seek God, read your Bible daily, and remove earthly pleasures, God reveals Himself over and over again. I have always used the excuse that when I have a problem or are faced with a decision, that I don't know the Bible well enough to find my answer from the scriptures. The biggest thing that I have learned through this process is that God can use ANY passage of scripture to speak directly to your heart about whatever your situation. I am ashamed that I have been a follower since I was 6 and I just grasped this foundational concept.

Before we began the fast, I prayed that God would prepare my heart and my mind to hear what He wanted to say. And Boy! did He ever. The very week before we began the Fast, God brought some areas of my family's life under the microscope of His perfect sight. What we saw was a little hard to swallow. God shook my family up quite a bit, but Praise His Name! He is also bringing us back together, made whole through Him!

I want to take some time to highlight the things that He has taught me thus far. Things I want to remember forever as lessons learned during our time of fasting and seeking His face:

Lessons Learned:

1. God promises, that if we believe in Him because of what He has already done in our lives then "You shall see greater things than that" John 1:50-51. He tells us, just wait, you haven't seen anything yet!

2. This one has been HUGE! In John 2:25 "He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in man." I have been so guilty of being disappointed in everyone else's sins and shortcomings and wanting so badly for justice to be done, that I have forgotten that I am just as guilty and require just as much grace and mercy as they do. God has really convicted me about this flaw.

3. My life, my desires, my motivations, must come from Him. "He must become greater: I must become less" John 3:30. I am learning that if it doesn't glorify God, it isn't worth my time and energy.

4. Jesus came to save us. However, we must also, chose to make better choices and act according to the things He has revealed to us. "See you are well again. Stop sinning of something worse may happen to you" John 5:14. The shake-up that occurred in my family was sort-of painful, however, Praise God, He is mending us now and correcting us now, rather than later when our choices could have caused greater harm.

I am sure that I will have more to say as we come to a close on our fast. If you ever get the opportunity to do something that stretches your comfort zone and focuses you more on God, DO IT! You will not regret it. He will come through each and every time.

Christmas 2011

This Christmas was so much fun! Allie is at such a fun age and really got into all of the fun. She also learned about the reason we celebrate Christmas. She got a nativity scene and was also so excited to explain all of the Bible characters.

Our Christmas celebrations started with Allie's Christmas Party at her Preschool. The kids made boxes and then did a cookie exchange. The party was topped off with a surprise visit from the big man himself!

Allie making her cookie box

Cookies! Yay!

Waiting for her turn with Santa

Scared?! No Way.... This guy brings toys!

I normally go all out when it comes to Christmas decorations. For years I have been shopping After-Christmas sales stocking up for the year that I can have a tree in every room of the house. This year was sort of an "Off-Year." The combination of being pregnant, having to totally switch Allie's bedroom and feeling pressure because Sam's room is no where near close to being done, led to minimal decorating for this momma. So we had the family tree and Allie's tree in her room.....and That's It! Here are some pictures of our pretty girl by the trees.

 Ok, so like I said, we totally switched Allie's bedroom. We decided that the room that I had envisioned for Sam was actually the bigger of the two bedrooms, so that combined with the fact that using the spare room meant we would not have to move the nursery furniture, sold me on moving Allie. Our nursery furniture that we used for Allie is top-of-the-line and makes a beautiful crib. We decided that instead of trying to replace the nursery furniture, we would buy Allie all new furniture for her "Big Girl Room" and have that be her big gift from Santa. I searched and searched for the right bedroom set that would meet our needs for her to have more room to play. I found a bunk bed/dresser combo that was perfect. Well..almost perfect....everything but the price tag was right. I continued my search but just kept coming back to that bunk bed. One day, while searching Craig's List for a used bunk bed, I stumbled upon a man in rural Arkansas that custom builds bunk beds for 1/3 of the prices that I had found on my search. I showed him the bed that I had fallen in love with and he said that he could make it, stain it, deliver it, and put it together in her room for literally 1/3 of the price from the store. So I passed that information along to Santa and this is what Allie came home to one day...

Here is the video from the night Santa surprised her.

 So the deal was, since Santa brought her bunk beds early (because he could not fit the bed in his sleigh) then he left a Elf friend to watch her and report back to him about how she was behaving. So this year, we started the tradition of "Elf on the Shelf." We read Allie the story and let her pick a name for her Elf. She is totally obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake these days so, no surprise to us, she chose "Berry (Barry)" as her Elf's name. We had a lot of fun with Barry this year, however, Allie wanted him to stay in one place which she called the "North Pole." If he moved, she thought that it meant that he had not seen Santa that night.

This was on Christmas Eve when we told her that Barry was going back to the North Pole until next year. She was so sad that he had to go, so we let her give him a hug and a kiss.

This was one of the only nights that Barry got to move. Allie thought it was silly but also let us know that he had to stay in the "North Pole"

We felt so blessed that Allie was healthy and happy and it was fun to celebrate Christmas through her eyes. Here are some more pictures from our Christmas.......

Allie and Daddy looking at lights at the Courthouse. We went to listen to Grant sing and to see all of the Christmas Lights.

She had posed for so many pictures this year, that anytime she saw a Santa, she would say "Mom, take my picture!" Here is Allie with the Santa at Nana's

We have such a fun tradition at John's Mom's. Each year we decorate Christmas Cookies and each year it always turns into a competition. However, there seems to be an underlying rule that no one goes to Nana's and beats her cookies!

Though not our best picture, this was the only picture that we took as a Family of 3. Probably one of the last one's we will take before Sam gets here.

This totally sums up Allie this year at Christmas. I love this Crazy, Smart, Fun-Loving Princess!

Did I mention that we temporarily lost our minds this year and Allie got a Karaoke Machine, Guitar, Keyboard, and Drum Set. Part of her room transformation included a Ginormous Mirror/Stage Area. That will be another post on another day.

One of the Best parts of Christmas this year was being able to celebrate with this sweet boy. I am so thankful that Shaw is so healthy and happy. I can't wait until next year when Shaw and Sam can play together.

This was the picture we sent my cousin Clark and Jessica saying "Thank You" for Allie's Christmas gift from them, but I think this sums up our Christmas. Thumbs Up!