St. Patrick's Day

Have you ever wondered how some holidays got so far from what their original intent was? Take Memorial Day for instance...this was a day set aside to remember and give appreciation for the sacrifice that tons of men and women have made for this country throughout our history to establish and maintain our freedom. Now it seems like most people don't even care about that, they just want a day off work to party. St. Patrick's Day is another one of those holidays. I bet if you randomly asked 25 people at any parade who St. Patrick was they wouldn't have any idea. Just in case you are wondering...when St. Patrick was a young man he was kidnapped from his family and held as a prisoner for 6 years in Ireland. After he escaped and returned home he was led by God to return to Ireland to spread the good news of God's love. Interesting, huh?



Anyway, Shelby's school had a little parade on St. Patrick's day. Normally she wouldn't be at school on Wednesdays because we go to CBS, but she was so excited about the parade and all her work into making her little hat and vest that I just knew that the right thing to do would be to take her to school that day. After CBS and Moe's JP and I headed down to Shelby's school to watch the parade with the other moms and siblings. It was so cute. Each class filed out of the school. They had music and decorated wagons for some children to ride on. They marched all the way up the street and then came back, stopping occasionally to entertain passersby with a little jig. Thankfully the timing was perfect; just as they made their way back into the school the rain started coming. It was super cute and I am excited about next years!!!

Recently our church has started a new food drive ministry. It is an idea that Pratt and I got from a church that we visited and it is a great idea!! Basically you hand out paper bags to the members and ask them to fill the bags with canned goods and other non-perishables and then return them on a specific Sunday. Everyone leaves their bags at the bumper of their car and it looks really neat to see all those bags. We had a very successful first go at this and are excited to do it again. We ended up with about 86 bags of groceries that we delivered to two local food banks.

Shelby and JP started swim lessons on Saturday. At first neither one of them was excited about getting in the pool and thankfully Neely and Eliza were still there from their swim lesson and they had no problem getting back in the pool with my children to get them used to the water and Mr. Stefan. Each time it was JP's turn he would cry a little bit, but once he was in the water he would smile and really enjoy it. He is such a tease. In the end, they both really enjoyed it and they both put their heads all the way under the water!!! Shelby also swam to the wall all by herself right at the very end. I am so glad that she remembered some of what she learned last year.

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday and we all got to enjoy a special treat of hearing the children's choir sing. Rachel and Babs really do such a wonderful job with these children. In the brief time that they are with them they have time to practice their songs, teach them a Bible story and do a craft with them; oh yeah, and they also have a snack time. Anyway, back to Palm Sunday. It was one of the cutest things ever. All the children walked down the aisle waving palms and then they filed up on the risers and sang their little hearts out. There really isn't anything much sweeter!!! I am so excited to hear them again as they sing at the Easter Sunday service!!!

Birthday Parties and Such

So the weather is trying to warm up and we have had a day here and there of beautiful weather. Let's start our journey back in February. We had a beautiful day one day and at the first opportunity we got we headed to the playground. It was a great day for a picnic and we had a great time. Shelby was super excited that she got to wear short sleeves and a skirt without leggings or tights. She is definitely a warm weather lover and every morning wakes up with one question on her mind...can I wear short sleeves today?
This picture is too cute so I had to throw it in the blog. This is my dear friend Katie and her two daughters with Shelby.


Since Pratt was traveling a lot the first couple of months this year we put any birthday party planning on hold until he got back and wasn't going anywhere again. It pushed the birthday parties back, but the children didn't mind. We had JP's the last week of February on a Thursday afternoon. I was kind of hoping for a warm day so that the children could play outside, but of course, it was cold. Anyway, as we were getting the house ready for the party Shelby decided she was going to make JP a birthday hat. She has got the creative, artsy genes that I certainly don't have and I love it; except when she asks me to draw something for her and then after I try you can plainly tell by the look on her face that I grossly missed the mark. I have tried to tell her that I am not good at drawing and what not, but she still believes that I can do it so I try my hardest for her.



Okay, back to the hat...JP was so proud to wear the hat....


Of course, one of the best things about birthday parties is the cake. JP picked out a Cars cake this year. After seeing that JP got to pick out his own cake Shelby couldn't stop talking about picking out her own cake the next week. I am still finding it hard to believe that little man is 3 already!!!! Happy Birthday little buddy! I hope that you enjoyed your party and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for you this year!

The following weekend, which was the first weekend in March, we finally had Shelby's birthday. I say "finally" because to Shelby this day was long over due and she reminded me daily that it was not acceptable that we didn't have her party closer to her actual birthday. Anyway, it ended up being the perfect day. We took a gamble as the weather has been extremely cold this year and decided to have a party for her at the playground. Praise the Lord, He gave us a beautiful, warm, sunshiny day and everyone had a great time.

You are probably dying to know what kind of cake Shelby picked out...well, much to my surprise when we looked at all the cakes she went for the Care Bears cake. I really thought we were going to end up with this princess castle cake, but she went for the multi-colored Care Bears cake instead. It had all her favorite colors on it...purple, pink, and yellow. We had a great time celebrating this special day with many friends and family. As hard as it is to believe that JP is 3, it is even harder to believe that Shelby is 5!!!! Happy Birthday sweet Shelby! I hope that you had a really fun day at your party and we are so excited to watch you grow and to see what the Lord has in store for you! We know that it is going to be great!

After Shelby's party we took Shelby and JP to Palmetto Bay Marina to see The Spirit of South Carolina. It is a tall ship. What fun it was! I took a moment for Shelby to warm up to the idea of being on the boat; she always approaches things with caution and hesitancy until she deems them safe and fun. Shelby and JP had so much fun walking around the boat and looking at all the ropes and stuff. They were firing 1000 questions a minute about everything and when we were all finished they wanted to walk around the docks to look at the other boats. I particularly enjoyed this adventure because it was a walk down memory lane for me. One of my bestest and dearest friends from childhood and I spent most of our summer days ruling that marina. Her dad lived on a sailboat there and was in yacht sales; so while he worked we would explore and play. Those are some of the best memories I have from growing up on the island!

Along with all the freezing cold weather this winter, it seems that viruses and bacterial infections have been running rampant. It seemed that we were going to make it out relatively easy this year, but at the last push our family got hit. JP had strep throat really bad and about that same time I got some kind of something that put me in bed for the day and shortly after that Pratt got struck with a horrible ear infection. The day we took JP to the doctor to try to figure out what was going on with him was the same day that I was laid up. Pratt captured this picture of JP and me resting.

Shelby's 5 year Well Visit

Shelby had her 5 year well visit last week. I just still can't believe that she is 5!!! It seems so old, but anyway, here are her stats:

Weight: 42 lbs (50-75%)
Height: 43 3/4 in (75%)

She did great! It took a bit for her to warm up to the doctor, but that is the norm for her, always enters situations with caution and hesitancy. Once she did warm up to him it was smooth sailing.

I really love our pediatricians!! All four of them are always so loving, gentle, and kind with Shelby and JP. We are truly blessed to live in a community with such great doctors! Of course, behind every great doctor are great nurses and we love our nurses too:)

At any rate, Shelby is right on track with all of her milestones and growing perfectly. Thank you Lord for our sweet little blessing!

5 years and 1 day

Happy 5th Birthday my love!!! Oh wow! It is so hard to believe the my sweet little girl is now 5!! 5 years old!!! Yesterday was Shelby's birthday and we had such a wonderful day! The day started out with Pratt cooking pancakes for breakfast. My little meat lover really wanted some bacon too. On the way to school we were talking about how exciting it was to be 5 and she told me that she wasn't turning 5 she was turning 11!! I told her to slow down, she would be 11 soon enough, but lets just get through 5 first.

It seems like just yesterday that Pratt and I made our way to the hospital in the middle of the night with excitement and a little bit of nervousness over what the next few hours would hold for us as we welcomed our first child into the world. Little did we know that Shelby would waste no time making an entrance into the world and tried her hardest to come before the doctor was even available to deliver her. The doctor arrived in my room at 6:09am and Shelby was born at 6:14am. I am so thankful that I didn't have hours of pushing, but was definitely shocked at how quickly she came!!!

Here she is!! My big 5 year old. Oh, that just makes me a little sad...she is definitely not a baby any more and really has exited the toddler years and is now officially a little girl!!!

These are some pictures of her from the last four years. My how she has grown!!! I wish that I had a picture of her from the day she was born, but 5 years ago digital cameras weren't that big yet and all I had was a 35mm film camera.

February 2009

February 2008

February 2007

February 2006

May 2005

Over the years my love for that sweet angel has grown and grown!! We love you so much Shelby!!!! You are our precious and special gift from God!

When I get Lost

JP said, "Mom, one day when I get lost, I will be sad."
Mom said, "Really? But you won't get lost."
JP said, "Yes, one day when I get lost and I will be sad."
Mom said, "JP, I don't think you are going to get lost."
JP said, "Yes, I will."

Well, okay then...I really hope he never gets lost, but I could tell that there was no convincing him that he wouldn't get lost.

Drive-thru "Bappertizing"

Yesterday at church we had a baby dedication for little Eli. He was one of the most fun little babies to watch go through the baby dedication. Anyway, the whole thing left quite an impression on Shelby.

After rest time and afternoon snacks I caved in to the children's requests to go outside. We put on our jackets and spent some time wondering around in the empty lots next to our house. One of the coolest things we saw was a huge bald eagle fly through the woods and perch right on a tree next to our house. We watched him for about 10 minutes or so before he flew away...very cool!!! Once we discovered all there was to discover we made our way back out to the street and as we got there Shelby said, "JP, let me bappertize you. Drive around the circle on your bike." So JP drove around the circle on his bike and then pulled up right next to Shelby. She put her hand in my cup for some water, placed her hand on his head and said, "All right, you are bappertized. Now it is my turn." Then Shelby road around the circle on JP's bike and the same process repeated itself for her. I almost fell on the ground laughing. I mean, I don't think have seen anything cuter!! My only disappointment was that I didn't have my camera out for a picture. They took turns "bappertizing" each other for about 20 minutes and then I guess they figured that was an adequate amount of times, plus they started to run low on water.

Bubble Baths and Clean Rooms

Wow! How fast does time fly?!?!? I can't believe that it is already February 2010!! Things here this year have been very busy. We started out the year with our trip to Belize (pictures are coming soon). And we have been running and running ever since. That first week home Pratt traveled, then he was home for a week, then he was gone again, then he was home for two weeks and now he is in Argentina to visit with Suzy and her family. Leading up to this last trip we tried to spend as much time together as we could because of the length of the trip.

What can be more fun than a bubble bath in a jacuzzi tub and a super fun dad who doesn't get all worried about the thought of clean up?? The children love taking bubble bathes with Pratt because he is the laid back one in the marriage. It is so great too because if it were up to me, I am afraid that Shelby and JP would get rather bored and frustrated. Here is their latest bubble bath adventure. They actually did a wonderful job of keeping all the bubbles and water in the tub which they never do when it is just me. Of course with all those bubbles it is kind of hard to really move around and splash too much:)

Like I said in my last post, we are officially done with naps. Instead Shelby and JP have about an hour of "rest time" where they can play in their rooms. I think that JP's sleep habits are finally getting better. It took about a week of him still getting up early, but yesterday he slept until 7:30 and he has been falling asleep much easier at night. On Thursday while we were still in the adjustment period he was initially going wild at "rest time", but all the sudden it was dead silent and this is what Pratt and I found when we went to get him up.....I imagine that the chair was more comfortable than the floor from earlier in the week.....

As I mentioned earlier, Pratt is out of town. I know that it has only been a few days since he left, but I am really trying to keep things fun and busy for the children. Yesterday we made pancakes for breakfast. Shelby and JP were great helpers in the kitchen and got really excited to have their own bowls and get to pick their own color of pancake. I am still trying to get down the technique for cooking pancakes and have to give my self a pat on the back with these ones because of the 12 I cooked, only 4 got burned so bad that I had to throw them away:) Yay Me!

Here are the little cooks stirring in their food coloring...Shelby selected pink and JP went for the green...

JP had his three check up this week. Three years!!!! I just can't believe it. He is doing great...right on track for everything and very much to my surprise, he measured in the 75% for both height (38 and 1/2 in) and weight (34lbs). I really have always felt that he was on the smaller side of average, but maybe that was just my mind trying to hold on to that baby stage for as long as I could.

During rest time yesterday Shelby announced that she was going to clean her room. And, can you believe it, but she actually did; she even made her bed which I really had no idea she knew how to do. It was amazing. Everything was put away and in the right spot. She put her clothes away and made her bed. I can't tell you how proud I was of her!!! Truly amazing!!! The funny thing was that last night when it was bed time she didn't like the idea of unmaking her bed one bit so she slept on top of her made bed. That is one thing I just don't get about her....she absolutely, strongly dislikes covers. She would rather freeze than put a blanket on her. Myself on the other hand, well, I fell like I might fall out of bed if I don't have three layers of covering holding me in.