In Pictures

This summer has been crazy ... and by "crazy, I mean A-STINKIN-MAZING"!!!

Now, honestly, I HAVE been takin my pictures for my Project 365 and storing them on one card. I just have NOT had time to put them neatly into Project 365 posts so you could see them. This last week things finally calmed down and I had a moment to catalog the pictures and get a post ready. So I moved them from card to computer file and then cleared the card out to make room for more.

Except, I didn't actually get them INTO the file before I deleted them off the card.

Y'all that was nearly 2 months of pictures that I somehow managed to make disappear. They are GONE. And I am beyond crushed.

Now, luckily, I had already cataloged some into other files for various occasions.

And THAT, sweet friends, is what I am about to show you now...

My Birthday was in July and my sweet man and my wonderful mommy surprised me by flying her into town for the day!!!

And, by "day", I mean 36 hours. She flew all the way from Arizona to spend 36 hours with ME. So, you KNOW we made those 36 hours count!!!

We saw UP in 3D and we both cried like little babies ... a GREAT movie!


We got pedicures!!

... Hubbs and the girls made a cake for me and they caught the stinkin thing on FIRE with all of those candles!!

Then, the next day we went to church and out to lunch before heading to the airport. Hattie only wanted to play with the gumball machine ...

... Sophie only wanted to figure out why the guy in the corner was sleepin ...

... and my mommy just wanted to spend every minute she could lovin on her girls.

In the end, we all got what we wanted and it was one of the best birthdays EVER!!!

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Then, on August 25, this sweet thing was born - Berlyn Jo

Which made my sweet friend Amanda (AKA SuperModel) a mommy for the 3rd time...

... and her hubby Darcy a daddy again.

And then on August 27 Mr Judah Paul was born! And because SuperModel had had a c-section and was still in the hospital, these two sweet babies ended up right next door to each other!!!

Judah made my sweet girl Belle a big sister and my new hero Erica, a mommy for the second time.

Why, you may ask, is Erica my "new hero"? Well, it is because I was Blessed with the opportunity to witness Mr Judah's birth as the official event photographer. (Click on this link above to see a slide show of some more pics, including a snipit of video of the moment of his birth that I WAS HOLDING THE CAMERA FOR!!!!! - very tasteful, don't freak out!!)

And, can I just tell you that she was AMAZING, so strong and peaceful and beautiful through it all ... well, once the epidural kicked in anyway!!!

I can never, EVER thank these amazing people enough for allowing me the gift of sharing in this miracle.

Aron, Erica, Belle and Judah ... on the day they became a family of FOUR!!!

And, I have to just ask ya ... can you even believe that these two sweet, beautiful women had JUST GIVEN BIRTH?!?!?!?!

Yeah ... me neither!

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Finally, at least for today, we welcomed a couple new members to our own little family!

Meet Kali ...

... and Holly!

Now, in the beginning, it was a big "bug the snot outta the cats extravaganza" ...

... but Daddy quickly stepped in and gave his girls a few lessons on how to love a cat.

And, as you can see, these lessons were a success. The cats are even known to come out of hiding once in a while these days!

Coming up: Sophie turns TWO!!!!!!!

Two Years Old

My Dear, Sweet Sophie Lee - Today you are two years old. As I sit here writing this letter I can hear the sounds of you stirring in your bed, just beginning to awake for the day. In a few minutes you will begin your morning chatter. You will talk to your "Big Bear" for a minute and then you will call out "hi mama, hi daddy" in the hopes that someone will come get you up and love on you. You have these expectations because not a day of your life has gone by where you were not loved.

But, Darling Girl, I need you to know that you were loved well before the time you were born. Your mama Kim loved you too - she loved you enough to know that you needed something she could not give you. She loved you enough to let someone else give you what she could not. And she chose your Daddy and me to be the Blessed ones to be able to love you.

And, two years ago, on the day you were born, she chose me to come into that operating room and hold her hand as you were born. I will never forget hearing your first cries, your first breaths. The wonderful nurses allowed me to hold you and take you to your first mama so she could see your sweet face too. Oh, how she loves you. I pray that you never doubt the love in her heart for you - you have NEVER been unloved. EVER. Not even for a single moment of time!

Sophie, your sweet smile lights my world! Your sweet spirit & personality are the best things about you, but that sweet face can melt my heart in a heartbeat! I love the way that your smile shows on every inch of your being!!

I love your silly sense of humor and adventure - you LOVE life and, already, grab it with both hands and give it all you've got. It is a wild crazy ride just being your mama - and I would not have it any other way!!

When you snuggle into my arms, it's like you were created to fit there ... it just goes to show that our Sweet God knew you would be my girl from the first moment of time. And I am more thankful for that than you will EVER know! You, sweet thing (along with Daddy, sister and brothers), are my heart!!!!

You LOVE your family and being at the center of every family gathering - even when it means having to hold your own in a noodle fight with your cousins ...

... or getting a bucket of water dumped on your head by your big sister. You take it all in stride and just seem to soak in the love. And, golly bob howdy little girl, you sure are loved!!

This year you have learned the art of being a friend. We have had such a blast having our weekly dates with Miss Belle, but my very favorite part of her time with us has been watching you learn to share, get along with and just PLAY with a little buddy. You also love Evy, Lyla, Owen, Brookie, Cassie, Caleb and all your buddies at church. You are a very sweet little pal and it makes my mama's heart happy to see how you have grown!

You love music and LOVE to dance - whether it's the Hula, hip hop, Mamma Mia or the Free Credit Report Dot Com commercials, if there is music playin, YOU are dancing! You even, occasionally dance to your lullaby music. A phenomenon which has led some pretty silly sleeping positions ...

Sweet Girl, you are such a Blessing to your daddy and me. You never cease to amaze us with the way you love, learn and live with everything that you have. You already know your ABC's and can recognize and name most letters (the one's that you are unsure of are always called "two" and that makes me smile.) as well as many of your numbers. You know many different animals and the sounds that they make. You now your body parts and are especially fond of your (and everyone else's!) elbow. You seem to learn something new every day and I LOVE watching you learn and grow.

You LOVE your daddy! There is a dance that you do every single night when he comes home from work. You sing the word "daddy" over and over and bounce and dance for a good five minutes - I know it makes his day! You love when daddy gets down on the floor and pretends to be a puppy - it never fails to make you giggle and smile. Also, daddy will ALWAYS play hide and seek with you girls and THAT is your favorite game. You always know he s gonna jump out at you and you cannot wait to see where and when it will happen. And that is my favorite game to watch y'all play.

You not only LOOK just like your daddy, but you and your daddy love alike too. Big soft hugs, sweet tender touches and a fun sense of humor that melts my heart every time!

And, finally my sweet girl, you will never know what you do to my heart. Loving you has taught me so many new things. I am stronger, wiser and a better person with you in my world. I will never, in a million years, be able to thank your mama Kim for giving me the gift and privilege of being your mommy. It has TRULY rocked my world.

I love you sweet Girl, more and more every day. I thank God for leading Kim to us and for making me your mom. I thank Him for creating such a sweet, adorable, loving, fun, beautiful, AMAZING girl my baby. I pray that I live my life in a way that leads you to Him and teaches you to love Him with all that you are. I KNOW without the love of my Father, I would not love you the way I do. I would not have had the two best years of my life - with you, your sister, your brothers and your Daddy. You five people are the loves of my life!!

And I am the MOST Blessed woman on the face of the earth to get to love on YOU!

Happy Birthday My precious, beautiful girl! I love you more than life!

Forever and ever,

Mommy