Happy Halloween!

Well, we had a few last minute changes to our Halloween costumes. We were all set to be the Princess and the Pea, but the night before Papaw saw a beautiful Snow White dress at Toys R' Us that Maelie had been seen in the movie brochure and loved. Being quite the sucker, he bought it for her. She LOVED it and wanted to wear it trick or treating, and I could not say no. We bought some black hair spray and came up with a coordinating outfit for Lorelai, and I have to say I think I like the new costumes even better than the originals. We trick or treated with the Bankes and most of the Burchfields (poor Micah had surgery the day before :( and Katie stayed with him) and had a blast in Diamond Loch.

First time in the new dress - loving it!

Lorelai's spur of the moment costume change - the cutest dwart :)

Getting ready to hit the road!
(Not sure where Maelie learned that phrase, but she kept saying it)

The Babies

The Big Girls

Maelie kept saying "This is awesome!"

Lorelai riding in style. She looks a little scared in this for some reason, but she really loved the view from the bjorn

Riding in style.

We finished off the evening at Carol's house where Grammy and Papaw were waiting to see the girls. Carol and her Wayne popped fresh popcorn and the girls got to decompress a little. It was a great night!

One last look at our raven-haired beauty! She loved it while it was costume time but was pretty ready to wash it out and get her yellow hair back!

Seven Months and PP Rounds Two and Three

Here's our sweet girl at seven months! Still such a laid back joy. She loves her new food - apples with cherries and sweet potatoes are her favorite and she really loves her cereal. She loves her bath even more now that she can sit up more. She is also rocking on her hands and knees so we are enjoying the sitting up but not mobile days while they last.

PUMPKIN PATCH - ROUND 2

Flower Mound with Grammy, Papaw and Grandma Dane

PUMPKIN PATCH - ROUND THREE

Hall's with the Beceras

funny for the day

Today I was telling Maelie how proud I am of her. She had a really hard morning but turned it around and has had a great day so far. I told her "I am so proud of you, it takes a really big girl to have a bad morning and decide to be sweet and have a good day."

Her response: "Aw, shucks!"

Pumpkin Patch...Round One

I LOVE the pumpkin patch, so we always go several different times each year. Our first one is always with the Bankes' at Hall's. I think this one is my favorite because it is so small, yet never that crowded. It was really not crowded tonight...we got rained out! Here are a few pictures we got before the rain came.

The Family

Sweet Pea

This is pretty much what Lorelai thought about the Pumpkin Patch! I think her teeth are bothering her. She was cranky all day, which isn't like her at all.

I think the Tylenol finally kicked in here

Sisters

It was hard to get a lot of good pictures of Maelie - she and Elizabeth ran and played the whole time. I caught this one in the hay maze.

Taking refuge from the rain

Here we are at 6 months!

The Bible tells us that children are a reward from God, and I will definitely need Him to explain to me when I get there why I got this little miracle and huge blessing in my life because I know I don't deserve her. This has been six months of blessing upon blessing as we get to know and love our sweet Lorelai.

Just sittin' pretty!

She is so silly! She laughs and smiles so much I can't believe her cheeks don't get tired.


She's getting very wiggly. She wants to crawl so badly and jumps all the time. She wears poor Grandma Dane's arms out wanting her to hold her up so she can jump!

She's pretty laid back all in all, though.

We got the okay to try cereal and start introducing foods...

...but she wasn't exactly sure what do to with that stuff that I put in her mouth. She sat there with her tongue out for quite awhile.

Other news at 6 months:

she doesn't crawl yet, but still manages to get around by rolling and skooching everywhere

17 lbs. 12 oz.

95% in weight

90% in height

50% in head - just a little peanut head!

she loves trying to sit up, but isn't quite on her own yet

she sleeps 8-10 hours at night

she loves watching sister, her Mommy and Daddy, that lovey, anything that lets her jump, people in general, Mickey Mouse, anything that crinkles

She has one more EEG on October 7th, and then we should be all clear and healthy!

It has been such a great six months and I love her more everyday.

First Day!

We had such a great first day of school! Maelie was amazing - she just gave Kyle and me big hugs and then marched right in. This is a feat for her! Her teachers said she had a great day and she was even sweet to everyone in the office after class. She told me that now that she's "free (three)" she's not going to cry to go to class anymore. I hope that lasts :)

The girls with Mommy

This reminds me of what a great job I have - I got to go to school, too and everyone had a great day. I loved getting to check on them during the day and having their PRECIOUS teachers as friends. Maelie's teachers are Ms. Patty and Ms. Christi and we are so thankful for them. They are two very precious ladies who are amazing teachers and whose love for the Lord is very evident in the work they do.

Daddy and his girls!
He is the best Daddy I could have ever dreamt of for my girls! He went into work late so that I could head straight to work and get things ready. He picked up the girls and brought them to school so that their day and mine would be a little smoother.


Lorelai's first day of school ever!
She, of course, had a great day. Her teacher is Ms. Brandi who we love - she has such a gift for loving on the littlest babies.

She was right at home!

Just a Few of the Reasons I Think I'm Blessed...

Here it is, the face of a "perfectly, normal, healthy, baby!" The doctor also said that she was beautiful, by the way, but we definitely did not need a specialist to tell us that :) She is the sweetest thing I've ever seen. I can't believe I could be more grateful to the Lord for giving me this precious girl, but the past weeks have actually done that. I am ridiculously blessed and even thankful for these past scary weeks for making me realize that even more.

Can you believe I get to see this smile about 1000 times a day?

The girls are way better at waking Daddy up than I am (can't you tell?)

Maelie loves the show "The Cake Boss" and always says "I wish I could decorate a cake like that!" So one day we bought a boxed cake and some icing and I told her she could choose some candy to decorate it with. She chose Nemo snacks. At first I wasn't sure what we would do with that, but it turned out pretty cute! Maelie helped me every step of the way and was so proud of her cake.

Pointing out the sand and the Nemo snacks (I think that may have been one of the two that she actually put on and didn't eat. That was the only time she got distracted :)

Sharing it with a friend!

Speaking of friends, that is another thing that the Lord has reminded me of lately - what great ones I have. People have called, texted, prayed, asked, offered to sit with me at long boring doctor appointments and tests - it's amazing. The thing that's amazing is that none of that is surprising. These women don't do things like that just when things are tough, they are real, true, precious friends all the time. Each one of them brings something to my life to enrich it. They challenge me to be better, encourage me, teach me, show me, inspire me and love me all the time. They make me better in every area of my life and the Lord uses them everyday to remind me of who I am and who I'm meant to be.

And, just to show how Awesome He is, God gave me this treat - one of my lifelong friends is now a coworker. Her office will be at furthest just upstairs and at closest 20 feet away. We have been praying for a long time (since we found out Cam was on his way!) that the Lord would lead Lauren to a place where she felt like she could both work and be a mom to the best of her abilities. And then a job opens up at church that is a perfect place for her to use a variety of her many gifts. The kids will hang out in class together while the Mommies work (and maybe get coffee every now and then ;) It feels like a dream come true!