An Interview with a 3 Year Old

How old are you? 3
What makes you happy? when I do what God says
What is your favorite thing to do? play
What is your favorite thing to eat? yogurt
What is something you don't like to eat? sandwiches
What is your favorite animal? giraffe
What is your favorite Bible story? the baby in the basket
What is your favorite TV show? Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse
What are you really good at? writing my name
What is your favorite movie? Mickey Mouse
What is your favorite color? purple and pink
What is your favorite song? ABC's
Who is your best friend? brother
What do you and mommy do together? play legos
What do you and daddy do together? swing
What do you and Walker do together? hold hands
What is your favorite sport? tennis (I have no idea where this even came from!!!!)
Where is your favorite place to go? to ballet
What is your favorite book? Bible stories and Madeline
What do you want to be when you grow up? teacher




***I saw this idea on Meaghan's blog and had to steal it! Thanks Mea!!!

Swing Me Higher

Nana and Pop came for a visit and they brought a HUGE surprise for Ella Kate!!! For her birthday, they got her a new swing set!!! She watched very patientely as Nana, Pop and her Daddy put it together.

 She was so excited when the assembly was complete and she could finally go and play.

Walker seems to enjoy the swing as well.  You have to love the use of zip ties to rig up the swing for an infant!!!

Thank you so much Nana and Pop for such a wonderful gift that our whole family will enjoy for years! 

We so appreciate it!!! Now if only the temperature was not 102 degrees!!!! YIKES!!! 

Bouncy House Birthday Bash

Today we celebrated Ella Kate's 3rd birthday at Kids Rule.  For several months, Ella Kate has said that she wanted to have her birthday at "the jumpy place" and so, this mama took the easy way out of birthday planning and met her request.  We had a fabulous time with friends, and Ella Kate woke up from her nap asking to go back to play again.

 How is it that my baby girl is going to be 3 on Friday??? She seems so grown up now!!

 Of course, we had to take tons of family pictures before the party festivities began.  G and Kay Kay were there.  They were the winners of the favorite present of the day.  One of the gifts they brought Ella Kate was the Dream Lite...you know the "As Seen On TV" thing. Ella Kate LOVES it, and I have to admit, it is pretty cute to see all the designs on the ceiling.

 Aunt Haley was a HUGE help at the party! She helped EK and the other kids up the big steps to the slide and chased EK all over the place.

 Aunt Carolyn was here as well.  Thanks for coming up to celebrate with us!!!!

 I think Papaw is pretty smitten with these two! I can never get him to look at the camera.  He always has his eyes on those great grands!!! Sweet thing!

 Walker was pretty excited to celebrate with Ella Kate today.  He just loves his big sister!!

 Party time!!!!

 The gang found a good spot to take in all the action.

 The boys all had a blast!! I forgot how rough and tough boys are!!!!

Maybe the boys were playing rough because the biggest kid at the party was getting them all stirred up??? Seriously though, J was awesome with the kids and he helped them to have an extra fun time!

 Sweet Kara

 Cake Time!!! So, Ella Kate DID NOT LIKE the birthday song...AT ALL!!! She cried and cried until we just stopped singing all together.  Diva. She did decide to scrape it up to blow out her candles.

 Here are the precious ballet slipper cookies that The Cookie Mama made for Ella Kate.  They were too cute and EK loved them since she is super obsessed with anything ballet.

It was a great day celebrating our sweet and spunky Ella Kate!! Thanks to all who were there and we missed those of you who could not make it!!

Under the Big Top

Last night, Ella Kate went with my parents and Haley to the circus. For weeks, Ella Kate has been so excited about going to see the "Greatest Show on Earth." We are trying to be very intentional about doing special things or just spending special time with Ella Kate since so much time/energy/effort is focused on Walker. This was the perfect opportunity for EK to have some time with the grands and Haley and they had a blast! Haley videoed during the show and made EK a dvd. Precious. Thank you to G, Kay Kay and Haley for giving Ella Kate such a fun night out...and for the overpriced blinky thing that waves around...awesome.

What We've Been Up To...

The kids and I spent last weekend in Madison while J was away on a youth trip.  We had a great time...minus a few tummy troubles for the little guy.  We enjoyed breakfast and then a little visit with Papaw.

My Aunt Ellen was in town too, so we got to catch up with her.  Check out this precious quilt she made for Walker.  It is so cute...and educational!!!

 

 Walker got in a little tummy time on his new quilt.  Ella Kate was so cute trying to teach him his letters.

 Once we got home to Hattiesburg, the Nelsons came for a little visit.  While Mr. David was mowing our yard (A SUPER big thank you for that!!), he saw that our blueberries were ready.  We grabbed some bags and got to work.

 It is a must to snack just a bit while you pick these little treats!

 We were not the only ones interested in the blueberries.  Apparently, a lot of different little creatures were after our harvest.  "Turtley" as EK named him was making his way up from the lake.

Some quail also were hanging out in our yard looking for food.

 There were 12 of these little guys roaming around all afternoon.

 The boys went to see if the fish were biting.  Unfortunately, it was so hot that no one wanted to really wait around to see if they could catch anything.

 Thanks for hanging out with us Nana and Pop!  (And yes...EK is wearing her Minnie Mouse dress that is too small...some things are just not worth the battle these days!!!)

Walker is One Month Old

Happy 1 Month Birthday to my sweet little Walker Man!!! The past month has zipped by so quickly!!! Ella Kate affectionately refers to her baby as "Brother Bear" and we all seem to have adopted that as his little nickname.  He is as sweet as can be and is such an easy (should I even say that? Will it jinx everything?) baby boy.  He loves to look around and take in all of his surroundings and he LOVES to swing on the porch swing.  He very rarely cries and is a great sport to put up with all the "love" Ella Kate gives him.  If he starts to fret, EK will say, "I think he just needs to see his big sister."  Pretty sweet stuff! He is eating about 4 oz every 4-5 hours.  He is doing great at night.  I feed him between 10 and 11 and he will sleep until about 3, then I feed him and he goes right back to sleep and will wake up about 7 or 8 to eat again.  I will take it for sure!!! He is a strong little booger and can hold his head up really well.  I have even caught him rolling over while laying on his stomach on the play mat.  I thought it was just a fluke, but he has done it a handful of times.  To say that this little boy has stolen our hearts would be an understatement.  We are so blessed and thankful to have been given such an incredible gift!!

Walker's Newborn Pictures

We went to Columbus this weekend to have Walker's newborn pictures taken by our precious friend Kelly Hayes. We always have fun just visiting and catching up and the pictures are always amazing!! Thank you Kelly for spending the day with us and for taking such sweet pictures of my babies!!!

                                        
                                         

And here is another one of our "babies."  This is Kelly's beautiful daughter Emily.  I call her one of our babies because she was one of our very first students when J began doing ministry in Columbus.  Em was in the 8th grade when we started there, and she was a part of my small group for several years.  She was in our wedding, and has just been a special friend for a long time! Emily just finished up at State (which makes me feel so very old) and we are so proud of her! We are even more proud of the woman of God that she is.  She is an incredible young woman and I would love nothing more than for my Ella Kate to take after her Emmy!!! We love you Em!