Wow it's been a long time!

     It has been a long time since I have updated my blog!  I look at it daily because it is set to my home page but that hasn't caused me to update it.   I thought I would try to keep it current again especially now that I am no longer on Facebook.  Things have been very busy in the past two years since Marlee has joined our family!  I decided to start graduate school while pregnant with Marlee and have since graduated.  I took one semester off and played catch up last spring which was a trying year.  I received my degree in Educational Leadership and on December 23rd I took the state test for the principal certification and passed!  I am now officially ready to start the process of finding an assistant principal position.  I am super excited and praying for where God is going to lead.  It is an incredibly competitive field and when I think of that it makes me begin to worry, but I KNOW that God is in charge.   He can and will place me wherever HE will have me and I need to trust in that.
     Lillie is now in fourth grade, where in the world has time gone?  She had an incredible third grade year and Eric and I saw her grow in leaps and bounds.  She had two phenomenal teachers, both of which are two of my dearest friends, and she really worked hard.  This year she is growing more and more and is such a great kid!  She has a very fun personality and one of her best qualities is that she very unique and doesn't conform to what people around her are doing or how the look.  I love that about her!  She has her own fashion sense and doesn't care if it's different than other people.  She has such a great heart and is very inquisitive.  She's becoming quite beautiful, if I do say so myself, and she is a terrific big sister!
     Marlee just turned TWO!  She is so funny and talks all of the time!  She is a neat freak - unlike her sister.  It's very funny!  She also is a mother hen.  She is always telling everyone what they need to do.  Tonight we were having ice cream and she kept telling me that Lillie was making a mess!  She asked for a napkin and gave it to Lillie who had ice cream on her hands.  She is also very attached to me and has been since she was born.  People are always telling us its a stage but she is just my little side kick!  She is still staying with a lady from church every day who has been such a HUGE blessing!  Jane, her babysitter, and Marlee have grown very attached to one another and we are thankful for their relationship.
     My brother and his son, Brycie, moved here a little over a year ago and Brycie and Marlee are only 6 weeks apart.  They attend MDO together and sunday school.  They really love one another!  Brycie gets very excited to see Marlee and will typically run up and give her a big hug.  It's been fun getting to raise the two of them together.
     Its hard to believe another year has come and gone.  My goal in this new upcoming year is that I will live in the moment and do less worrying about the future.  I want to focus on my relationship with God and really be lead where HE is leading.  My prayer is that I will be the example I need to be for my children and the godly wife that Eric needs.  I am so richly blessed with the relationships I have and the precious family God has so richly blessed me with.  May you focus on the many many blessings God has given you in this next year - 2014 here we come!

This Summer...

This summer has been really great!  We didn't take any vacations and we have just been hanging around home, going to camps, and going to the pool.  We love vacations but it has been really nice just to be home.  Being home with both my girls has been the absolute best for me!  Lillie and Marlee think one another is the best thing that has ever happened.  

Marlee just turned 7 months old!  I can not believe it!  She has two teeth, is sitting up on her own, and is just a super happy baby.  In the last day she has learned how to blow through her mouth and makes the funniest little noises.  She isn't "crawling" yet but she gets around.  If you put her on the floor or bed she will roll to whoever she wants to get to or scoot her feet.  She is definitely mobile.  She is fascinated by different textures and loves to be read to.  She loves anything her sister does with her and thinks she is so funny!  WE have spent time looking for someone to watch Marlee for the upcoming school year.  At the end of the last school year our babysitter told us she wasn't going to watch Marlee this next year and it was a huge blow!  I took it very personally and cried for a couple of days.  We have been asking around to try to find someone and it has been an interesting experience.  Eric and I started praying that God would bring just the right person and we think he has!  It's been good for Lillie to see because she has been really worried about it and she asked me one day, "Mom what if you don't find someone good for Marlee?"  I told her that I had been praying about it and believed God would provide.  It's good for her to see her parents living out their faith!  But I still have several more weeks to be home with them and I am loving every minute!

Lillie will be going into the third grade this year.  I can not believe it!  I am a little worried because I think this is going to be a big year for her!  I'm praying she gets just the right set of teachers and that they will love her and see all the wonderful qualities she has.  Lillie is a vibrant, caring, sensitive, smart, funny, and very loving little girl.  I have truly enjoyed seeing her interact with her sister.  That has truly been one of the best aspects of having two, seeing them develop a loving relationship brings me joy like no other!  Lillie has done several camps this year and has had a great time.  She really wanted to go away to camp but Eric and I just weren't ready for that.  We signed her up for a Pine Cove Christian Camp and she had a blast!  Next year we will probably send her to camp but I still think it's going to be incredibly difficult.  It's hard to know when to "let go" with your kids.  She also did VBS at our church which is just phenomenal!  Our church really knows how to minister to the kids and I am always impressed at what a good job they do!  There were over 500 kids this year which was amazing!  Praise God for working in these kids!  

This summer Bryce and his little boy came down as well!  It was really good to get to spend some time alone with them.  The baby is precious and it was good to get to bond with him.  I know my Mom really enjoyed the time they spent staying with her.  

I also knocked out TWO grad. school classes this summer!  It was a five week session.  Although it was a LOT of work it was nice to get it done in five weeks and rejoin my cohort!  I made an A in both classes and am hoping to have my masters by the end of next summer!  

Looking forward to the next few weeks and enjoying my time off as much as possible!  

Lillie and Marlee in their hats!

Love this!  My girls sitting looking at the TV.  This was a split second of stillness!  :)  

Lillie ADORES Marlee!

She fits perfectly in the sink which makes "bath time" so much easier!

Marlee at the pool.  She loves sitting by the fountains.

Spending time with cousins, B.J.

Her usual sweetness!

Lillie getting ready to enjoy the Astro's game and fireworks show!

Uncle Bryce, Lillie and Brycie before heading into the game.  

It was hot and Marlee wanted Lillie's snow cone!  SHE LOVED it!

Our new addition....

(My first paragraph is underlined and blue and I can't get it back to normal so sorry in advance!)

Marlee coming home from the hospital

Lillie's first kiss in the new year.

I have been so bad about keeping up with my blog. I love working on it, it just seems like its not a priority right now. Since I have last posted I have had my baby. I was induced on the 7th of December. The Dr. scheduled for Eric and I to come to the hospital at 5:00 am. We packed Lillie up the night before and sent her to Nannie and Papa's (John and Mary Jo) to spend the night. She REALLY wanted to come to the hospital but I told her it was going to take several hours and as soon as the baby was born I promised I would send someone to pick her up at school. We had it all arranged, Sparkle and Grandpa would come get her the minute the baby was born. She was so excited!

We checked in and they started the Pitocin at 7:00 am and the waiting game began. I ended up getting an epidural at about 12:00 and it was the easiest birth I have EVER had or think any woman every had! I felt very little to NO pain. At about 4:00 pm my Dr. was called, she came in about 5:00 pm, and two pushes later Marlee was born. At 5:06 pm our little Marlee Joyce was born at 7 lbs. 6 oz and 19.75 inches.

It was such an enjoyable experience which is really a weird thing to say. I had the BEST nurse ever who stayed with me all day and was so kind and caring. Her name was Mary. I really need to write the hospital a letter to let them know what an amazing job she did. She made me feel like I was her only patient. (Not sure if I was or not) This pregnancy I was blessed to find a new Dr. Her name is Dr. Marra Francis and we could not have been more happy with her! She is so much fun and such a great doctor. My whole family loved her. She is definitely in the right field because she is so good at what she does. Unfortunately, she has moved and so she won't be my doctor any more which makes me so sad.

Life with Marlee has been so much fun! I LOVE babies and it's been great having one around again. You forget how little they are. Every where we take her people ask us how old she is and we have had several ask us if she was a preemie. She was born with dark brown hair which is so not like anyone in our families. She is incredibly laid back and only cries when she is hungry. She has big blue eyes and is trying really hard to hold her head up. She started doing that at 2 weeks which is incredible to me. She is very attached to me, which I love! Lillie ADORES her sister which I am so happy about. I was very nervous that there was going to be some jealousy and dislike but we haven't experienced any of that. She wants to help give her baths, change her diaper, and pick out her clothes. She also has moved to sit in the middle of the seat in the car so she can be right next to Marlee's car seat. It's going to be very special watching their relationship as they both grow. It melts my heart to see them together.

I am on maternity leave until the beginning of March and it is coming too quick. I am trying to cherish every moment with her because as of Wednesday she will be seven weeks old and it has flown by. Having Lillie seven and a half years ago and trying for five years to have a baby I am much more aware of things with Marlee. I want to take it all in and not push anything. I'm holding her as much as I possibly can, singing to her, getting on the floor with her, anything I can do to just be with her. Our kids grow so quickly and I don't want to miss any part of either of my girls growing up. I am so very blessed to be a Mom of two precious girls and I feel like my life is so complete!

Look here Marlee!

First time at the park with Nannie and Papa, Mommy, Daddy and Lillie.