Rylie Three Year Pics

Playing in the water in the old town park.

Yes.  She is sucking the water out of the pine cone.  

Couldn't decide if I liked the black and white one or the colored one better so I put them both on here:) 

Trying to avoid eye contact with me at all cost.

There was an airplane...

Her only real smile.

I have a confession

I have a confession...

...I'm addicted to photography....

...so I went out and bought myself a DSLR camera.

I take way too many pictures and stay up way too late reading blogs...

...and I practice and practice on the only kid that isn't sick of me and my camera already!

Yesterday was a special day

Yesterday was a special day.  Yesterday was May 20th, 2012.  It was the day our dear friends' little boy was supposed to be born.  We were supposed to be celebrating the birth of their son, Zane.  We were supposed to be passing him around, cuddling him in our arms, and praising God for the miracle of new life.  We were supposed to be happy.

But those were only our plans.  And our plans didn't turn out the way we expected.

8 weeks ago, our friends, Kaely and Chad, learned that they had lost their little boy at 32 weeks.  It was devastating.  Days and nights have been filled with tears and sorrow.  Every moment seems to remind them of what should have been.

Yet with all this pain, they don't live in the darkness of sorrow.  They don't live with hopelessness.  They live in the light of truth.  "I will turn their mourning into joy.  I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing." (Jeremiah 31:13)

Chad and Kaely know the goodness of God.  They know the power of God.  They know our Savior, Jesus Christ.  And when they don't feel it, they have still held onto what they know to be true.  They have hope.  Hope of seeing Zane in Heaven one day.  Hope that God will use this time for good and for His Glory.  Hope in the power of the resurrection that has conquered death, even the death of their son.  Hope that it's going to be worth it all.  

So even in the midst of mourning Zane, we can sing these praises to God...

"...He gives and takes away.  My heart will choose to say, 'Lord blessed be Your name'."

...which is exactly what we did yesterday, May 20th, 2012.  A very special day.  God has given us a community to share life with...for times of celebrating, for times of mourning, and for all the other times in between.  What a blessing it is to be united with Christ as we are united with each other.  

Worshipping God in song and prayer.

What a privilege to see Chad and Kaely choose to walk in the light of God's grace.

Just the girls.

It only took 10 pictures to get one with all of them cooperating:)

Beautiful Kaely.

I LOVE that our kids get to be a part of the blessings of community.

Of course we had to play, "Ring around the rosy...

...pocket full of posies; ashes, ashes...

...we all fall down!"

Playing

 We hung out at my brother's house tonight, and after dinner, went across the street to the church parking lot to play.  Here are some pictures of Rylie playing.  She got in on throwing the frisbee with the boys, and then spent A LOT of time riding the little red tricycle around.

Rylie Sings to Bo

One Year

My brother and his family are celebrating the day this little man got a mommy and a daddy. 1 year ago today they got to become the parents of a fun, spunky, joyful, and lovable son.  We are so blessed to get to have him in our family.  Check out their post about it here.

Four months old!

Bo turned 4 months old yesterday!  He has grown completely out of his newborn stage and is approaching the stage of mobility---he started rolling over about a week or so after turning 3 months!  I find myself trying to forever keep every moment of his little life on file in my brain because I don't want to forget any of it.  I know the time seems to fly by with every kid, but for some reason it's REALLY flying by with this one.

So, at 4 months you roll over and somehow maneuver your way around.  I find you off the play mat almost every time I lay you down.

You're almost always happy or at least content.  But when you're not, you are still so darn cute:)

You are playing with the toys that hang down around you.  You haven't figured out how to control your hands and feet very well, but you know that if you can just get your extremities to move, then there's a good chance the toys will move, too!

You smile ALL. THE. TIME.  And, you produced your first giggle two days ago!

You have a normal bed time, usually around the time the girls go to bed.  You usually wake up once a night still, most likely in the 3 o'clock hour.  And when I get to you...you guessed it...you have a smile on your face so big that it makes getting up worth every minute!

You have eczema all over your body, but is mostly concentrated on your chest, face, and arms.  You have to wear socks on your hands to keep from scratching yourself and causing unnecessary inflammation and bleeding.

We discovered the other day that you are allergic to something in the formula you tried for the first time.    Your face and body broke out in welts immediately.

You are still the perfect baby!  We love you so much, and so do your sisters.

The moon, the moon, the big, round moon

Outgrowing the basket

I finally got a picture of my baby in a basket, even though he's too big and his feet are hanging over!  Oh, and he still has to wear socks/mittens on his hands because he will scratch the heck out of himself otherwise!  

Same photo, different setting.

Love this girl

My beautiful Jordan.