Flower Girls

In November Peter's cousin, Nicole, asked if the girls would like to be Flower Girls in her wedding in April. Of course we said yes and the girls are really excited about it. Nicole picked out the dresses and we got them ordered for the wedding. The place that we got the dresses had really pretty flower crowns that went with them but they were $16 a piece so I decided to make my own instead. I went to Michael's (I love Michael's) and picked out a few things, with the help of my friend Stephanie, to see what I could come up with. Peter helped me make a ring out of some of the wires and from there I just added things to make it look pretty. Stephanie had a great idea to add a tail to the back with some of the left over ribbon and then I got some more white ribbon and beads to give it a little bit of an accent. I think they came out really great and I am excited to see how they go with the dresses (still on order). Also this way, I can add some ribbon and color to the girls socks and shoes when we get those picked out so everything will go together perfectly.

Toothless

Today Bresa lost her very first tooth! She came home from school one day all excited because she had a wiggly tooth. Pretty soon she had two wiggly teeth and then three. The first tooth was getting looser and looser and I tried to tell her to pull it out but she wanted nothing to do with that. I gave her whole apples to eat and told her to use her front teeth but she did what she could to use her side teeth instead. Yesterday she was wiggling it and it was so loose I thought it would fall off in her hand but she still wouldn't pull on it. Today when Peter picked her up from school she called me and told me how her tooth fell out during lunch. She went to the nurses office and they gave her a little "tooth saver" treasure chest to keep it safe so she could bring it home. She showed it to everyone who came by and then made sure to put it safely under her pillow for the tooth fairy to come retrieve it and leave her a surprise.

Big Sister

Abbi is such a great big sister. She always bring Javan her toys (even her favorite ones) and covers him with her blankets. She sits next to him in his bouncer and reads stories to him. When he cries she gets his pacifier (the plug) and gives it to him. Javan is so lucky to have her.

Lucy wants to be the baby

Lucy must be reverting to her kitten days because it seems anything to do with the baby she wants a part of. We have a bassinet that we use in the bedroom and Lucy likes to sleep on the bottom shelf of it. She has attempted to get in the pack'n play a couple times (that I have seen) but I scare her away. Here in the picture Lucy is sleeping in Javan's Boppy. She seems to like his things but she doesn't really get too close to him.

Outdoors

After church today we decided to have a little fun outside. I had some plants that needed to be put in the ground and the girls drew with chalk, blew bubbles, exercised, picked flowers, and helped me. Javan hung out with us too and just watched from his comfy seat. I still have a ton of work to get my garden where I want it to be but the bit of color that I added today seemed to help it look not as desolate.

Everybody Loves a Bubble Bath

Javan loves to have baths. He just sits in the water and makes his silly faces. I wash him all up with his yummy smelling baby bath and he lets me do whatever I want without fussing. I usually wash him in the sink but on occasion I will wash him in the tub. Don't worry, you can't tell but I am holding Javan with both of my arms under the water. When bath time is over Javan always cries. I try and bundle him up in his blanket as quickly as possible but it seems it is never quite fast enough for him.

*A very Happy Birthday to a wonderful 3 year old!! Happy Day to you Tyler, we miss you and wish we could celebrate your special day with you!!*

Miss Abbi

Abbi loves to be a big helper and sometimes that means feeding the fish in the pond outside. What a big girl she is, sometimes I forget that she is only 3 years old.

Javan's First Taste of Guitar

This is a guitar that Peter assembled for a guy who wanted to be able to play his double neck guitar and his bass without having to switch out his gear. Before the guy came to pick it up Peter took some shots including this one of Javan rocking out.

Tell Me About It

He stuck around

In August of 2007 I told everyone about a frog that had adopted us and lived in our pond, and I posted this picture of him. When the winter came the frog seemed to disappear and I figured he found somewhere warmer. Last year when I would come outside I would hear a plop and splash in the pond but by the time I looked there was nothing to see. I assumed it was a frog that got spooked and dove to the bottom to escape. Today I cleaned out the pond really well and even took the liner up so that I could scrub it out. When the liner was lifted I was surprised to see this same frog underneath the plastic. He is still alive and seems to be doing well because he has gotten a bit bigger. I guess he likes it here and under the plastic is warm enough for him during the colder months. A neighborhood dog killed all our lily pads last year so I will have to get more for the summer so this frog has somewhere to rest.

Baths are so tiring

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Javan's first holiday. As you can see, he is thoroughly enjoying it.

Made from the Heart

Piece of cake!

Volusia County Farmers Market

I have heard lots of good things about the VCFM that is open every Wednesday morning. Normally I have to work though so I have never been able to go up there (Deland). Since I am still on maternity leave I decided to check it out today. I put Javan in the sling so that I had my hands free and Abbi and I walked along the majority of the rows looking for good deals on produce. Abbi decided she wanted some strawberries so we picked some up and also got some broccoli and a nice pineapple. The prices were pretty good but the traffic was awful and I think unless you need a lot of produce you are probably better off just getting it at the store. We had a good time though and the weather was beautiful. Javan slept the for the whole walk, it was good to go out and do something different for a change.

Sweet Dreams

Javan's Noises

Here is a slightly longer video of Javan and some of the cute noises he makes. He is starting to stay awake longer and longer each day. Thankfully he does this during the daytime and not so much at night.

Our little golfer

This video is from Peter's birthday. I forgot that I had taken it. Here Abbi is showing her skills on the 18th hole. She is sad in the end because she doesn't get her ball back

Make New Friends

Turns out I had to go back to the station to pick up my W2 so I made sure that Radley knew I was coming so she could meet Javan this time around. I didn't even get to her office before she came out in the hall because she knew I was there. Javan got to hang out with Radley and Abbi had a good time with her too. We just hung out and talked for a while before I went over to see my mom. It was so good to see you Radley, so glad you finally got to meet Javan too! Don't worry I will be back to work before you know it.
Later at my mom's house Janell came over with Charlotte. Charlotte is exactly one week older than Javan, making her 4 weeks today and Javan three weeks today. It was my first time meeting the little princess and she just fell right to sleep in my arms. We tried to get a good picture of the new cousins, Javan and Charlotte, together but it's hard enough to get one baby to cooperate, let alone two. They did pretty well but I had to run off back home to meet some friends so I didn't get to visit too long. They sure are cute though!

Dress to Impress

Today I took Javan to work to meet all my coworkers. He wasn't too excited about it since he was hungry most of the time. Everybody just loved him though and said how cute he was. It was good for me to see everyone again but of the two people I really wanted to be there only one was. Radley took off to go to the Sheriff's Office at same time I came to show Javan off. She missed out but hopefully she will get to meet Javan soon.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

On a lighter side, today was Peter's birthday. I was happy to hear that he was taking the day off of work and spending the day with me and the girls (and Javan). Bresa had to go to school (her 100th day today) but the rest of us went to Winter Park to have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with Peter's dad. Once we left there we picked up Bresa and went to a miniature golf place near our house. This place is literally 100 yards from our neighborhood and though Peter has wanted to go there since our house started being built 6 years ago, we had never made it over there. Finally today we went and it was the girls first time ever miniature golfing. They had a blast and were really sad when they didn't get the ball back at the 18th hole. Peter had worship team practice tonight for the church service on Sunday so I picked up his favorite, Papa Johns Pizza. We didn't do all too much today but it was nice to just spend time with each other.

Good Bye Grandpa

This morning my Grandfather passed away very unexpectedly. My mom called me this afternoon with the news. I still can't believe that he is gone. I just talked to him this past week and sent him a "real picture" of Javan as he had requested through the mail. He was always sending me silly emails and he knew how I liked to hear about all the wildlife that he gets in his yard, particularly the bears that take down his bird feeders. He lived up in New York so I didn't get to see him too often. This picture was taken when Bresa was just a couple months old and my mom and I went up to see him in 2003. I find it really hard to believe that I will never get to see him again. He did live a long and full life of 87 years so I can't say that it was cut short, even still this news came at quite a shock to all of us. Grandpa will be very missed.

Go Steelers!

I don't think I have ever watched a football game on TV all the way through but there is a first time for everything. Since it was Superbowl Sunday we had a little party with some of the Life Group people with yummy foods and of course a big screen TV. Peter and I had brought along some games too since last year we had a party but after watching the national anthem we all went outside to play a game all night. Turns out we didn't need the games we brought because we actually sat and watched the entire game, and what a good game it was. We really had no preference who won but some of our friends didn't feel the same way. By the end of the night we were pretty beat and ready to get home to go to bed. As you can see some of us didn't make it all the way. Thanks Jared for taking our first family photo!!