Summer Fun!

A picture worth 1,000,000,000,000 words! I couldn't resist!

He is Faithful!

Well, it's been a few days here so there is much to catch up on! The most important being Paiger Raiger's 1st Birthday! Our baby turned 1 on Saturday and we had a wonderful celebration on Sunday with family & friends. For my record, she has just 2 bottom teeth, gets anywhere she wants to by scooting on her bottom and can pull up if she's very motivated. She loves her big sister and is a little more tenderhearted than Morgan. She just had her one year check up and weighs 20 lbs and 6 ounces. I can't remember her height but she's in the 35% for height and weight. She can wave, blow kisses, shake her head "yes" and "no", feed herself, show you where her nose, ears, eyes and mouth are, and she can blow her nose in a kleenex (sounds a little bizarre but true!)!

Ok, now for the collection of pictures above. These are pictures of some precious friends of mine. After being in Tallahassee the weekend before last I returned to Dothan a little sad and depressed. I was feeling a little sorry for myself and wishing that I had my Tallahassee playgroup & church friends here with me. Thankfully my dear and most precious non-biological sister, LA Hanlon, came to my rescue on Thursday! It was such a treat to just hangout with her like old times. We did some major monogramming, a little sewing, and lots of catching up. (ps- LA, I've completely revamped the sewing room... you wouldn't recognize it. Clean Sweep came through and you'd be so proud!) A big thanks to LA for her visit and a big thanks to Tami for putting her up for the night. One day soon I hope to have a spare bedroom for you!

Speaking of Tami, you will also see my dear and precious walking partner and friend, Tami Stanford pictured above! She also came to my rescue last week. We had kids meals together and had a couple "we feel sorry for ourselves because our friends are elsewhere" moments. Thankfully they were short-lived and we do both feel blessed to be near our families... we can just relate to leaving our "big cities" behind! :) Tami, Neal and Judson joined us for Paiger's 1st birthday on Sunday night!

So, after having a 2 day pity party for myself. The Lord sent some wonderful women to me. You'll see several of us pictured above at a very fun restaurant in Abbeville. I was truly honored to be included and had so much fun and laughed harder than I have in a long time. We went to Amanda's parents lake house for the night and stopped for special birthday dinner on the way up! I think I need to do this once a month. I actually stayed up until 1 am (on purpose-- not the result of a diet coke) and enjoyed getting to know these girls from First Pres better! The Lord knew exactly what I needed and when I needed it and for that I am so grateful! Justin held down the fort and of course Paige slept all night for him!! Why can't she do that when I'm home?

Next you'll see my most precious biological twin sister, Erika. She's sporting a 26 carat diamond on her hand. This was purchased at Party Time (or something like that) for a few dollars but it sure could sparkle. And if Erika only looked like Oprah she might could pull it off. Anyway, the Lord sent her to my rescue too. (I might want to add that none of these people knew I needed to be rescued... I was having a personal "pity party" not a vocalized one!) She's the only person on the planet who would be so thoughtful as to bring the mother a gift for her baby's 1st birthday! She bought me a coffee maker I've been drooling over for months but haven't been able to justify the price tag. So she comes in Saturday evening with a few little toys for Paiger and one big toy for me! Even more important than my new Keurig Coffee Machine, she was here to help us celebrate. Chance had been gone for an entire week and instead of being home when he returned she chose to spend it here in the rental house.... a tremendous sacrifice!! Thank you sister! I love you! And never step foot in Justin's bathroom again... especially not barefoot. I thought you had read on here that he doesn't even go in there barefoot!

The 23rd Psalm is replaying in my mind as I reflect on my week last week. I truly feel restored and I can give myself no credit for that, but only my Heavenly Father, who knows me better than I know myself!

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me besides quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23

Here is a link to both Erika's album and mine...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=b5enhlt.1jh3m3o1&x=1&y=-a6zhqs

I'm Back!

I feel like it has been moons since I've blogged! We had a bad lightening storm the weekend before the 4th and it blew out our modem. The Comcast guy just left so I was anxious to get online, check emails, and of course update the blog!



4th of July: We headed down to the beach for the week of the 4th. It was thrown together last minute. My parents flew in for the week and of course we had to be there. We had a wonderful time visiting with all of my family. When it was time to leave on Friday morning, Morgan cried and cried that she didn't want to leave MommaSis'. She also tearfully explained to Justin and I (who couldn't help but crack smiles) that she didn't like her rental house. So we unpacked her things from the car and let her stay with MommaSis and Chance Friday through Sunday! They had a blast and here are pictures. I do believe they spoiled her rotten and bought her whatever she wanted and fed her whatever she wanted (Mac 'n Cheese for breakfast!?). She came home in a whole new outfit and fully loaded with new toys, books, and coloring books. Despite telling MommaSissy that she was bothering her, I think she had a wonderful weekend! Here are pictures from their weekend together...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=18herk21.2fvsbbuh&x=1&y=-p3mnvu



Our weekend without Morgan: Well, Justin and I thought we'd be in for a real treat and live it up while Morgan was gone... we forgot we still had Paiger Raiger who came down with the crud and a fever on Saturday. We still managed to make it to Tallahassee on Saturday for the day. Morgan was supposed to go to a birthday party and I had a baby shower. I was thrilled to see my dear friends who I haven't seen since we left Tallahassee... here's a picture of them! They threw a precious baby shower and I'm going to steal all the ideas from them. We drove by our old house on Saturday and it was so sad. We were hoping to see our neighbors but they weren't home. We probably could have given them some notice but we don't always operate in a courteous fashion. Anyway, I was sad to see my house. It didn't look the same... well, it kinda looked the same, but not really. All our landscaping that we slaved over was filled with weeds and the grass looked like it really needed to be cut. I wanted to pull in the driveway and look in the backyard and see my girls in the baby pool!! :( Nonetheless, we were delighted to be back in Tallahassee if only for an afternoon. Justin enjoyed lunch with Mitch and Gaye and I loved briefly catching up with Gaye. Tallahassee is such a special place to us and I'm so thankful that it's so close... we plan to be back often!

The Search Continues: We continue to casually look for a house in Dothan. We've yet to find one that will work for us and I'm working on being content here in the "rental house" (as MCS calls it).

Morgan & Swim Lessons: Morgan started swimming lessons yesterday morning at Azalea. She really likes her teacher and bounced, blew bubbles and jumped in from the side. I'm not sure she'll be swimming this summer but we're hopeful for next summer! I sat on the side of the pool and tried not to interject as she explained to Miss Ashley (her instructor) that she "didn't want to put her face in the water". Maybe she'll use kinder words next time. She goes all week and I hope to snap a few pictures of her.

The Raiger: Little Paiger Rager will be 1 on Saturday. It makes me sad. Thankfully she still acts like a baby... doesn't sleep, doesn't walk, and likes to be held and nursed! She's the best birth control a person could ever have! She cries every night and I think Erika and Chance pushed back their baby calendar a few years after our visit. I'm feeling sick now (with the same crud she had). I think not sleeping for 11 months and 3 weeks is starting to take a toll on me. We let her cry last night... you would have though the child was hyperventilating in there. I need the Super Nanny to my rescue! Any advice for those of you who are pros!??? Help please!!