Friends

This weekend was extra special for me. I finally got to meet McKayla, Rebecca's daughter and got to see Keith Ann and her sweet Rebekah. I have truly missed these girls and was sad that the visit was so brief. Rebecca, my roommate for a semester in college and Keith Ann, a suite mate were both invaluable in my walk with Christ. I know that God put these girls in my life to draw me closer to him. What a blessing they were to me then and continue to be now.

When I was having issues with friends in high school who I lost touch with or drifted away from, my mom told me I would find friends, true friends who I could go years without seeing and be able to pick up right where I left off. It was like that this weekend; the friendship and fellowship was like we hadn't missed a beat. I love these girls and their girls.

The only bittersweet part of the weekend, was that I found myself missing Courtney. Courtney was Keith Ann's roommate/my suite mate and later my roommate the next year and a half. Courtney passed away my first semester of law school and not a day goes by that I don't think about and miss her, but being with these girls made me feel closer to her and made me miss her more at the same time.

Rebecca should have worn heels
McKayla isn't so sure about this.

She is so stinking cute

Sweet girls!

Sweet Rebekah taking care of my crooked bebe! Straighten up there Harper Ann.

Family

This was a full weekend. Friday Jonathan and I celebrated our anniversary with a night in trying to get our newest addition to sleep for more than an hour during the night, and by we I mean me. On Saturday Jonathan and Holt went out to Cowart to plant food plots and ride tractors. Harper Ann and I made our way out to Sumner at lunch for a brief visit with Jonathan's Grandmother's family who came from all over the Country to visit. These are a few shots from the family gathering.

Wake up little bug.
Our First Family Shot

They waited a long time for a girl to spoil

Careful Elizabeth baby fever is contagious

Holt is a big fan of Aunt Ann

Our Marriage is like a fine wine, gets better with age...

It is hard to believe that five years ago today Jonathan and I left our old lives and created a new one together. Our wedding day is still one of the happiest days of my life, topped only by the births of our children. Although I enjoyed the wedding and festivities the best part of the day was creating a new life with my best friend. Five years down the road, I couldn't be happier. In five years we have moved twice, from Cleveland to Oxford and back. We fixed up and painted every room in a 900 sq. foot rental home, started and finished law school (this was definitely a we accomplishment). We made new friends, Jonathan changed jobs. We had a happy, healthy baby boy and watched him grow, then repeated this feat through Gods grace with a beautiful little girl. It hasn't always been easy and goodness knows I have done everything in my power to make it hard for Jonathan to love me, but five years later we love each other more. I guess time flies when you are having fun. Marriage is work, but it is fun work and we love it. So, here's to the past five years and to many many more to come.

The Best Five Years Ever

More from the past five years

Happy Father's Day

Jonathan is my best friend and I have loved him for a long time, but until we had Holt I didn't realize just how much I loved him. Along came Harper Ann and I love him even more. When I get to watch Jonathan playing with Holt or holding Harper Ann I fall even more in love with him. We just want to say Happy Father's Day to such an awesome dad and husband.

We are also thankful for DD, what Holt calls Paul. Here is a picture of DD holding Harper Ann and Holt. We are so blessed to have him to love our family like he does and want to wish him a happy father's day too. We enjoyed an afternoon at Jonathan's parent's house and our first outing as a family of four.

Thanks and More pictures

We are so blessed, obviously because of our sweet children, but also because of our friends and family. My mom was here this week and helped so much just reigning in Holt and helping to get him off to school and keep him entertained, while I was making my recovery. She also washed all our clothes and dishes. We owe her a gigantic THANK YOU!

Jonathan's Grandmother and Mom came by and dropped off some newborn size diapers just in time. I assumed she would come out as big as Holt and we would only use a pack or two of newborn diapers, but she still has a few pounds to go, so all those size 1 diapers will have to wait.

Also, my cousin Catherine, has been, as always invaluable to me. She has been my sounding board and best friend forever and when the emotions started to overwhelm she just listened and comforted. It is awesome to have her just to talk to.

Finally, our Church family and some of Jonathan's co-workers have kept our refrigerator full. Jonathan thinks we should have had another baby sooner because he is eating like a king. Hopefully he won't lose his taste for turkey sandwiches, as when the food dries up they will return as a staple. Just wanted to say thanks for all the help and have an excuse to post some more sweet pictures.

Brotherly Love

Holt is pretty smitten with Harper Ann. When he met her in the hospital he said "she sure is pretty" and he will walk by and just watch her and say pretty girl, or sweet girl. It is very endearing. We are slowly but surely figuring out how to transiton from a 3 to 4 person family. I already love our family time at night, if we expand any more we will need a bigger bed.

Family Time

Holt waiting for her to do something

After bathtime

Finger kisses

Loving on his sister

Our Sweet Blessing

Well, I saw this weekend going a little differently, but God's plans aren't always your own plans. We showed up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Friday morning for the induction. I started pitocin at 6 that morning. 26 Hours later my doctor and I decided that it would be best to go ahead and have a c-section. He was afraid she was going to be too big for me to deliver and I was pretty exhausted at that point. 39 minutes later at 8:39 a.m. we were blessed with a happy and healthy little girl. Harper Ann came into the world weighing in at 8 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 inches long.

We are pretty smitten to say the least and cannot thank God enough for blessing us with her healthy arrival. Holt has met her, but I think was a little overwhelmed by all the people and the hospital thing, that he didn't really grasp what was going on. We are so thankful for all of our friends and family who have been so willing to help out and have been praying for us. We are so thankful for our Church family who has been in prayer for us over the past nine months and has shared in our joy and excitement. Our families have taken care of Holt and loving cousins have decorated our hospital room with flowers. Joey and Lisa came by and brought an awesome diaper cake to the room. I will post more photos later, until then enjoy photos of our newest addition. We are absolutely in love and can't wait for everyone to meet her.

Her Birthday Suit

Waitning in recovery for a room.

Trying to open her eyes

She looks just like an angel

A Birthday!

I am officially 39 weeks pregnant, and my wonderful Doctor has agreed to induce on Friday, June 12th. Since Holt weighed in at 9lbs 7 oz at 39 weeks, the chances are good that she will be a big baby. We have to be there bright and early 5:30 to be exact on Friday morning. As soon as she is here we will let everyone know.

A Nursery ... Finally

Jonathan told me he didn't want me to paint the room pink. I agreed without hesitation, but he never said I couldn't accessorize. We have finally finished Harper Ann's room and Holt has had a great time planting beans and cutting them on the rug in her room. It is much more spacious than his rug, which has been planted too much lately, it needs to lie fallow for a little while.

Yard Work and Mud Island

One of Holt's favorite activities is helping Jonathan in the yard. The other day Holt helped Jonathan till up the back yard to put sod down. It made my day watching Jonathan and Holt out back on a Sunday afternoon with their shirts off pushing that tiller around. Jonathan wouldn't allow any pictures, but you can imagine. For Christmas this year we got Holt a Gator, and that little vehicle has come in pretty handy for yard work. We can load stuff in the back and let Holt drive to the front yard for garbage pick up. I will attach a few pictures of the boys working in the yard. We have come a long way from the days of Holt riding on Jonathan's shoulders to mow the yard.

One other update, without pictures unfortunately, Holt and I went up to visit my mom at the end of May for Holt's end of the year school field trip to the zoo and we ended up riding the monorail over to mud island around letting Holt walk down the Mississippi. He loved getting to play and splash in the river replica and finding the different cities along the way. His favorite part was having me paddle him around the "gulf of Mexico" the pool at the foot of the replica. We were all exhausted, but had an awesome time. I recommend Mud Island to many for a cheap and really fun trip for little and big kids.