Happy Birthday, Ed and Ellie!

Happy birthday to 2 of my favorite people! Can't believe you're 18 years old! How has time flown so fast? I am so thankful for both of you.

Edward, you and I have had our ups and downs over the years...we've had our share of being mad at each other, fights, and fun times. One minute we'd be best friends and the next arch enemies. Remember the tree house incident? The snowman competition, the ice cream sandwich problem, the bathroom closet. 😂 I laugh thinking about all of those times now! We did have some really good times! I am so thankful for the relationship we have now. You make me laugh a lot and yet we can also have serious heart to heart talks. Every rough patch on our journey has helped us be as close as we are now. 18 is a big birthday! Lots of forks in the road of decisions ahead for you. I pray that you will seek the Lord in all you do. He will give you wisdom! Trust in Him with all your heart, look to His word. In it you'll find the answers. God promises is that when we commit all we do to Him, He will establish our plans. You mean so much to me and I love you more than you'll ever know!

Elisha, (Elsen, Lisha, Elsa, etc.) 😁
You are one of my best friends (but you already knew that!). I can't put into words how grateful I am that almost 8 years ago, a 10 year old curly haired girl came into my life. From day one, I had a good feeling we'd get along pretty well. And we have...for the most part. We've had some bumps in the road, but they were always resolved very quickly (I think just about all of them were my fault!). We've had so many great memories together. Sledding at Dead Man's Hill, planning Rosie's baby shower and inviting over 90 people and sneaking into the basement to "do laundry", but we were really going down to "talk about the baby shower," because it was a surprise. Working at Veggies Galore, delivering eggs, getting bit [almost] by the neighbors dog, babysitting, organizing all things. You always finding anything I had lost (I miss that!!!). Going to Parable, rear ending that lady on the way home (not such a great memory), camping, you coming with me to all my pet sitting jobs. I never paid you enough for that! I could go on forever about all the best times we've had. Some of the most special and bittersweet memories were made while helping plan my wedding. You were always so excited to just sit and listen to my ideas, and to add your great ideas. We would talk for hours, just bouncing ideas off eachother. It's all bittersweet because there was so much joy in all of it, but also some sadness mixed in. Getting married and leaving home meant leaving my family who I loved so much...not having those late night talks and shenanigans. 😊 But...I am so thankful for the relationship we have now. You get to come over often, and we've made so many new memories. ❤ I am so excited to see what God has for your life. I wonder what the next year will bring for you? Seek Him in all you do, and it will be amazing to see how it unfolds. I love you, Ellie, more than words!

Becca - One Year!

Even as I write the title I can't even believe that the first year of Becca's life has already come and gone.
We've had quite the year with our sweet Becca.
One year of joy. One year of diaper changes. One year of successful breastfeeding. One year of sleepless nights. One year of playtime, bathtime, naptime. We've had our fill of laughs and giggles, of tears and tears that won't stop. Of happy times and sad, but the happy always wins out. One year of discoveries, one year of firsts.

We celebrated Becca's birthday with both sides of mine and Mitchell's family on July 29th. It couldn't have been a more perfect day! The weather was fabulous, and just about everyone we invited came (with the exception of a few people). We had a "You are my Sunshine" themed party. I made decorations to incorporate the words of the song with sun and cloud shapes. We had yellow and pink baloons and streamers....it was so much fun! We had a barbecue with burgers and hotdogs. I made a "smash cake" just for her! We sang her happy birthday and she LOVED every minute of it! She smiled and laughed while we sang, looking around at everyone. Then we gave her the cake for her to just have at it! She loved it! She slowly took it apart. After a little while, we cut off a piece for her to devour...and devour she did! She loved opening all her gifts...and loved the wrapping paper even more. My parents got her a kiddie pool, and she and her cousin Jolie (2) enjoyed playing in that for awhile!

As of Saturday, August 19th, Becca is officially walking! She had been taking about 6 steps at the most before that, but really took off on Saturday when she surprises us by walking across the living room floor! It was incredible!
Becca can now say, "See it! See it!" while she points to whatever she sees. She definitely has her own language and way of communicating. She uses distinct sounds for different activities, things and wants. She climbed into the basket of her stroller this afternoon, and said, "I did it!" as clear as day!
Some of Becca's favorite foods are peanut butter sandwiches, peas, cheese, pasta, scrambled eggs, and strawberries.

Becca loves to be outside. We got a swingset given to us, and now she loves to swing. But by far her favorite outside activity is her kiddie pool from Grammie and Grampa. She loves all things water, so we knew she'd have a blast in it! So we have an afternoon routine of going outside and bringing her swim clothes because I know she's going to get tired of her swing and want to go in her pool! She spashes and plays in the water and has the best time! Becca also loves "helping" me in the garden. She isn't too destructive yet, just mostly curious. She finds rocks and I make sure they don't make it to her mouth. :)

Becca is such a joy, and I'm excited for all the milestones and exciting adventures ahead for her. It'll be so fun to see what the next year of her life brings!