Catching up...part one!

Hello again! I'm still here! It's been a busy, busy summer! Someone asked me if I had given up on my blog and it made me sad to think about that, so here I am again to try to highlight some of the happenings from this summer. When you get this far behind, it's hard to know where to start! But, I'm just going to jump right in and try to catch up!

Of course, one of the highlights of this summer was the birth of my precious little niece, Elaine Mae! I had signed up for a 10 day backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon which was supposed to leave on July 13th, the day that she was due!! I really didn't want to miss her birth, and prayed that she would come before I had to leave! Well, God answered that prayer! She came the weekend before I left! I had worked all day Friday in the ER, getting updates about every hour about Ivey's irregular contractions. When I left work at 1 in the morning, the last that I had heard was that we weren't sure when it would happen....I went home and got in bed only to get a call about and hour later that we needed to get on the road...Ivey was heading to the hospital!

I met my mom and little sister and we took off down the road, stopping for some coffee along the way (I needed it with only an hour of sleep!)! We arrived in Birmingham about 4:30 AM, and Elaine Mae was born just a few minutes after we arrived!!! We praise God for her safe, easy delivery! I was so proud of my sister, and thankful for the strength God gave her to deliver naturally!!!

Hanging out in the waiting room! We figured if we were dressed up, it might hide how tired we looked with only an hour or so of sleep:

 Welcome to the world, Elaine Mae!

 Sweet baby girl!

Elaine Mae

She's here!! Story coming soon! Pics for now:

Waiting...

...for baby girl to arrive! The booties are finished, my bag is packed! I am just waiting for a call from my sister saying she is in labor!!

 I can't wait to meet my precious new niece! May God bless the sweet little feet that will wear these booties!

B'ham and Father's Day!

I had 4 days off work, so Kathryn and I took a little trip to Birmingham to help Ivey hang pictures and do last minute projects before baby girl arrives! I added a ruffle extension to her living room curtains, hung them, and helped her create a "mantle-scape." Here's what we came up with:

 We added this precious little addition to baby girl's room. When we were going through my grandparent's house, we found lots of empty frames. We painted this one white and then hung a plate in the center! Turned out really cute!

 My mom was out of town most of the weekend, so I decided that it would be a nice break for her if I cooked Father's Day dinner at my house! We had a yummy menu of salmon, roasted broccoli and asparagus, squash medley, creamed potatoes, and rolls! I made a carrot cake, too! It turned out well!

 Happy Father's Day to an amazing Daddy! I am so blessed to be your daughter! You have shown me what it means to be loved by my Heavenly Father! I love you!

 Oops! Forgot to take the apron off for the group shot!

Happy birthday little sis!

Yesterday was Kathryn's 17th birthday! Even though we are 13 years apart, we are the best of friends! She was always our baby doll! We loved to dress her up, give her baths, and play with her when she was a baby....and now she is a beautiful young lady!

Kathryn is an amazing girl! She is super smart, has a compassionate heart, and a great sense of humor!

She loves to laugh, and brings so much joy to our family! 

 We are so thankful for her life, for her love for Jesus, and for the blessing she is to so many people!

 Yesterday, I got to spend the day with her, and we had so much fun! We ate lunch with some of her friends and then I took her shopping!

Kathryn, we love you and look forward to many more years of happy memories and watching God use you in amazing ways!

Baby girl's nursery

My mom, younger sister, and I spent the past two days in Birmingham helping my older sister decorate the nursery for sweet "baby girl" who will be joining the family in just a few short weeks! We had so much fun as always spending time together. We work really well as a team, and we got SO much accomplished (yard work, painting chest of drawers, decorating, washing baby girl's clothes...). I love how baby girl's room turned out! It is so fresh and inviting, and Tom says it looks very "southern!" :) It definitely has an antique feel to it as we used some of our grandmother's crocheted doilies as a theme... (the baby's room also doubles as a guest room, hence the two twin beds..)

 We knew that we wanted to use framed doilies as a theme, but didn't really know what to use as the background...Ivey found these lovely blue floral napkins in her closet and they worked beautifully!

 We painted some random frames white and starched the doilies and put it all together!

 I used the handy box cutter and the glass from the frame to cut a cardboard piece the right size

 Then I stretched the cloth napkin around the cardboard and stapled it taut (actually we started out stapling, but then realized that duck tape worked better!)

 The lamp also belonged to my grandmother, and we just gave it a fresh coat of spray paint as well! Need to find a shade for it!

 Last night after working all day, we relaxed outside at Chuy's for dinner!

 Playing patty-cake with Thomas...

 We were so glad that Robby was off and was able to join us!

 I lived in Birmingham for about 6 months when I was doing my Child Life internship at Children's Hospital in 2009, and loved this place--Mountain Brook Creamery! I was telling my mom and sister about it on the drive down, so we had to stop in after dinner and satisfy my craving! Thomas loved watching a little girl's birthday through the window!

 He also enjoyed riding the lions outside!

We just have a couple more projects to do in baby girl's room (make a bed skirt, and paint two canvas pictures with birds) and we will be finished! Looking forward to getting it all ready for this precious new addition!!

Quiet hour...

I love books! I love having them around me...I love looking at them...I love bookstores...I love libraries...and I love reading them! But, I don't read enough these days! :( Between working full time, teaching at UTC, and family weddings, it's been a busy couple of months! Now it's summer and things have slowed down quite a bit...I have decided that I need to carve out some time in my day to read!

Last night I went to a book party for a sweet lady in my Bible Study. She and her husband are going to be foster parents, and we showered her with children's books to fill her library! That's when it hit me again...my love of books! Oh, how I have missed them these past few months! So....I am going to do something about it!!

The family that I used to nanny for had this wonderful part of the day called "Quiet hour!" The children would go to their rooms and spend an hour either napping, reading, working puzzles, etc. I have decided that I need a "quiet hour" in my day...a whole hour to turn everything off, and just read! So, this morning, I had my "quiet hour" and it was WONDERFUL! I spent some time in God's Word (the best book of all times!) and then picked up one off of my shelf called The Letters and Lessons of Theodore Roosevelt for His Sons. I know that I am not a "son" but I hope to have some sons someday and thought it would be an interesting read!

So here's to a fun-filled summer of many enjoyable "quiet hours!"