My Sweet Girl

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what having a girl would be like.  Not only do I have a mini-me, but she is so much better.  All things girlie and pink and princessy and giggly and prissy have entered our world.  

Here are some of my favorite Haleigh-isms...

"Mommy, You're the prince.  I'm the princess.  Let's dance."

"Mommy, Let's talk and laugh at the same time."

"Call me pink kitty."  (As she crawls around like a little kitten.)

"I want to wear the sparkly shoes."  

"Caleb dance with me."

"Everybody clap your hands!"  "Everybody suck your thumb!"

"I love you like a princess."

"You're the best."

"Daddy, GET IN MY BED!"

Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Girl!

just a few days old

1st birthday

2nd birthday

two months ago at my brother's wedding

Thursday Thoughts

I'm sitting here in my bed with my computer, bible, journal, and phone.  To be honest it has been a great afternoon...just what I needed.  Today is my birthday, and as always I have felt so loved.  But what I really needed today was some alone time.  Some time to get my head on straight, get a few things to check off my to do list, but mostly time to read and pray.  I feel refreshed, after all isn't that what your birthday is about?

Our house is officially on the market.  What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been, hence the lack of blog activity.  We had a showing this morning.  Could this be my very special birthday gift?  Who knows, but right now I am trusting the Lord to provide us with a sweet family to buy our house so they will love and enjoy this home as much as we have!  It's been fun to pray for a buyer with our kids.  The know we have to wait for the Lord to bring the buyer to our home.  

This weekend Haleigh and I trek up to MD and then to PA for a girls' weekend, and I am so giddy!  I need some time away, and so look forward to being with my mom and sister.  Sunday is my cousins' bridal shower, so we are going up Sat to spend some extra time with them.  I could not be more excited for her and the guy she is marrying.  We absolutely love him and they are so so cute together.  

Well I better go get ready for my hot date tonight.  My man is taking me to one of our favorites restaurants here The Boathouse.  It will probably be our last time here, and I will enjoy every last bite!  Their crab hush puppies are to die for!  

Have a good weekend!

An Update on the Little Miss

It's been a while since I've done an update on the girl.  She is growing like crazy!  


It seems she is headed straight for the terrible twos, and I can't stop her!  I haven't quite recovered from the last one.  We get tastes of it here and there with her glorious outbursts and outright temper tantrums.  That girl knows how to scream!


We recently bought Haleigh a baby, and she took to it immediately.  She started pulling out these mommy skills that I had no idea where they came from!  She wanted to rock the baby, and rub its back, and put her to bed.  


She would tell me the baby was hungry or thirsty or even worse, poopy.  Then I told her, "Girl, take care of your own baby!"  All of a sudden I felt like I had another child!  So she is now taking care of all the needs of her little baby and has to take her everywhere.


My little girl just won't listen to me when I tell her to stop growing!  

The Girl's Got Style

It seems we are entering a new stage with Little Miss.  She has become quite occupied by accessories of any sort.  Hats, bows, shoes, sunglasses, purses.  It seems this is her "playtime".  


It's a new phase for all of us really.  This is the sort of territory that this household has never seen before.  I can see a dress up box in our future.


Haleigh can sit and put on shoes for hours.  She is so captivated by each one, how it buckles, snaps, or ties, and then only to wear it a few seconds before taking it off to find a new one.  


Her shoe closet is one to be envied.  Her mommy doesn't even come close.  (And I will say that I don't think I bought a one of them...just for the record!)  


She stands in front of it, with wide eyes, and the most precious little smile deciding which one to enjoy first.  It reminds me of Jennifer Garner standing in front of her new "30 year old" closet in 13 going on 30.  (one of my faves.)


It seems we have a lot of training to do or should I say correcting before we head into the teen years, when she will try to demand it all.  


For now, I will enjoy her innate desire to accessorize herself!

Easter Fun

This Easter was probably my favorite yet.  We really enjoyed going through our family devotional preparing for Easter, and the kids LOVED the accompanying songs!  Micah really had a lot of questions this year for us to answer.  Caleb even grasped the simple thought that Easter is when Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day.  And sweet Haleigh, well, she just shook her hips to the songs, as she always does.  She loved dancing!

We also had an Easter Egg Hunt with our small group, and a quiet lunch after church with Ed's brother.  Here are some of my favorite pics...
And notice...no family picture and no pics of Micah...he was there I promise!

 

Bow

Bows have been a part of Haleigh's life since she was born.  She knows no different.  She wears a bow in her hair most days.  It has been one of her first words.  She knows that after I get her dressed, we pick out a bow.  As soon as I finish putting on her socks/shoes, she looks over to the bow holder and says, "Bow!"

Well it seems she is a little confused as to what a bow is.  She has expanded her term "bow" to mean anything that goes on the head.  

Recently, she has had a fascination with Caleb's baseball hat.  She will proudly walk over to me, carrying the hat, asking me to put the "bow" on her head.  She get so tickled by wearing her brother's hat.  And I just have to say she looks adorable in it!  

So whether it is a bow or a hat or even sunglasses on your head, in her little world, it's a bow!    

16 Months

I am almost speechless when I look at these pictures.  I cannot explain to you the sweetness that this little girl is.  She is everything I wanted and imagined in my little girl.  She is a delight to have toddling around the house playing with babies and balls. 

She is kind.

She is tender-hearted.

She is loving.

She is generous.

She is goofy.

She is smart.

She is talkative.

She is girly.

She is tough.

She is sensitive.

She is beautiful.

She is my daughter! 

I've been waiting for this all my life...

One year ago today, I met someone I waited for so long to meet.  And never in my life could I have imagined what she would be like.  

For the third time, our lives were forever changed in seeing the miracle of life.  For the third time, I carried a child nine months.  For the third time, I had cravings, and sleepless nights, and lots of weight gain!  For the third time, I labored in the hospital awaiting a bundle of joy.  For the third time, we got to see God work through the birth of our child.  For the third time, I got to hold another eight pound brand new baby in my arms and just cry.  

BUT, for the very first time, that baby was a girl!  Oh, how I love my boys very deeply and in their own way, yet equally.  And oh, how I love my girl just the same!  For the first time, there was no circumcision.  For the first time, the baby wore pink.  For the first time, the baby wore a bow.  For the first time, we heard these strange high pitched squeals and cries.  For the first time, she seemed very delicate and sensitive to pain, and had a way of whining and whimpering through it.  For the first time, we had a pink nursery.  For the first time, I wasn't the only girl in our family anymore.  

Here is our girl last year...

With absolute joy we celebrate Haleigh's first birthday!  We have a weekend full of fun for her, but today, I'm just treasuring these things in my heart.  There is no way to describe what she means to me or how she has changed our family.  I am so grateful that the Lord has blessed us so and do not take for granted what we have been given.  After all, it is the "grace upon grace" from John 1:16.  Thank you Lord for this sweet little girl! 

"Teach me Your way, O LORD, 

that I may walk in Your Truth;

Unite my heart to fear Your Name. 

I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, 

and I will glorify Your Name forever."  (Psalm 86:11-12)

Haleigh's life verse

Haleigh - 9 Months

Little Miss is now 9. MONTHS. OLD. She isn't a little baby anymore, she seems so grown up! I hate it! Here is the latest on the girl...
Look what she can do!She now likes to stand up in her crib when I put her down for a nap. The problem is she can't get back down! I've heard of other people having this problem, but the boys never had it. I guess they were just rough enough they didn't care to fall back down in the crib. But Haleigh seems so timid, its like she doesn't want to get hurt! So we are playing a game right now at nap time...it's getting old!She is still scooting across the floor, but is finally starting to get on her knees and crawl. Still not there though! But she really hates to be put in the exersaucer because she wants to be moving!

She loves her daddy!
She LOVES the beach...my kind of girl!She did great on our vacation! We just sat her in this pool and she loved splashing and laying with toys! I was afraid she would try and crawl out, but she was content in there.

She is a beauty! I know I'm a little biased, but seriously I am overflowing with thankfulness for this beautiful little girl that I get to spend my life with! She is such a joy. Some days, I am reminded that I actually have a GIRL!

8 Months

So I am a little late on this, but I wanted to give updates on the "girl" as Caleb calls her! She turned 8 months on July 4th and seems like she has really hit many milestones at this point!

-She is now into EVERYTHING! She can scoot all over the floor on her belly. She looks for the tiniest pieces in the carpet to pick up and put in her mouth. So it has made for constant vacuuming and a panicky mommy.-She is trying to crawl. She does this hop thing that brings both legs under her so she is on all fours but then falls to her tummy. Only to try it again. She is very strong and determined!
-She has eaten rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, peaches, pears, and prunes. Up next - squash!-She has cut three teeth all on the bottom and just this week all four up on top have decided to cut through at the exact same time! My poor baby, but she is tough! She really isn't that fussy!
-She and Caleb are developing quite the relationship. He always checks on her and she loves to watch him!
-Micah's "thing" with Haleigh is to kiss her on her nose! It's adorable!
-Baths are now sitting up in her baby bathtub, which is good, except all she does is splash and so the bather is soaking wet!

Haleigh - 7 Months

My little girl is getting SO big! As Ed and I often say, we wish we could just hit the pause button on our kids! They are growing up SO fast and I want it to stop!

Here's the latest on Haleigh girl...
- she is eating rice cereal, green beans, carrots, and starting her on pears today! She eats really well, but so far the cereal is her fave!- she weighs a whopping 15 lbs 11oz, which I think is big, but is only in the 25% for weight
- she measures 25.5 inches in length, again 25% for height. Sorry dad, no shipping off to tennis training!
- Her head is a different story...75% anybody? Apparently we have big heads over here! I mean, have you seen Caleb's?
- She LOVES people. She has never met a person she didn't like! She will smile at anyone, let anyone hold her. She just makes you feel like you are the coolest person in the world!
- Caleb and Micah make her laugh probably the easiest. She loves watching them play. Like this picture, she is laughing at Micah! So Sweet!- She is sitting up now, with the help of the boppy.- Now that she is rolling over, she is officially a tummy sleeper.
- And as far as the paci goes, its history! Its all thumb, baby!