Bulging Belly!

I know this is not hot off of the press, but I'm pregnant! Today I am 27 weeks and offically start my 3rd trimester...I can hardly believe it! (My apologies for taking so long to blog about this, there just doesn't seem to be enough time in my days for everything). I feel doubly blessed that we have the privilege to experience both adoption and pregnancy - not in the order I expected but in God's perfect order.

Rachel joined our family just over two years ago and she has been the biggest blessing in our lives. God has used her in so many ways to show us His love for us and just what it means that He adopted us into His family. Not that I will ever fully grasp God's grace toward me, but my eyes have been opened to see His grace in a whole new way.

Now, I have the opportunity to see God's love in a different light...by watching this miracle child form and grow in my womb. It has been amazing (and scary, I must admit :)) to watch my belly grow and to know that God is knitting this little girl together and making her body and personality just like He wants to please Him. He is making her to be in our family and it is an honor that I am able to be a part of that in a physical way.

We are looking forward to meeting her in a few months but for now, I have lots to do to get ready! When I think that I have 3 months to go part of me thinks...how can that be? Can my belly really get that much bigger? Then there is another part of me that thinks...oh, I need to get busy, I have lots to do before she arrives! My life will soon be very different and it most likely will take me much longer to do a simple blog!

All ears!

Rachel enjoys watching videos while we are traveling and she finally learned to keep her headset on. We are very excited about this because we can now listen to something other than her video on our trips - it's the little things in life that bring such joy!

Fun in the Sun!

What would summer be without time at the beach? Oh, we think it would not be nearly as much fun! We are discovering the Rachel absolutely loves the beach so thankfully we live close enough to make it there a few times a year. We'll be going again in a few weeks so watch for more beach pics.

Holland's Strawberry Farm

Each new season, I get excited about "seasonal" foods that will soon be available. That is why every April and May I make my way over to the nearby strawberry farms...yes, that is plural. I usually visit several during the season and make as many trips as I can. When the strawberries are home we have the challenge of finding new and exciting ways to eat these big red delicious strawberries! I do mean delicious. One of my favorite ways is to just cut them up sprinkle with a little sugar and then pour heavy cream over them...yum, yum! If you have never eaten a strawberry straight from the vine - you should make that one of your summer goals! This year, I decided to take Rachel on the adventure and it was made more enjoyable by Pam and Jordan Matthews' company (you'll see Jordan picutred). It took Rachel no time to catch on (picking and eating, that is) and as you'll see from the pictures...she had so much fun! I think we'll make this an annual family event!
April 26, 2007

This Strawberry pickin' is hard work!

Feeding the Ducks at Apex Lake

April 24, 2007

The Many expressions of Rachel!

April 10th

MOPS Spring Tea!

As a new mom a couple of years ago, I realized pretty quickly that finding a place to be connected to other moms was very important. I joined MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) that fall not being very familiar with it, but knowing that it would provide an outlet for me to be with other moms.

It has been a huge encouragement to me over the past year and a half. We meet twice a month and and we always enjoy a yummy, hot breakfast then hear from a wonderful speaker on topics relevent to parenting preschoolers, then discussion time with our small group and a craft of some sort. I enjoyed my time so much last year that this year and for next year I agreed to be a Discussion group leader. It has been fun for me to connect with other women in this way and most of the time they are the ones giving me all of the great ideas!

Each spring we have a Tea where we get all dressed up and enjoy yummy food like scones, chocolate covered strawberries and on and on. It is such a special time to hear from an incredible speaker about how God has ministered to her and from some others about God changed their lives personally.

If there is a MOPS group near you, I encourage you to check it out and see if God would have a place for you there!

I've posted a pick of me and a few of the women in my discussion group at our Spring Tea!

Party in Bristol

We had a few friends and family over for a party for Rachel in Bristol! She didn't object to having more cake! Thanks for helping us celebrate!

Riding the Lawn Mower with Papaw.

Rachel enjoyed her time riding the lawn mower with Papaw - too bad Daddy doesn't have one of these!

Welcome Baby Taylor!

Our very good friends, Kevin and Tracy added a new addition to their family while we were in Bristol a couple of weeks ago, little Miss Taylor! She joins her big sister, Riley who is very proud! Welcome Taylor!

"I like cake"

Rachel enjoyed a piece of cake all to herself at her party. We usually just give her a few bites of our because of her egg allergy. Anyway, after sticking her face in it, she came up a few seconds later and exclaimed, "I like cake!"

Happy 2nd Birthday Rachel!

Here are just a couple of shots of the birthday Princess! We had a few of her little friends over for a little party! It was a fun time.

"Oh, that's so pretty!"

I overheard Rachel saying, "oh, that is so pretty" in the the other room a few weeks ago and I came to see what she was talking about. She was not the only one impressed with her block tower - I thought this was pretty good for an almost 2 year old!

Toddler Antics

A few weeks ago, I was going through some clothes that were too small for Rachel to put away. She wanted to try on some things...she ended up with this lady bug constume over her green shirt and one gingham shoe and she refused to take them off even to eat. I don't think she'll be setting fashion trends anytime soon.

Curly Hair Disclaimer

Before I had a little girl with curly hair, I always wondered why parents who had kids with curly hair never brushed it. Well, now I know the answer or at least one of a few answers. It could be that they indeed did brush thier child's hair but it just got crazy again. Or if they weren't going anywhere maybe the didn't even bother (that is my excuse in some of these pictures...I never bother to "fix" Rachel's hair if we are planning to be home for the day and then when it was time to capture a photo moment there was no time to brush her hair!) And the final answer is that simply the child's hair is brushed and fixed it just may not look like it to you :)

Popsicle!

Rachel had her first popsicle today! She has been sick for quite a while - last week it was a virus with a high fever and this week it is the stomach virus (unfortunately, Vimal and I got the stomach one, too!). Well, we've tried everything to get her to eat and take liquids but she wasn't really interested. Finally, I got her to try a popsicle - I think she is enjoying it!

Mommy's helper

I decided to let Rachel help when I was making some muffins couple of weeks ago, it didn't take long before she made quite a mess, but we had fun in the process!

Pretty in Purple

Snowman!

After our first snow I promised Rachel that we would build a snowman if it snowed again. A few days later we had our chance. We had to work fast though because the snow didn't last long. Our snowman is a bit pitful, I admit, but if you notice in the pictures we didn't have much to work with.

Enjoying the Snow!

Bowl lickin' good!

Rachel is enjoying her waffle for breakfast. Just recently, I gave her a little maple syrup to dip her waffle into (she is really into dipping these days) and after she ate a few pieces she decided that she liked the syrup so much that she would just clean the bowl.

"Go Heels!"

Rachel loves to wear Carolina cheerleading outfit and she usually wears it when there is a game. As soon as she sees it she says, "Go Heels!"

Snow...kind of.

We had our first snow a few weeks ago. It really wasn't much but it was enough for Rachel to be excited about, she was especially excited to see a snowman. Fortunately, our neighbors made one for us to see because by the time we made it outside the snow started turning to slush. More snow pics to come!

Belated Merry Christmas.

Unfortunately, I misplaced my camera on Christmas day for a few hours, and as a result I don't have any good photos to share. Hopefully, I can get some from my mom.

Sleeping Beauty!

Rachel has been waking up quite early lately and we've all been suffering the consequenses. Actually, she has always been an early bird, but on these days it must have been early even for her! She normally spends 45 minutes to and hour in her room in the morning having a quiet (or not so quiet) time and a few different times she fell asleep, I couldn't resist taking these pictures. Her high chair pictures were taken right after lunch - she finished eating and said "night, night" and off she went to dream land!

Family Photo...or not!

I thought you might be interested to see the behind the scenes action on trying to take a family picture with a very active toddler. This is only a sampling, but I hope it makes you laugh! You may notice something in Rachel's hand...we ended up having to bribe her with cheese in order to get her sit still and even cheese couldn't do the trick.

Pig Tails and Proud!

Rachel loves to have her hair in pigtails now! Isn't she so cute? The picture to the right was taken in November and the the one on the left was in December for our Sunday School class Christmas party!

(November - December 2006)