marmee and papa visit

Blogger screwed up and lost the words to this post... somehow I now only have a draft form and the pictures that were in the original post. It was a sweet post about Curtis' parents, their trip to Greensboro, and their relationships with my children and with us. I'm so sad that it is lost, but I'm not going to try to re-create it. The pictures will have to stand for themselves...

that little voice

I hope, very soon (tonight?!), to begin blogging again. I can't wait to share with you all about the last 2 months of life now that I can breathe again! Here's a quick story to whet your appetite:

Cooper and Annabelle are sharing a room, as of 2 weeks ago. Listen to the "conversation" I just overheard....

I put both of the kids in their beds and left the room. Annabelle stood up immediately, as she usually does, held onto the crib railing, and started talking/giggling/crying to Cooper. After a few minutes, the crying took over and began to escalate. Just as I was about to go back in to give her back the paci that she inevitably throws on the ground, I hear Cooper's little voice:

"Don't cry, Annabelle. It's okay. It's okay. Here I am- I'm with you, Annabelle! You don't need to be sad. God is always with you, Annabelle."

My eyes are filling up as I type it. When I went into their room, I knelt beside Cooper's bed, hugged him, and thanked him for loving his sister so well. His response, as always, was "yeah". 


Thank you, Lord, that some of the words I speak to my children actually are absorbed. And thank you, once again, for speaking truth to me through that little voice.

family party

We not only had the sweet mommy-baby brunch party for Annabelle, but we clearly had to do a big family bash as well... especially since my sister Ashley and her family (evacuated from Cairo, Egypt), as well as my brother Peter (kicked out of Spain for an expired visa) just happened to be in town for the big day!

Strawberry cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese icing... yum!

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Annabelle, interestingly, did not dive into her cupcake. She was very particular and neat, sticking one finger in the icing and licking it slowly.

 It wasn't until we broke it apart for her that she really started to gobble it down. That's my girl!

It's too bad she doesn't get any attention. :)

 

Fun presents, fun party, fun family. This little one year old is blessed!

to celebrate a baby

With my baby girl's birthday arriving so soon after Cooper's big train party, I knew that I wanted to do something just as special- yet categorically different- for Annabelle. Since there is always potential for her to be overshadowed by her vivacious brother, we decided to have a mommy-baby breakfast party. My dear friends here in Greensboro came, either by themselves or with an under-2 year old little one, and it was a sweet, sweet time. Annabelle loved the attention, loved drooling and sticking out her tongue (teething, much?), and LOVED the coffee cake "cupcakes".

My heart's desire has always been that Annabelle would feel treasured by the Lord and by us. In thinking about that, I asked the girls to write a short note to Annabelle: a prayer, a blessing, Scripture, a word of wisdom; whatever they wanted. As you look at the precious pictures of the party, read their life-giving words to my one year old little girl...

We are so thankful for your life and your sweet spirit! You are always so happy and full of joy- we pray that you always find that in life.

Annabelle, we pray that you will praise our Father all the days of your life. May you come to know Him. May you be able to speak of His wonders because you know His goodness.

May you know Zephaniah 3:17 to be true of your life: The Lord your God is with you, Annabelle. He is mighty to save you, Annabelle. He will take great delight in you, Annabelle. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.

You are so full of joy. Your face lights up with it. Our prayer for you is that you will continue to be filled with His joy and brighten the world with it! We pray that you will hear Him sings songs over you all of your days.

We pray as you get older that you grow to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength!

"...and I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love, which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." 

~ Ephesians 3:17-19  Bless you, Annabelle. May you know, deep in your soul, that you are Christ's beloved. 

My prayer is that you not take Annabelle out of the world, but that you protect her from the evil one... sanctify her by the truth; your word is the truth. ~John 17:15, 17 (paraphrased)

Precious Annabelle... "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace, love, joy, hope, and a good night's rest, and someday a godly husband."

My heart is full as I think about these sweet women and the families that they represent... and how they love and will continue to love my baby girl.

choo choo

December was a little too crazy to plan and host a birthday party worthy of my little man turning three, so we opted for early January instead. Since we were in the thick of Cooper's obsession with trains (I don't think he asked to do anything else from about January to March), the decision on the party theme was quite simple! Not only that, but I found an amazing event designer's blog post about a train birthday party. I love recreating! Now, if I could have only made it an outdoor party in July... but I digress.

Not only was this blogger's party planning incredible, but she included free download-ables for the party (and even sent me a few more over email!). I love gracious people, and I loved these invites!

As is completely typical of me, I was ill-prepared throughout the process: our invitations were emailed instead of mailed, I was up really late working on the cake, my mom had to come over early to help me tie up a million loose ends, Curtis had to hang the streamers for me, and I was running around like a madwoman right before the party.

But then the guests arrived! Big and little guests. :) Along with lots of family, there were a bunch of Cooper's friends (Eli, Maddie, Campbell, Seth, Katherine, Anna, Mac, and more)- it was a great crowd!

People started jumping (the playroom in action!),

donning their red bandannas and engineer hats, 

and- of course- playing trains. It was all about trains- both an upstairs table and a (borrowed) downstairs table.

Then, I enlisted Curtis to gather the kids and play "Sir Topham Hatt" (if you have ever had a toddler boy, you are sure to know who I'm talking about).

They were totally enraptured. I decided that, from now on, we needed to wear a black hat and jacket when speaking to Cooper to ensure such cooperation.

He had them following him all over the house, blowing their train whistles and dancing. So cute!

"Follow the top-hat" ended at the table where we gathered for cake. All around the house and table, there was a multitude of blue and red, which made me happy. My obsessive side loved the coordination! Note the cupcakes: I was so pleased with how vibrant the colors turned out!

We had also had a candy buffet that I neglected to photograph (behind the kiddos)... it was a make-your-own party favor and it was a big hit! And, if the parents hadn't been so protective of their children's health, I wouldn't have ended up with 14 pounds of leftover candy!

The cake was really fun too.

The perfectionist side of my personality was very displeased with how rough the icing looked (a product of my rushed cake-decorating), but the fondant face turned out better than I expected.

Bottom line: Cooper was super excited about it and, really, that was all of the affirmation I needed! In fact, he seemed to be pretty thrilled about every aspect of the party... what a gift to us as parents, to feel like we hit the mark.

 

Blowing out THREE candles... craziness. He didn't even need our help!


He wasn't sure what to do with all of this attention,  but he enjoyed every minute of it.

 Although the hats, whistles, and bandannas ended up being grabbed out of their shipping boxes and passed out on the fly, THIS is how I had intended them to look. Cooper's friend Grayson wasn't able to come, so she got her put-together party favors a few days later... wouldn't they have been cute if I was more on top of it?!

Oh yeah, and Curtis and I decided that we should throw in some fake buck teeth too. Because everyone loves fake buck teeth, right? Thanks, Sara, for showing them off!

Happy Birthday party, Cooper!

room transitions

Curtis and I had decided, right before Christmas, that it was the right time to do a room transition. (really? when is "right before Christmas" ever the right time to take on something like that??) Because our upstairs was finally complete, we were able to spread out a little and arrange/rearrange! My favorite part!

Since we moved into this house, Cooper had been living in our home's original "3rd bedroom" (a.k.a. the sunroom). With 2 walls of windows, it wasn't exactly the ideal bedroom for a little kid. Or anyone.

But it worked! Though it barely fit, this little bed ended up being the perfect cozy transition after the crib last spring. The sunroom served him well!

Annabelle's room had also been a little transitional, since it doubled as the guest room. You can barely see her crib tucked in the corner on the right!

The furniture and all of her stuff was crowded into her room and her "changing table" was the top of the guest bed. Thankfully, she was way too young to care or even notice.

I can't tell you how much I wish that I had taken pictures of the condition of our home when we returned from Knoxville after Christmas. We had left it in SUCH shambles... drawers emptied onto the floor, furniture hastily switched from on room to the next, piles and piles and piles everywhere!

When we got back, we transitioned Cooper into Annabelle's room and then slowly, slowly began the reorganizing process. No, they weren't switching, just combining! The idea of sharing a room made us so excited (and a little fearful). We hope that it will help them to learn to sleep more soundly, to share more fully, and to really enjoy each other's presence.

Here's where they are today! A great shared space, though it still has pink walls and is a little lacking on the decor. If you know us well, this is not a surprise! We will get there, one day. :)

It feels so much more spacious with a lot of the furniture moved upstairs.

Cooper's side: green striped bedding that is plenty "boy", while still coordinating well with Annabelle's colorful side of the room.

Speaking of: Annabelle's side.  

So, I just have to point out my two favorite things about her space:

1. Her crib bedding: I think I've mentioned this before, but it's called Puzzle Patch, by Land of Nod. Since we had almost all the baby necessities after having Cooper, I was able to buy this special bumper and white eyelet crib skirt for Annabelle that I absolutely LOVE. The colors and spring-iness just fit her so well!

2. Her wall art: Curtis' mom made these canvases! Aren't they beautiful?! For each grandchild, she uses one of her zillion artistic skills to create a gift. From bedroom wall murals to painted furniture to Cooper's amazing quilt, she creates such beauty every time.

When she asked for a preference, all I told her was that I would love something for Annabelle's walls and then I sent her a link to the bedding as a color reference. I could never have expected something so lovely!

Little did I know, she had taken note when I posted about some wall art that I fell in love with, and used that as her inspiration for Annabelle's gift. Perfect!

I know Annabelle will treasure these forever. Or maybe I will, because I'm not sure I'm ever going to let her take them.

Another huge benefit to the room-transitioning is that we were able to create a playroom!

 

The blinds can finally be opened and the room has a singular purpose again! Also, remember the quilt that Cathy/Marmee (Curtis' mom) made for Cooper? We were excited to rehang it in the playroom (you can see it in more detail here) and hope to use it as the basis for our room design! Wow, I have watched too much HGTV in my lifetime.

There is very little furniture, but I do love that we have a little desk/table that was Curtis' as a child (seen in bottom right of this picture). It has been a great coloring/painting spot for Cooper. You know, when he sits down between basketball shots.

For now, it is mainly just a room to house most of our toys. And, though it doesn't meet HGTV standards, that is perfectly fine with me. I love simply having somewhere to put things at the end of the day!

We have been so pleased with how it's all come together (especially after seeing it all taken apart. yikes!). Stay tuned for a look at the furnished and in-use upstairs!