My growing family

My growing family has me busy and tired these days! I apologize for those of you who check the blog faithfully and find the same old post waiting for you... but those of you who have had small children know that just caring for the family can be a consuming job!

And if you have had children you also know that it is a wonderful job. Tired I may be.. but nothing could outweigh my gratefulness to God for such a rich life. My children are healthy and strong and as a family we are continually growing in our knowledge of and relationship with our God... and really, nothing is more rewarding or satisfying than knowing God intimately.

Here are some pictures from John Michael's birthday party! We had a sports ball theme since he's borderline obsessed with balls. We could've just as easily chosen to have a motorcycle theme... but I didn't want to encourage idolatry in his heart! :)
He was so excited about his cake... but like last year, he was a bit shy with all the attention. (There were 25 people waiting for his reaction.)

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Not to be forgotten:








My little mimickers:



going full force!



Getting some lessons from Uncle Donnie





i love this one. :)





"Digging in"







He ended up with an orange mohawk that lasted until his bath. We couldn't wash it out otherwise!

PRESENT TIME!

John Michael had such cute responses to his presents. He'd grin, raise his eyebrows over and over again (that's his signature goofy face) and say "Yaaah!!!"





The Idol.



DD & Beth got him that motorcycle. It looks just like DD's! He rides it EVERY DAY. And falls off of it just about every day too. But, just like idolatry, no matter how many times you get burned you always seem to be drawn right back to it!

And finally, the pinata. The kids just loved the pinata - even though it was a blazing day outside!

I realize there are way more pictures of Adeline with the pinata but her response was just too comical not to capture!





















My little hoarder. I wonder where she gets it from?








John Michael also got a trampoline for his birthday! Thanks to everyone who went in on it. They are on the trampoline almost EVERY SINGLE DAY! But, surprisingly, I have not gotten any pictures of them on it yet! Its a little hard to do through the cage and I haven't gotten on the trampoline since we first got it (and even then you KNOW I wasn't jumping!) So, here's to hoping I have some pictures of them on the trampoline before the summer is over!

And regarding the rest of the growing family, this baby is growing right along with us. Everyone, everwhere loves to comment about how huge I am. I'm hoping they're referring to my front side and not my backside... which seems to have gotten confused as to which side of my body is supposed to look pregnant! :)

I'm definitely having those 9th month aches and pains but as far as we can tell the baby is healthy and strong and will come when its ready. I've not delivered early in the past so I'm not expecting to go early this time either.

Please pray for a safe delivery! We live an hour away from the hospital so we're slightly nervous about making it there on time.... but a baby in the backseat always makes for a good story, right?

The birthday boy!

I have been swamped with e-mails and phone calls as to why I so rarely blog these days! Well, the truth is I've been swamped. We've been busier this summer than ever before! Things are beginning to slow down and my goal is to keep them that way... but obviously something had to go and Johnny nixed my idea of copping out on the laundry. So, though not conciously, blogging was lowered on the priority list and before I knew it my posts had weeks in between them instead of hours or days! Then, my internet was down for WEEKS.... and today is the first day its been up again. Now, here I am, faced with the prospect of blogging and I'm barely motivated!

But, I'm going to fight the temptation to put it off some more and satisfy those few faithful friends who continue to check the blog!

My baby boy turned one this past month. I keep getting comments that its time to have another one! But for now we're just enjoying Addy and John Michael... and boy do they keep me busy! John Michael is a serious Mama's boy. He prefers me over anything else in this world.... food, fun, baths, toys, anything. Sometimes that's a bit challenging when its time to cook dinner or quickly straighten up the house before guests arrive... but mostly I love it. It makes me cherish this time because I know its fleeting.... it won't be long before he prefers mud and cars to sitting on his mommy's hip!

We had a Thomas the Train birthday party for him with our families. My mom made a beautiful train cake that everyone was impressed with... you can see why:







John Michael didn't ham it up quite as much as Addy did. He got a bit overwhelmed at all the people and, not surprisingly, complained about being removed from my hip... Here he is protesting being placed in his high chair.... I look pretty desperate for a solution to his misery!



Look at Addy in this pictures just relaxing while John Michael is losing it. She's used to his little fits. :)

I finally got John Michael to stop crying and try some of his cake... he definitely was interested in the cake.... (look at his red rimmed eyes!)







I even coerced a smile out of him.



Addy watched at the sidelines but was pretty thrilled to get her own peice of train car. (Go Vols...)



But John Michael soon lost interest in his food. Those of you who know him aren't surprised by this development... Eating isn't his strong suit.... but balls are! And I think floating "balls" were way more interesting to him at this point...



So, of course, my little tempermental man lost it when I removed the balloons from their impending destruction.



and so ended his little cake adventure... back to his rightful place on mommy's hip.... well after a trip to the bath tub!!