what they're saying...

Well, I have much to catch you up on from the last couple of weeks, but before I forget, I wanted to write out some of the words and phrases the girls are saying these days. I know, bear with me, I'm always talking about what Arden is saying, but I can't help it! The child didn't talk until she was 2 and 1/2 and so it still amazes us to hear words coming out of her mouth! (And they really just crack us up!) Esther's adding all sorts of words to her vocabulary as well. She's been saying the typical first words like Dada, Mama, bye, hey, hot, go, dog, and shoe and train, of all things, and she's surprising us with new words as well. So here we go...
Arden-
"Sleeping Kiwi" (aka Sleeping Beauty)
When you ask her a question, she has been responding,"Do you know?"
She's really into the Disney movie, Cars, and she's been going around saying, "Rust-eze...Look at that shine!"
"Burgerham" We got to go to Birmingham last week! (which I'll be doing a post on soon with pics) While there she got to see her cousin, Kai, and she absolutely adores him! So we constantly hear, "Baby Kai's just a little baby."

Esther's new words include...tree, bow, head, wa-wa (water), drink, bath and night-night. She also said, "Dada, bye-bye" the other morning when Woody was leaving for work! It's so sweet to hear her little voice!

Alright, that's all for now. I'll try and catch up with the other things later this weekend. And can I just say, "Go DAWGS!!"

Nonie's visit

Two weeks ago, Nonie (Woody's Mom) came for a week long visit to help out with the girls and around the house. Little did we know how much we would need her help while she was here! We're so thankful that the Lord planned for her to be here when we found out about the miscarriage. She was able to take care of the girls for us while I had surgery and then while I recovered, and it was just encouraging to have some family with us through everything. So thank you Nonie for coming to visit us and for all your help!! The week didn't turn out quite like we thought, but we're so glad you were able to come and we enjoyed having you here! The pics above are from our visit to a church downtown that has pumpkins...it's the closest thing we've got down here to a pumpkin patch! The girls loved seeing all the pumpkins and picking a few "baby pumpkins" out! Don't you love the sisterly affection? :) We also enjoyed walking around downtown and getting dinner at a local place. The last pic is of Nonie and Arden enjoying some pumpkin cookies they baked the last night of her visit.

three

Preface-This isn't my usual happy-go-lucky sort of post.  Instead, I wanted to honestly share with you what our family has experienced in the last couple of days, really the last 2 months.  It is sensitive, some may call it graphic, material, so I wanted to let you know before you started to read.

I had been looking forward to sharing with you that we were expecting...13 weeks today, due in April.  However, we got different news this last Thursday.  We went in to hear the baby's heartbeat at our doctor's appointment.  Two nurses and the doctor tried to find it.  We've been here before and so knew, despite them saying not to be alarmed, that we were not in for good news.  We went in for an ultrasound, hoping to see our little one at 13 weeks.  Instead, we saw our precious child, 10 weeks and 4 days old, but with no heartbeat.  This is our third miscarriage and instead of getting easier, I think they're getting harder.  Not in the questioning God sort of way, but rather I have a deep longing to hold our little ones and also rest in the plans that the LORD has for us.  This time has been especially hard because we did see a heartbeat a few weeks ago, and I have been extremely sick and exhausted for almost 7 weeks.  Woody had stepped in as the incredible Super Dad, not only doing his job, but mine as well...taking care of the girls, the meals, the house (well, okay so the house went by the wayside) but he took care of the important things.  We really thought that we were about to end the first trimester safely, and so were not expecting the news of a miscarriage at all.  My heart aches and I feel empty, yet the steadfast love of the Lord and His faithfulness remain.  Now, more than ever, Arden and Esther are truly miracles to us, and we are so thankful that the Lord has chosen to bless our lives with them.  And we take comfort in knowing that we now have three little ones already with our Father.  It has been on my heart to share this with you because I know so many others have already gone through a miscarriage, and there are those who may one day have a similar experience or know someone who will.  God keeps bringing me back to Habakkuk 3:17-19a, so I'll end with it...

"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.  GOD, the Lord, is my strength..."

Happy Birthday Aunt Ti!

We love you and hope you are enjoying your day!  Wish we could be there with you!  Hope you're able to see some great whites on your trip...from a safe distance of course!  

Just for fun, here are a few of my favorite pics of you and the girls...

Happy Birthday Christi!!

The night before you moved to S.F. (Arden-6 months old)

When you came to stay with us for Esther's arrival...you became Arden's 2nd mommy!  (Arden-18 months)

With Esther-1 week old

This might not be your best memory, but I love it!  I think Esther was telling us, "No more Napa Valley, PLEASE!"

With Esther near the Cliff House on the Pacific when we came for a visit to S.F. (Esther-7 months)

Princess party with Arden and Halli this summer-"Aunt Ti's so much fun, we love her!"

Smokey, the baby squirrel

This evening we experienced probably a once in a lifetime event, at least for us.  Our friend (and he also happens to be our pastor!) and his girls had come by our house and Woody and Arden were outside with them.  I looked out the window and to my surprise, I saw a baby white squirrel (I'll come back to the white squirrel part) literally walking into the hands of G.  I put my shoes on and ran outside and yes, the cutest little squirrel you have ever seen was sitting in the hands of the girls!  He was so cute, in fact, that I had to hold him as well!  We decided that he must have fallen out of his nest and though G. tried to let him climb back onto the tree, he kept coming back to the humans!  So the G. family, being somewhat wildlife rescue experts (I'm not kidding!), took him home to keep him safe until he gets bigger and then will bring him back to our yard to join his family once again.  The girls named him Smokey, which we thought appropriate with his coloring.  It was a really strange and cool experience, and though our girls didn't want to touch the squirrel, they thought he was really great.  And can I say again, he was so cute!!  Well, back to the "white" part...the first time we ever looked at what was to become our house, we saw a pure white squirrel up in a tree.  I thought he was a statue until he moved.  Since then, we've come to love our white squirrels that live in our yard and the neighboring lot and don't mind the occasional stopped cars, even garbage trucks and cameras of those who are intrigued.  There were about 4 of these squirrels, and since the summer, we've seen new young ones emerge.  Only a couple are pure white and the rest are white and gray, like Smokey.  He's the youngest one we've seen and now we're keeping our eyes peeled for any possible siblings!  Isn't God an awesome Creator?!

a visit from G.G. and Papa

G.G. and Papa came for an overnight visit on Friday!  We all had a fun time visiting and the girls, of course, loved the extra attention!  (And I know my parents didn't mind giving it at all!)  We look forward to seeing them again at Thanksgiving, if not before. 

Esther and Papa having a blast at the park.

The fun foursome right before saying goodbye.  Arden wanted to get in the car and go home with them!

photo op in Birmingham

My dear friend, Marissa Miller, who is a photographer, will be in Birmingham over Thanksgiving and would love to capture your families and/or sweet children!  She took pictures for us last year before we moved, and not only did we have fun during our session, but we also got wonderful pictures to remind us of our family at this stage and of our time in Birmingham.  So if you're in the Birmingham area, I would encourage you to take advantage of having her in town!  Click on Marissa's website below to learn more about her and see examples of her work.  You'll also be able to get in touch with her through the website or feel free to contact me and I can get her information to you.

www.marissamillerphotography.com

I've also included a few pictures from our time with Marissa below.  You'll have to check out her website to see my favorite of Arden though!

thank you Papa!

Papa recently drove cross country to San Francisco with Aunt Ti (that's what Arden calls her Aunt Christi).  He got the girls matching t-shirts and sent them to us; last week actually, I'm a little behind!  As soon as we opened the package, Arden had to put her t-shirt on.  She ran around all afternoon saying, "Arden wear her t-shirt.  Esther wear her t-shirt.  Cable cars."  I got some pics of the girls...and George and baby had to be in them...and it's hard to tell, but they have cute little embroidered cable cars on them with "San Francisco" underneath. 

Thank you Papa for thinking of the girls on your trip!  The shirts are really cute-you did a great job picking them out!  Arden and Esther love their new shirts (and they also fit better now that I've washed them!)  Thank you!

day trip to St. Simons

Gram and Bill, Arden and Esther's great grandparents are visiting St. Simon's Island this week, and we were able to go visit them for the day on Wednesday!  It's been almost a year since we last saw them and it was so great to spend the day with them...eating lunch at Barbara Jean's and then spending the afternoon together.  Not only did the girls get to spend time with Gram and Bill, they also got to meet their Great Uncle Bud for the first time.  Arden really took to Bud, especially when he offered to take her to see the ducks in a nearby pond! Esther was sleep deprived much of the day, but she was very content to sit in Gram's lap.  Every few minutes she would go stand and reach her arms up to Gram, wanting to be held.  It was really sweet to watch!  Below are a few pics from the day...Arden wasn't really cooperative, so there are more of Esther.

We really enjoyed our time with you, Gram, Bill and Uncle Bud, and hope to see you again soon!

the places we go

This morning Arden was busy playing with her Little People and putting them in her Little People carriage; mommies, babies, strollers, princess and even the family dog.  She would push the carriage around (it's a car to her) and then unload everyone and line them up and say things like, "here we are...let's go...ride stroller baby, okay?"   She would then load them up and do the whole thing over again.  I started asking her where they were going and what they were doing.  Her first response was "go park."  Her second response was "Chick-A"  and then finally they ended up at Target!  Either we go to these places way too much or they're among her favorite places to go, which I think is really the case.  I mean, what else could you want in life as a 2-year-old? :)

And hopefully I'll have some pics up for you soon.  We're still working out hard drive stuff since the computer crashed.

basically

This has been Arden's favorite word of the week and basically, it's been awhile since I last posted anything because our computer officially died this past Monday.  We've been without a computer all week, but now are up and running again as of today.  Hopefully I'll get caught up with everything and post some pics in the next few days.