God is good!

More than a few times this weekend, I've caught myself just looking around at Tyler, Anna Kate, our new home, the amazing family and friends who have helped hold us steady and ease our burden through this process, and one thing was so incredibly obvious to me. My life is so fleeting and precious. I am amazed at my Jesus who loves me so well, and fills my life with more blessings than I can even begin to even see, much less thank Him for. On this Easter Sunday, it is even more apparent that I am so imperfect, and as our pastor said today, in desperate need of the healing, life-altering, challenging power of the gospel each day. Without it, my fleeting life, even with all the precious gifts I've been given is meaningless. All the blessings He bestows are simply little glimpses into the vastness that is His love for me. Wow...I think I need to learn to rest in that. Tyler gave me the new Michael W. Smith worship dvd (which, btw, I highly recommend), and there's a precious song at the end that says, "He's not like us, He loves you just because." I think at times like the past week, when I get so busy and forget to thank Him and take refuge in His love, I need reminders that He's there...and there's nothing I can do to make Him love me any more than He does right now. Jesus came to secure that eternal life for us by living a perfect life, taking my sin and yours on Himself, in fact, as Paul says, He became sin for us, and dying a horrific death on the cross. Praise the Lord, it doesn't end there...Another one of my favorite songs right now says, "The enemy has been defeated! DEATH COULDN'T HOLD YOU DOWN!!!" I am thankful that I serve a just, merciful, grace-lavishing God who has conquered death and has chosen to make my heart His home.

We were so blessed to have family in our new home for Anna Kate's birthday, you're all going to gasp when I say this, but I didn't take one single picture. I was THRILLED to find out that Tyler's extremely talented and budding professional photographer cousin, Morgan, was not only coming, but bringing her brand new fat-daddy Canon to the party! Bless her heart, she spent the whole party clicking away, but I was so thankful she did. I didn't worry one time about picking up the camera and trying to take pictures. Morgan, just know that you were a blessing to me, and I absolutely cannot wait to see the pictures!!! :) A wonderful friend from church, Emily, made Anna Kate's cake, and it was THE BEST cake EVER!!!! REALLY...if you need a cake for any occassion, email me, and I'll get you her info. She is fabulous...Easter was awesome. I spent a lot of the worship service in tears, amazed at the love my Savior has for me (good thing I wasn't on the stage today, huh?) and we spent the afternoon with family eating and hanging out! It's been a great weekend, and I am SO looking forward to getting settled even more and resting a bit this week!

Last picture at the condo...kinda sad, huh?


Everyone looks like they've been beaten with a 2X4...that's moving for ya! :)


Out on the porch!


Anna Kate's new room!!! She's done remarkably well...she's sleeping like a champ despite the new surroundings!


Family Easter picture in front of our new home!


Mom, chewing on books is COMPLETELY normal at my age. Come on!


Playing with her new dance tower Uncle Ben & Aunt Lacy gave her. I LOVE IT. It says, "Shake it, baby!"


Looking at my Easter basket!


You'll never catch me!


LOVING the walker...thanks, Granna & Grandaddy!


Seriously, y'all, I LOVE this thing!!

Congratulations, Grandad!

Since I haven't had much time to take pics of the new house, I thought we'd update with a post to congratulate Grandad. He's this year's recipient of the Willis Award, which is the highest honor awarded by the Southern Home Furnishings Association. It's given each year to the person "who contributes most unselfishly to the industry, to the community and to God." We definitely think the committee made the right decision...Grandad is such a blessing to our family, and Anna Kate is blessed to have him in her life! Congratulations! We love you!

Catch-up!

Hey everyone!

Whew! Let me tell you...selling a house and then buying a new one is NOT for the faint of heart! :) We have been, for the past month, up to our ears in house-selling/buying! Not a big deal if you're a super realtor, like my dear friend, Fran or a seasoned home buyer, but for those of us who have never really done it, it can knock you for a loop! That said, we have been amazed at the Lord's provision and His faithfulness through it all. As with most, if not all, home purchases, there have been trying moments, but He has been so good to show up no matter what. After selling our condo in 9, yes 9, days, and frantically searching through tons of houses online, only to find them sold or riddled with problems, I was about to lose hope when superFran came to the rescue with a gorgeous house in an area we hadn't even considered. After looking at 18 houses a couple of Sundays ago, we saw this house, and from the moment we walked in, I think Tyler and I both knew that this was the home the Lord had for us all along! :) We are now thru most of the negotiations, inspections, and generally stressful things, and are awaiting closings (BOTH of them) on the 6th...only a few days before Miss Anna Kate's 1st birthday! So....my dear blogger mom friends, if you were expecting some swank party invite, you will most certainly be disappointed this year. We're doing a fairly low key (as low key as my fanatical Hobby Lobby shopping self will allow) family-only shindig this year! :)

Anna Kate still refuses to walk unaided, and is jabbering (thankfully, not growling so much anymore) like CRAZY, but not talking other than mama and dada. I'm going to post a video of this HILARIOUS new sound she started today. I have now, at Tyler's request, added turkey to Anna Kate's diet, and she absolutely LOVES it. No vegetarian here! :) Despite her crazy crazy hair, I cannot get her to leave a bow alone in her hair. I'm WIDE OPEN to suggestions there.

I can't wait to post pics of the new house once we get moved in! Please pray for us as we prepare for the move!

Dinner at Calhoun's with Aunt Diane when she came to visit!


Lunch with Jen & Sarah at Pimento's! Anna Kate looks a little something in this picture...I'm not quite sure what


Playing with the ball the afternoon our house sold!!


Anna Kate & Daddy!!


Love that wind-blown look!


Hangin' out with Grandaddy while he reads the mail, and Anna Kate drinks juice...Hooray for multi-tasking!


Anna Kate in her snazzy new dress that we won in a giveaway on my friend Fran's blog. It's handmade by Heidi, who has a shop called pieces of before on Esty. Visit her shop. Right now, she's doing a giveaway with each purchase, so check it out!


We are afraid Anna Kate is going to tear down the door frame, she loves her jumpy so much!


Tormenting Bella through the back door


Apparently, gone is the scary baby growl (**fingers crossed**) and this HILARIOUS new sound is taking over. She's in her bed right now doing it instead of sleeping

We may have a prisspot on our hands

Yesterday, we got to spend the afternoon with Grandad, Gigi and the girls. When we went outside to watch Aunt Sarah and Mae Beth twirl, we tried to put Anna Kate down in the grass...she would NOT touch it, and almost fell over trying to quickly retract all limbs that might be in danger of touching the stuff! She did love watching the girls twirl....she even tried to pick up a baton at one point, but alas, she only wanted to eat it! :) :) Here are a few pics!

Give me that baton!!!


My favorite


YAY!!!


Don't put me in that grass!


I DO NOT LIKE THE GRASS, I told you!

Long Time No Blog

I guess maybe having my hair "did" made my blogging ability disappear! We have been kinda busy lately, and, honestly, I haven't taken many pictures at all. Anna Kate is growing and changing so much. She is starting to have that toddler look now. I see newborns, and it makes me so sad, because she is definitely not a teensy baby anymore. She is laughing ALL the time, still growling occasionally, and avoiding walking at all costs. I'm convinced that she could if she got the urge, but she just prefers crawling right now. She is SO fast. I guess she feels like walking might slow her up a bit. I am already starting to think about her 1st birthday party, believe it or not. It is impossible to believe that it's that time. People say it all the time, but it really does fly by. We are trying so hard to savor the moments we have with her.

On another front, we put our condo on the market yesterday, and we are THRILLED at the prospect of moving to a house. We would certainly appreciate it if you would pray with us as we seek the Lord's will in this. So...if you know anyone in the market for a condo in the Western Ave area, let us (or Fran) know! :)

Here are a few pics!

Helping Grandaddy work on making the condo look great!


Hanging out at the Olive Garden...she LOVES bread! I'm afraid this may be inherited


If you can't see how much Anna Kate loves her daddy from these pics, I don't know what to tell you!

Mama got her hair did!!!

Alright girls, let me know what you think...if you think it's terrible, lie! :) Just kidding! I just decided it was time to do something different, and it felt good to have a break today! Thanks, Mom, for watching Anna Kate!

9 Month Checkup!

Hey everyone!
On Friday of last week, Anna Kate had her 9 month checkup (a little late, thanks to mama!) and we got a great report! Apparently, Anna Kate is one healthy baby! She weighed in at a little over 21 lbs, which put her in the 80th percentile, while her height at almost 29 inches, put her in the ninety-something percentile, so she's not heavy for her height! Her head is huge at almost 29 3/4 cm, so hopefully she'll be smarter than her mama, especially when it comes to math! :) Her hemoglobin, which I think measures the iron in her blood was 14, which, the doctor said, is on par for a teenage boy...EEK! So, obviously, we're not anemic! God has been so good to keep her healthy and well, especially this winter. We are thankful to him for her progress and growth and will pray that it continues! For those of you that are familiar with it, the nurses thought Anna Kate's growl was HILARIOUS! They just kept coming into the room and laughing...I, of course, was mortified. They saw that she is a happy baby, though, despite the growling. :)

We spent Sunday traveling, and were able to go to Gallatin to hear Tyler's grandaddy preach. What a treat! He is such a precious man of God, and we were so proud of him. He spoke on sexual purity with such fervor and conviction. Afterwards, we got to see Tyler's grandparents' new condo. It is so pretty, and we were thrilled to have Tyler's grandmother's awesome homemade rolls with our home-cooked lunch! Today, I got caught out in what I'd call a blizzard. I decided to take the back way home...NOT SMART, and if it weren't for the prudent advice of my daddy, I'd probably still be stranded in some ditch between here and Kroger! I went out early this morning to have the oil changed in my car, so mom came and had breakfast with me, then brought Anna Kate home so that I could get some shopping done! Thanks Granna!

Here are a few pictures:

Us with Tyler's grandparents...Tyler's grandmother says "A well dressed baby is a barefoot baby" Hence, Anna Kate's bare feet! :)


Pulling up on Grandaddy and Gigi's cabinets in the kitchen. She kept hitting them like, "Hey! Let me in!"


Anna Kate & Daddy in the snow today!


The funniest picture to date...This made me laugh out loud!


Anna Kate is pulling up on EVERYTHING!


One of my new favorites!


See...she really is happy...I have NO idea why she growls...


Cute, huh?


Storytime with Mama


I think this is sweet. We are beginning to have a TIME getting Anna Kate to look at the camera!