Well, hello again :)

Did ya miss me?? Or is anyone even still reading since I went on such a long blog hiatus?! I don't really have an excuse...time, I guess. I don't have any :) Ha! It's definitely not lack of content. I feel like our 1st eight weeks here in NC have been so busy that they have absolutely flown by. Do I say that a lot? Maybe I just feel like life is flying by at the moment. I look at my sweet daughter and wonder how she is almost 2 years old. I think about having another baby in 5 months and I'm just in shock! I try so hard to savor every moment, but sometimes I feel like they speed by so quickly that my moments seem like milliseconds. Do y'all feel that way, too? Any tips on how to slow it down?!

Let's see...where do I even begin?? Well, we decided that once we got settled in, one of the first things that we wanted to do was enroll E in Mother's Day Out. The thought was that it would give her a chance to interact with lots of other kids, and would give me a little chance to catch up on mommy things.

Here she is on her first day of "school":

She LOVES it! We chose a really well known program that is run through a local church. We love Ms. Karen, her teacher, and feel very blessed that there was a place for Elli there. I; however, haven't left E there for the full 4 hours yet!! I just can't seem to do it...weird, I know. I thought I would relish the "alone time", but truth be told...I just miss her!

Next up...Easter!! What a fun one we had this year! Had I not left the Easter eggs out all morning to be filled with ants by the time the kiddo's picked them up, it would have been a total success! Ha! Luckily, they weren't biting ants...and as soon as I realized the issue, we promptly ended the "hunt" :) I just gotta say...it's so typical of me!

My girl and I on the BEST holiday of the year. He is RISEN!!!

Elli in her Easter dress and bonnet...I just love little girls in Easter bonnets. Oh, and her daddy picked out the dress! Great job, if you ask me :)

And E hugging her friend Myla. Elli might be the hugging-est little girl I have ever seen. She LOVES a good hug! Just liker her Mama :)

Shortly after Easter, my little brother came out to visit us and we had a GREAT time just hanging out together. I think by the end of his trip he was a little overwhelmed at how tiring a toddler can be :)

Here we are at the Kinston Indians baseball game:

It was E's first one, and she was a big fan (especially of the hot dogs, ice cream & french fries!).

Over the week that Travis was here, Elli also got to go to her very first birthday party :) Happy birthday, Asher!! **She loved the bounce house until the boys wanted to play, too!**

We also went to UNC...a gorgeous campus, and a great day!

And finally, we celebrated Travis's 23rd birthday. I just love him...especially because he didn't mind that I put the candles in his birthday brownies before they had cooled. Ooops :)

So I guess that's it for March & April. I'll pick up in May...hopefully sometime soon :)

Easter Weekend

There was something different about Easter this year for me. I don't know if it was because I'm a mommy now, or if it's because I'm just at a different place on my "walk" with the Lord...but whatever it was, it made this year extra special.

Chris and I have been reading Luke together at night, and we made a point to try to match up the dates this week so that each night we could reflect on in Jesus' final days. We decided to also watch The Passion on Good Friday...I hadn't seen it since it came out in theaters. I think that by doing both of those things, our hearts were opened up to an even deeper appreciation of Crucifixion & the Resurrection. Those things, combined w/ a new church home & the excitement of sharing such a blessed day with Elli just really got to me.

The whole weekend was great, actually! We used our new babysitter on Saturday night and tried out a wonderful restaurant in Starkville. If you live in the area and haven't been to The Veranda, I highly recommend going. The risotto was phenomenal. Yum, so good! And afterwards we made a quick stop by Coldstone to get some ice cream. I haven't been to a Coldstone since we lived in Goldsboro. Way too long in my opinion! Elli, sadly, didn't have such a great night. Apparently I spoke to soon when I said that she doesn't have separation anxiety in my last post. Our sweet babysitter said she cried almost the entire time we were gone. Doesn't that just break your heart?! Poor girl! And then, when we picked her up from the church nursery this morning, the first words out of the sweet little old lady's mouth who was rocking her were, "she cries, ALOT!". So sad! Oh Elli girl, mommy is going to have to start leaving you with people more often!

Our afternoon consisted of a nap, washing the car, taking some pictures down by the lake, and snuggling on the couch just enjoying each other. I hope that all of you had a nice, relaxing Easter as well.

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has RISEN!!"

Luke 24:5

It's Friday but SUNDAY is coming!!!

This video was shown at our church last Sunday and it spoke so deeply to me that I thought I'd share it with all of you today. My prayer, on this Good Friday, is that God never allows my heart to harden to these images or these words, but that I might be aware and thankful daily for the sacrifice that Christ Jesus made so that I could be forgiven.

It's Friday, but Sunday's Coming!

How was your Easter?

So, how was your Easter?  Did you have wonderful weather?  Were you surrounded by friends and family?  Did the Easter Bunny stop by for a visit?  Did you remember the reason for the celebration?    

Holidays seem to sneak up on my lately.  I get to truckin' along, and I completely forget that there is supposed to be a celebration going on!  Last week I just happened to be looking through my stash of books and came across one that I read every Easter called "Six Hours One Friday" by Max Lucado.  If you've never read it, I highly recommend trying to get your hands on it.  Once I ran across it, I promptly sat down and started reading the familiar pages.

On one hand, I'm glad that I am so sure that I have been saved by God's grace & covered in His forgiveness that I don't think about the "why" all the time.  On the other hand, I am ashamed that the "why" isn't more present in my thoughts.  I love chapter 11 in this book because it is filled with the "why".  In this chapter, Lucado retells the story of the prodigal son.  You know, the parable that Jesus tells in Luke about the son who leaves his father, wastes his inheritance, and ends up tending to the pigs in a distant land.  Do you remember how it ends?  The son comes back to the father, thinking that he will be angry & ashamed.  But, the father surprises his son by welcoming him home with open arms.  Lucado puts a wonderful spin on the last part of the story.   He asks the reader to imagine Jesus telling this parable to his people.  Did he use his hands while telling it?  Did he outstretch his arms to demonstrate the father's acceptance?  The author admits that he doesn't know what Jesus did that particular day, but he paints a very clear picture of what he did just a little while later.

"He later stretched his hands as open as he could.  He forced his arms so wide apart that it hurt.  And to prove that those arms would never fold and those hands would never close, he had them nailed open.  They still are."  (Six Hours One Friday pg. 85)

I hope that your Easter was filled with plenty of food & lots of laughter.  I hope that you were able to spend it with the ones that you love the most in this world.  And, I hope that you remembered the reason for the celebration..."That God so loved the world that he gave His only Son" John. 3:16.

Blessings, 

Amy