Josie Claire....

We have had so much fun celebrating Kelsey's first birthday. I have also been thinking alot about Josie Claire this week, as I do everyweek. Kelsey is beginning to jibber jabber some and I wonder if she and Josie would have "talked" back and forth to each other? Julia Kate absolutely adores her baby sister, she wouldn't have known what to do with two! This is a song by the group Selah, it is titled "I will Carry You, Audrey's song" and it was written for Todd and Angie Smith's daughter, Audrey, who passed away a few hours after birth. It is such a wonderful song for all of us, too! (for some reason it wanted to double space between lines so I just separated the verses with commas)

There were photographs I wanted to take,
Things I wanted to show you,
Sing sweet lullabys,
Wipe your teary eyes,
Who could love you like this?


People say that I am brave but I'm not,
Truth is I'm barely hangin' on, There's a greater story, Written long before me, Because He loves you like this.

I will carry you, While your heart beats here, Long beyond the empty cradle, Through the coming years, I will carry you, All my life,I will praise the One, Who's chosen me,To carry you.

Such a short time, Such a long road, All this madness, But I know, That the silence, has brought me to His voice, And He said,

"I've shown her photographs of time beginning, Walked her through the parted sea, Angel lullabys, No more teary eyes, Who could love her like this?"

What an amazing thought! One of the highlights of my life was carrying that sweet baby girl. But I can't even imagine what she is seeing now! One of my daughters, walking through the parted sea? Or seeing Mary? Or Jesus? What a blessing it is to know that although she isn't hear laughing with her sisters, she is there learning to smile just the same!! I am so thankful that He loves us all more than we can imagine and provides for us more than we can comprehend!

Lazy Weekend

Our weekend was wonderful, we had no plans which meant Saturday we never left our house! The month of September has our weekends full which we are excited about but we sure enjoyed lounging around this weekend! Saturday morning: Julia Kate came to tell me that Kelsey was talking in her bed and woke JK up! So I turned them on a movie to watch and they were good to go!

I wonder what this conversation was about?

Two cousins who have the best time together!

Kelsey has two bottom teeth and it is extremely difficult to get a picture of her without her hand in her mouth....but her hand is better than her wadded up dress!

These are a few pictures of the girls in their dresses yesterday before church. My camera lens fogged up walking from inside to outside so they are a bit blurry. Julia Kate had a new MK original and Kelsey is wearing JK's Easter dress from 2008 (when JK was 6 months old). Enjoy!

Kelsey at 10 months

Kelsey is now 10 months old! She is growing so much! Her favorite foods are sweet peas and applesauce. She can sit up assisted and is becoming more vocal. Julia Kate loves to talk to her and Kelsey has started talking back, which thrills JK! Kelsey now smiles at us when we talk to her and laughs when tickled. Her favorite is when Dad tickles her belly, she laughs and laughs, which makes us laugh! Her hair is a blondish-red color and she is getting more and more everyday. We are so blessed and thankful for this precious baby girl and these first 10 months we have had together!!

Fun! fun!

I can't believe the summer is almost over....but we are enjoying a little cooler evenings sitting outside. Last night Jason came and told me Julia Kate wanted me to watch because she was sliding down her slide by herself! This is a pretty big accomplishment since her slide is high and she goes really fast down it. After a couple of test slides by Daddy, she took off!

"Are you watching Mom?"Getting set.....and a few instructions from Dad.Ready! You can see the smile on her face! And down! She is learning to lean back a little and not fall face first into the ground as she comes down. And, yes, she is wearing big girl panties, we have just ended our second week of only panties! Julia Kate is just now getting big enough to really enjoy her playhouse/swing set that her Daddy built for her first birthday....now I wonder what he is planning for Kelsey?

New Photos!!

Here are some of the recent photographs taken by the talented Desirae Gooding......check her out at www.dngphotography.blogspot.com We had so much fun at our first official photo shoot of both girls together! Enjoy!!!

Happy 6 month birthday Kelsey!!

As I sit here on this Sunday evening I can't believe it's been six months since Kelsey was born. I can remember every act of that night and the precious days to follow. Kelsey is doing great, she weighed 11 pounds at her six month check-up and is beginning to "talk" to us. She loves to smile at her sister and I heard Jason telling her this morning "not to laugh at him!"

God has blessed me beyond measure with these two girls. I had the pleasure of carrying a third baby girl and I think of her this evening, also. She will always be such a sweet part of our family. Here is Kelsey beginning to talk to us and show us her smile!

Hope you enjoy!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter! The girls and I went to church with MK and Granddaddy! Ben, Paige and Hays were there too. Jason was home with the stomach bug. Here are a few pictures from our day.....

Photo Shoot!!

Just wanted to share a few pictures from our mini photo shoot. Kelsey is 4 months old!!! I can't believe she is growing so fast! She weighs 9lb 11oz! God continues to bless me everyday as her Momma, I am so thankful He has shared both of these baby girls with me! Hope you enjoy!

Is it Spring yet??

We had a great weekend!! The weather was gorgeous and Julia Kate had a ball playing outside! Kelsey went out for a few minutes...she is patiently waiting the warm weather! Here are a few pictures from our weekend....


Friday evening I let JK go outside for a few minutes while we were waiting on Daddy to get home. We played ball and she picked flowers...this is her blowing her flower.



Saturday was a little more fun for Julia Kate because she could play outside while Daddy was working around the yard. This is her planning her garden, she would come to the door and tell me "Come on, Momma" and I would walk out there for her to tell me everything she and her Daddy were going to have in their garden!Then, we broke out the bubble gun. This was an impulse buy at the Boardwalk in Shreveport one of the first weekends JK came to visit! She loves it, of course, who doesn't love bubbles?And Kelsey has found her thumb! She is a great baby, hardly ever cries but sometimes when she is hungry and Momma doesn't have everything ready for her to eat, she gets agitated! She cries and apparently neither Daddy or Julia Kate were close to give her the paci!! These are from yesterday morning. Daddy and JK went to church and this is a corduroy overall that I found her at a consignment shop. She choose it to wear and as you can tell....."cheese!!" is what she loves to do.

Now, you have to excuse the sideways of the video. Last night as I was cleaning up the kitchen Julia Kate was playing with her refrigerator alphabet. She does this a lot but last night she started singing too! The battery is dead on my video camera so I had to use my regular camera, so just listen!

Saying goodbye...

Here are a few pictures of our last afternoon at the hospital. Kelsey and I "roomed in" on Wednesday night and then Dad was there to bring us home Thursday, February 4. Rooming in is where it's just you and your baby in kind of like a hotel room. The nurses come at the beginning of each shift and check the baby, but all night and most of the next day it was just Kelsey and me hanging out!This was Kelsey's last night in the unit. Mrs. Holly rocked her...she said she was fussy and so they HAD to rock!
Wednesday afternoon we made our way to the "bonding room", Kelsey rode in her little bed.
Thursday, while Jason and I went to eat lunch the nurses played dress up! Above is Miss Carlyn and the tutu is from her...Kelsey's going home present! We loved Miss Carlyn!Getting a little love from Mrs. Judy.
And finally.....getting the final check from Dr. Elrod. These nurses and doctors took care of Kelsey just like she was their baby, or at least that's how they made me feel. That means so much to a Mom!She had to be pushed out by Mrs. Susan, the unit clerk! She was a hoot and we enjoyed her so much! This was the last walk down this hall for me while Kelsey was still "in-patient", well kind of. It was a surreal ride on the elevator and walk for me, it's funny how for 3 1/2 months you get used to something, knowing it will be over but then it really is!

And then, snug in the car. It rained the entire way home!! Such a dreary day but such a sweet homecoming!!