8/14/11

Our sweet little family of three will soon become a sweet family of four! Yes, that's right, we are expecting our second child! Praise the Lord! We could not be happier!

We've known that we were expecting since December 4th. I was due to have a visit from good ole aunt flow that day and just felt like I wanted to take a test. I dropped Spicer off at the sitter's house and headed to the Dollar Store to purchase the cheapest test available. I thought, if this dollar test shows I'm pregnant, then I must definitely be pregnant! Sure enough... came home... took the test... pregnant! I just knew it! I had thought I was pregnant before and been way wrong, but this time, I was RIGHT! Yay!

Due to some pregnancy complications with Spicer I immediately began blood work. I found out I was pregnant around 8:30 a.m. and was at the doctor's office around 10:00 a.m. having my blood drawn for lab work. Crazy! I've been having blood work each week for 5 weeks now (including the week we found out).

Today was a special day! Today I not only had blood work but we also got to see and hear our precious baby's heartbeat (148 bpm) via ultrasound! It was amazing! SB didn't care for it too much though. lol! She can't stand for anyone to mess with me in any 'out of the ordinary' way. Thank goodness that a couple of girls from our church work at the doctor's office. They were able to take care of her and give her some suckers! She loved that! Give her a sucker and she'll forget all her cares and worries! lol! Jared and I were then able to enjoy seeing our precious baby! The ultrasound tech said everything looked great! Praise the Lord!

Currently, I'm 7 1/2 weeks pregnant and the due date is set for Aug. 14, 2011! A summer baby! Yay! I've always thought it would be neat to have a child with a summer birthday so they could have swimming birthday parties! :) So far, this pregnancy has been wonderful! No pain and no bleeding like I had with SB. Thank you Jesus! It has been truly blessed and I believe it will be the entire way through! I've only had a touch of nausea here and there, but nothing like I had with Spicer and nothing a little medicine doesn't take care of! :) The number one symptom for me is tiredness! And I mean, TIRED! I sleep as late as Spicer and wish she would sleep later. And then I nap when she naps! It's like I just can't get enough sleep. And the smallest activities just wear. me. out! lol! :) I'm hoping at some point I can muster up the energy to get my Christmas decorations packed away! It's all good though! All part of God's way of taking care of that precious little baby growing inside! Such a marvelous miracle! :)

Before I made you in your mother's womb, I CHOSE YOU!!!! Jeremiah 1:5 --- God has already chosen this child and we know He has awesome plans for the little peanut! :)

december in pictures

cupcake playdate... Spicer loves playing with her friends...


and eating cupcakes!


Living Faith Nativity Drive Thru... Spicer loved petting all the animals, riding in the very back of the suv with Lora and eating her candy cane!


Christmas Tree Farm... We all helped Aunt Lora pick a tree... Daddy helped the most!





more to come... my internet connection is just to slow to upload any more photos for now.

all she wants for christmas...

Aren't little two year olds the sweetest?! I think they are, especially my little one. Spicer tells us that all she really wants for Christmas is a Candy Cane, oh and maybe a sucker or two! I love it! It doesn't matter who asks her, that's what she says. How sweet is that?! When we ask her who's birthday we celebrate on Christmas she says "BABY Jesus!!!" Oh how this warms our hearts! On occasion when Jared or I have asked her in front of someone, (you know, trying to show how proud we are of her) she'll say Christmas is about Candy Canes. lol! That's what we get for being proud! wink. This is going to be such a fun Christmas with miss Beth! She gets so excited when we talk about baby Jesus' birthday, her stocking or Santa. She just loves it all! I'm so thankful for her excitement and love for life! She's awesome! :)

last Christmas... 1 year old :)


this year... 2 years old :)

John 1:3

My sweet little Spicer Beth has memorized another scripture. Yay! John 1:3 All things were made by Him. She says John 3:1. lol! When I say, "say your scripture," she says Psalm 67:3 first and then goes right into John 1:3. Precious! Hearing the word of God come out of her mouth is the absolute sweetest thing I have ever heard. God is so good! And I am so very very thankful! :)

Spicer Beth is 2!

Well... I know I'm a bit behind on doing a post about Spicer's second birthday. This time of year is so busy that I'm just now getting around to it. Spicer Beth turned two on November 23. And, I must say, she is one very happy and spunky two year old!

We celebrated her birthday with a family party in our home. Throughout the entire party she kept singing, "Happy Birthday to you!" It was so cute! She was just so happy and excited about everything, especially the cupcake. I actually made the cupcakes this year. My first time to ever make a cupcake. Simple. Easy. Just the way I like it! We kinda had a little cowgirl theme for her party. I sent out cowgirl invitations, her cupcakes were topped with cowgirl toppers and the cupcake stand was made out of hay bales. That's about as far as the theme went. (We went to Branson the week before her party, so didn't have much time to do anything else. I'll post about the Branson trip later.) Oh, and Spicer wore her little cowgirl tutu! So cute!

Like I said, Spicer is so spunky. She's got a bright and shining personality (just like daddy). She loves to laugh and joke! Her and daddy are constantly joking around with each other. It cracks me up! She also love to run. I mean, loves it! She'll say, "ready, set, go" and she's off! She's getting pretty darn fast too! Dancing and jumping also top her list of favorite things to do. When a song is fast, she moves fast, and when a song is slow she moves super slow. Hilarious! She got a little trampoline for her birthday and I think she would jump on that thing all day if we let her! She loves being outside and playing on her swingset too! She just loves life! She is full of it!

We started her little tot school back in September. It's been good for both of us. We haven't been able to do it much the past month or so, but we fit it in when we can. She's definitely learned a lot from it! By her second birthday she could... recognize all the basic colors (red, orange, yellow, green, pink, purple, black, brown, white), recognize several shapes (triangle, square, circle, oval, heart, diamond, rectangle), count to 3 (lol), recognize at least 10 letters of the alphabet and their sounds, she's almost got the abc song down, memorized 1 scripture- Psalm 67:3 Let all the people praise thee. (she leaves the 67 out, I think because she can't say it.) She loves to read books. My favorite is when she's reading the bible and saying Jesus about every other word! I'm very proud of her and her love for learning! It makes this former teacher/mommy very happy! I pray she will always love learning and be a life long learner.

Thank you Jesus for our Spicer Beth. Next to Salvation, she is the greatest gift we've ever been given. Jared and I treasure being her parents and pray that she will choose You as her Lord and Savior someday soon. We commit her to you and pray your blessings upon her life. Help us to raise her in your way. We praise your Holy Name!

Tammy...

Little miss Spicer Beth has a new little friend named Tammy. Tammy is no ordinary friend. In fact, I'd say she's extraordinary or imaginary! Yes, Spicer has an imaginary friend! We started hearing about Tammy a few months ago via Spicer's gibberish. Each time, Jared and I would look at each other and ask, "Who's Tammy?" We'd agree that Spicer definitely knew who Tammy was and thought that maybe she had met her in a nursery somewhere or something. Recently I kinda started thinking differently about Tammy. Spicer began to talk to her more on her pretend phone and even tell me things about her (in her drawn out gibberish of course). Then, this Sunday she was playing with aunt Lora at Ma's house. I might not get this exactly right, but I think they were reading a story and Spicer brought up Tammy. Lora began to ask her questions about Tammy. Spicer told her that she was over in the corner of the room and that she didn't want to read the stories with them! lol! Yesterday (monday), Spicer and I were playing in her play kitchen. She brought me coffee and then picked up her phone. Next thing I know she's carrying on a full conversation with Tammy. She was talking to Tammy about her baby Jax?. Then she started talking to Tammy about a boy named Guy. She told me that Tammy was playing with her friend Guy. (btw we've heard Guy mentioned before but didn't think much of it. I think Guy might kinda be her imaginary friend, if there is such a thing!) After she got off the phone, lol, she started cooking some corn for Tammy because she was coming over. She then had me physically go to the door and open it to let Tammy in. Of course, I said, "Hi Tammy, nice to meet you." Spicer then motioned her to come in. She showed her our Christmas tree and then took her to her little table were she had her corn on the cob waiting for her, because Tammy likes corn of course! That afternoon Tammy sat on Spicer's lap, they played kitchen and then watched Little Bear together. Later, Spicer informed me that Tammy had gone home!

Oh my goodness! Being a mommy has got to be the absolute best thing in the world! I'm so thankful that I get to experience these precious times with my sweet and imaginative daughter! :) Can't wait for all the imaginary play dates ahead with Tammy (and perhaps "Guy!")

thanksgiving...

my little turkey... :)



I've got so much to be thankful for.

We started Thanksgiving day off watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day Parade. Spicer helped Jared do a few things and I finished making her little turkey dress. After our easy going morning we headed over to my papa's house to feast with our family. My papa's wife is such a good cook. Spicer had lots of fun with another little boy that was there too. Then, we came home. I carried Spicer in to lay her down for nap. On my way to do this, I twisted my ankle and fell. It was just awful! As soon as i totally hit the ground I heard Spicer's head hit. Ugh! I just knew we were headed to the E.R. I did not know how bad it would be. It's crazy how fast things like that can happen. Jared saw about her because i could not get up. I finally was able to get up with a sprained ankle and a couple of hurting knees... We kept our eyes on miss beth to make sure we didn't need to get to the hospital. She was fine, just had a huge bump on her head! I can not tell you how many praises and thanksgivings I sang to God that day for his protection over her. I just don't know what i would have done if it had been worse. My meme told me that we already had prayers stored up for her protection at that time! I loved that! :) She's such a Godly woman and prayer warrior. In that moment I could care less about myself, my only concern was Spicer and her well being. More and more I'm learning how deep a mother's love runs. And more and more I'm realizing how deep my Heavenly Father's love runs for me, for us. Thank you Jesus!

so very, very thankful--
Kerri

lots, and lots to blog about!

I have so much to blog about but not near enough time this time of year to do it. I've been trying to keep a list of things that are blog worthy so I won't forget when I get some extra time! I write this blog for my family. It's kinda my electronic scrapbook you might say. I've many pictures to upload and many awesome things to write about in the coming weeks. Can't wait for time to do it! For now, I've got to go fold a mound or two of laundry, vacuum, and make a turkey applique shirt for Spicer to wear tomorrow for Thanksgiving! See what I mean, busy, busy... but oh so blessed and thankful! Stay tuned for more about the Fowler family...! :)

teacock! (a.k.a. talking bird)

Spicer is not scared of much, especially when it comes to animals. Birds that talk however, are another story! Here's a little background... when Spicer was about 10 months old we went to the Wild Wilderness Safari Drive through in Gentry. She loved everything. Petted everything she could. Except for the peacocks! She did not want anything to do with them. Well, the hatred of peacocks began to spill over into birds, especially ones that talk! My sister's fiance Ryan has a bird that talks (i don't know what it's official name is). We were over at Ryan's house one day and the bird began to talk. Ok, it was more like yelling! It would bark like a dog and say "Ryan" really loud. Flip, the thing kinda scared me a bit. But oh man, did it ever scare spicer. She stayed as far away from that bird as she could! If you wanted to take her in the room with the bird she started crying and shaking. Just Awful! For weeks, after that night, she talked about that bird or "teacock."

Now, back to the present. We thought she was over this. We took her to the Wild Wilderness Safari recently and she actually chased a peacock. So naturally we're like, she's good. No more fear. Boy were we wrong! Last night Mindy and Ryan came over for dinner. Somehow, the story about the bird talking got brought up and Spicer immediately was scared! She began to make sure that Ryan wasn't bringing the bird and she even kept checking over her shoulder to make sure it wasn't behind her! Oh how I hate to see her fearful. It didn't mater what we did to reassure her, she was going to continue to talk about it. After they left, it was time for bed. She kept saying "teacock, sleep?" I continued to reassure her that we did not have a bird in our house and we never would. We laid down in her big girl bed (i'll post about that later) and she quickly drifted off to sleep. I got up and joined Jared in the living room. Within minutes we heard her screaming! I went in there and she was running as fast as she could to me saying "teacock!" I picked her up and she squeezed me tighter than ever before! I ended up sleeping with her the entire night because I felt so bad for my sweet girl. So, needless to say, my daughter is terrified of talking birds or "teacocks" as she calls them.

I'll be praying that the Lord will guard and protect her and take this fear away. And that she won't always associate her future uncle with "teacocks!"

For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.
(not exactly sure where this scripture is off the top of my head, but I know it's a scripture)

Isn't He Awesome!

Spicer is napping.

I thought I'd take this time to give a shout out to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ via blog! If you know Him, really know Him, you know how amazing He is! He deserves all our praise. The song of praise and thanksgiving to Jesus should resound from our lips all throughout our days! If you don't know Him, choose Him! He gave his life for you so that you might live in glorious peace and harmony with Him one day!

Spicer is awake! Got to go!

Praise His Holy Name today!

sweetheart getaway!

Back in the summer I told Jared I would like to celebrate our anniversary a little early this year. Our anniversary is December 17, and it's always such a busy time. This year we are celebrating 5 years so I wanted to make sure we made it special! Jared and I love Mt. Magazine, I mean, Love it! So we decided to go there while the leaves were changing and at their peek. I did some research and found a sweetheart getaway package they offer. It includes a one night stay in the honeymoon suite (with jacuzzi), unlimited dinner and breakfast (loved this!), candlelit dinner, and chocolate covered strawberries with grape juice and wine glasses sent to our room! Rockin' awesome, to say the least! We had a wonderful time! I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to enjoy because it was my first night away from SB, but I did just fine. Jared and I enjoyed each other's company, reminisced over our 5 years together, hiked, and took in all of God's beautiful creation! It was perfect!

Thank you Jesus for blessing me with such an amazing Godly husband! He leads me and our family in the way of the Lord, he is an awesome daddy, great provider and my best friend! The Absolute Best!

Honeymoon suite! btw... that's grape juice in those glasses!


enjoying our candlelit dinner in a cozy little nook!


beautiful fall color!




hike


makes me nervous!


God's gorgeous creation!




turtle rock at cove lake


cove lake

fun times!

We had a blast this past weekend. On Saturday Jared and I went to a fun fall party dressed as a pumpkin and Taz. It was so much fun! I think it was the first time I've really played games since Spicer was born! Loved it! Then, on Sunday night we went to the fall festival at our church. Spicer was a princess cowgirl this year. I even braided a blonde wig for her to wear! Oh so cute! Once again, we had a ton of fun at the festival with friends and family! God is so very good! :)

pumpkin and taz... everyone else at the party was dressed as a couple! lol! we just decided to go with things we already had. it had been a very busy week!


sweet cowgirl princess


she loved all the candy!

Rest In Peace Capone.

Our sweet little dog Capone had to be put to sleep today. :( His old age finally got the best of him. He was such a sweet bulldog (Jared's dream dog). He has been in the Fowler family for over 9 years, long before me. He was a puppy when Jared's family was dealing with his dad's sickness. Jared said he always lightened the mood for the family! Needless to say, we are very sad to see him go. He leaves behind his buddy Atilla (our other bulldog). I hope she doesn't get too sad. :(

I took this last picture of Capone this morning.

Pumpkin Fun!

We had fun with some sugar cookies today! I made the cookies and then used a pumpkin cookie cutter to make pumpkin sugar cookies. Spicer and I (along with a few friends) put icing on them and then used candy to make a jack-o-lantern face! So much fun! I just love being a stay-at-home mommy! :)


Happy Halloween Everyone!

potty trained.

My little Spicer Beth is officially "potty trained!" She has been using the potty for months now, but with some accidents here and there. Today, however, she has worn panties the entire day without a single accident! We've been to the library, Bed Bath and Beyond, Sams and Wal-Mart too! She even took her nap in her panties! Unbelievable! I think if she can do all this without an accident she's definitely got it down! I mean flip, I sometimes about wet my pants running all these errands! lol!

While I'm super excited for her and this accomplishment, it does bring a bit of sadness. Sadness because my little baby isn't a baby any more. She really is growing up! She'll be the big "two" next month and I absolutely can't believe it. Where o' where has the time gone? But, man have we had a ton of fun and made so many awesome memories these past 2 years! Thank you Jesus!

"huggy, mommy"

Oh how I love hearing the words, "huggy, mommie." Spicer Beth always says this when she wants to be held. It's so very sweet. And each time we pick her up we usually get a hug! I love it! Thank you Jesus for our sweet little girl who is so very loving! I pray she will always show others God's love! :)

bake and create

I don't know about ya'll, but this time of year always puts me in the mood to bake and create. So... I found a cute little pumpkin pie bites recipe at bakerella.com and thought I'd try it out. I must say, it turned out super cute and was so much fun to make. The perfect little fall baking project! As far as creating goes, I finally got around to making my fall wreath. I bought all the supplies for the wreath at Hobby Lobby at half price. So, I made this wreath for half the price I would have paid at the store, or at least that's what I like to think! It only took about 45 minutes to make the wreath. All I did was place everything where I wanted it and then hot glued it in place. So much fun! And I must say, I'm pretty proud of the way it turned out. I love the feeling you get when you create/make something and it turns out exactly the way you had envisioned! Awesomeness! If you get in the mood to bake or create, you should definitely give both the pumpkin pie bites and wreath a try. If I can do it, anyone can! :)

Here are a few pictures of the wreath and pumpkin pie bites.






Aren't these little guys cute?

fall fun!

Our fall is off to a great start! The weather has been heavenly and we've been so busy decorating and doing fall activities. I just love it! This past weekend Jared put a fall display, complete with hay bales, pumpkins, mums and a scarecrow, in our yard. Spicer and I were able to help and had a blast doing it. We've also been able to use our fire-pit several times. So glad we made that thing! It's been fun having friends and family over to roast marshmallows! Doesn't everyone love that? Especially with this awesome fall weather. To me, it doesn't get much better than family, friends, fire-pit and a nice cool crisp evening. L-O-V-E! Another fun thing we've already done this fall is go to Wild Things Farm. They have a great pumpkin patch, hayrides and a petting zoo! Spicer loved it... we all loved it!

Hope your fall is off to a great start as well! Happy Fall Ya'll! :)

Holy, Holy, Holy!

Isaiah 6
vs1- I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. vs3- "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."

God is Holy! There are not ifs ands or buts about it! When you are confronted with His holiness it will cause you to fall on your face and worship Him. His holiness also brings about confession of sin.

Are you in touch with God's holiness? Is your heart full of worship and admiration for Him? Do you feel the need to confess sin? Think about it! Take some time to focus on God's holiness today. I know I am.

bsf

show a little love!

John 15:17 (NASB) - "This I command you, that you love one another!" (exclamation added by me)

Pretty short and simple, isn't it? Love one another. This is one of the commands, or rather, the greatest command that our sweet Savior Jesus Christ gave us. So if it's short and simple, why can't we do it? Why can't I do it? I mean come on! It's so super easy to love those that love us back. Isn't it? it's easy to love and accept those that are similar to us, those that do nice things for us, share the same beliefs as us. But, what about those that aren't like us, maybe are a little mean or arrogant toward us? What about those that don't share the same beliefs? I tell ya, if you want to be like Christ, if that's the deepest desire of your heart, you must love those people too. Because after all they are "another."

Lord help me to love the unlovable! Help me to reach out a hand to those that my flesh wants to shun. Help me (us) to be more like you sweet Jesus.

my little golden arrow.

i just love this little cutie. she's sporting her golden arrow gear! my friend sarah made the shirt and my friend angela made the bow! :)

oh the joy!

Oh how I love being a mommy! Isn't it just the greatest job ever! My words could never express how thankful I am. It is such a joy to watch Spicer learn as I teach her new things. I believe that it's one of the greatest joys I will ever experience.

SB is absolutely loving "Tot School." She wants to do it just about every day! Her favorite part is her little "tot pack time." She has a tot pack for Brown Bear, Brown Bear and I just made her a new one for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. When we first started the tot packs I thought we'd just give it a try. She probably won't be able to do it, but it's worth the exposure. Boy was I wrong. She loved everything about it. It took her a week or so to pick up on everything in the pack. But by the end of the second week she could even match heads and tails of animals! I highly recommend "tot packs" for your little one. They are so easy to make, don't take much of your time and so great for your little tot! You can check them out here.

It is just unbelievable how God made us to learn. He designed us to learn from such a young age. That's why it is very important to me that I teach Spicer as much as I can about Him, even at her young age. Which brings me to another favorite about tot school, bible story time. Spicer likes to get her pointer out and point to the words as we read the scripture. Just this past week she actually started repeating the words of the scripture for me! I have to say, "I'm one very proud momma!" Hearing her say those words is the most precious thing I have ever heard!

Another fun thing Spicer and I like to do is play on her playset. She loves to go outside and head straight to the backyard! Usually we swing and sing songs first. Then we head up the steps to the fort to go down the slide. She does this over and over again and loves for me to do it with her! Sometimes she likes to pick up sticks and throw them into our fire-pit. The other day while we were outside we started collecting acorns. We did this for about an hour! She is such a hard worker and loves to do things like this. And I love to do it with her!

a touch of fall...

finally. a touch of fall in my kitchen...

i'm hoping to make a fall wreath later this week. i just love this time of year!

this and that

We love the occasional rainy day around the Fowler house. A rainy day usually means we get an unexpected fun day with daddy! Today was nothing short of that. We started our day by heading to Mickey D's (as Jared calls it) to get some breakfast. We love their smoothies and breakfast burritos. After we were finished eating Jared and Spicer played on the play place. This was Spicer's first time to do this at McDonalds. I kinda cringed at the thought of my little girl crawling around in there, but ended up letting go of my germ-a-phoebe tendencies to let her have some childhood fun! lol! I also had to break the rules in order to let her play. It says ages 3-12 can play, well SB is only 22 months. I know, I'm such a rule follower! It's sad. :) Anyway, S and J had a great time playing and to my knowledge she's just as healthy now as she was when she went in there!

On a different note, SB turned 22 months old yesterday! It's so hard to believe that she will be 2 in a couple of months. Yesterday I decided on a party theme for her 2nd birthday and I'm pretty excited about it. Now that I'm a little party planner, lol, I've got to have enough time to make and gather everything needed to pull of the perfect little party! :) I definitely want it to be special for her.

Spicer is really talking a bunch these days. She can pretty much say anything except for "I love you and thank you!" Jared and I think she can say it, she's just holding out on us! For both I love you and thank you she says something like, "doot-doot!" Really anything with two syllables. Cracks us up! SB is really putting many simple sentences together as well. The other day she said, "Watch me daddy." She had to make sure he was watching her slide! This morning she said, "Put my shoes and my socks on." I love hearing her little voice, it's so cute. Jared and I always talk about how we never want to forget these precious times. We've been talking about that a lot lately. I think it's because here lately she really seems to be growing up a lot.

Last Saturday night she starting using the potty regularly! YAY! She still has a few accidents, mainly wet, but for the most part she's well on her way to being potty trained. M & M's were the trick for us. My friend gave me this tip and it has worked wonders for Spicer. All we had to say was, "If you pee/poop on potty you get an m & m." and she walked into her bathroom, sat on the potty and pooped! Now that she's been using the potty for almost a week, we don't have to reward her everytime. She doesn't even ask for it. Awe, such a big girl!

Ok... that's all for now. Better go before I start crying!

bsf

Bible Study Fellowship or bsf, is a bible study that meets all around the world. It begins in September and continues until May. Basically it's a school year. The group that I'm attending meets on Wednesdays for a couple of hours in the a.m. I must say, I feel as though bsf was created just for me! I absolutely love everything about it! SB gets to go with me and they teach her a bible lesson too. AWESOME! We meet with a small group to discuss the questions from that week and then gather together in a large group for lecture.

This year bsf is going through the book of Isaiah. Already, I'm so challenged by this book of the bible. I know it is going to be a year of tremendous growth for me as a child of the Most High God. I'm so up for the challenges this study will bring and the changes it will make in my life! Thank you Jesus for leading me to this study and giving me the opportunity to participate in all that it has to offer!

For more information about bsf click here.

break from fb

i heard on air 1 last week that they were taking a break from fb this week. it got me thinking. could i actually live without fb for one week, well monday through friday anyway? i decided to take the challenge for myself. i am now in my second day of my fb break. i'm not gonna lie, i miss it! it's way hard not to log on and check to see if i have any updates. but, i think i can make it. at least i hope i can!

i usually only blog once, maybe twice, a week if i'm lucky. well, this is my second blog entry this week and it's only tuesday. so i guess instead of fb, i'm finding myself blogging while sb is napping. :) maybe i'll blog each day i'm away from fb?! i mean i've got to have some contact with the outside world! lol.

ready for gymnastics!

My little Spicer Beth is one 21 month old (almost 22 months) who absolutely loves gymnastics! Last night I said, "Spicer, we get to go to gymnastics tomorrow!" and she got so excited! She started saying, "Sheena" which is her teacher's name and pointing to her hand because she gets a stamp at the end of each class! I absolutely love her excitement about the things she enjoys!

When we first get to her little "mom and tot" gymnastics class she can do whatever she wants. She usually heads over to the trampoline. Spicer loves to jump and she loves to try and jump as high as she can. She always says, "high!" Today, after jumping on the trampoline, she wanted to hop in the foam pit, which by the way, i love hopping into myself! lol! After a few minutes of free-play it's time for shape time. Spicer will run over and grab a shape for herself and for mommy. It's so cute watching her follow directions. During shape time we sing songs and stretch. Spicer watches Miss Sheena intently and makes sure to do exactly what she's doing, or at least try it! When shape time is finished it's time to go around the big circle doing the various "gymnastic" activities. Spicer likes to flip down the wedge and hop like a frog. She also loves to swing on the bars! If Jared is there, which he usually is, he'll lift her up to hang on the rings and she loves that. :) During this time we usually find ourselves back at the trampoline or foam pit again! Today I noticed Spicer trying to get her teacher's attention to show off what she could do. She would yell across the gym, "Sheena!" The kid cracks me up! Finally, at the end of class, Miss Sheena gets a large parachute out. All the tots and their parents grab hold and sing a song with the parachute. We then make a big tent for the tots to walk into. SB loves, loves, loves this! When class is finished Spicer walks over to the line, sits criss-cross with her hands in her lap and waits patiently until it's her turn to get a stamp and sucker. And that's it! I always tell Spicer she can eat her sucker when we get to Wal-Mart, and she's usually ok with that! :)

Our little family just loves gymnastics! I'm so thankful that we're able to do this together. Like I said, for the most part, Jared gets to join us. It's just wonderful! Thank you Jesus for all the wonderful blessings in our lives, I never want to take anything for granted!

such a big girl!

My sweet "baby girl" is quickly becoming my sweet "little girl." Thank you Jesus for blessing our family with Spicer Beth! She has brought more joy and happiness into our lives than we could have ever imagined! Just the other day while I was changing her diaper she looked up at me, smiled, and said, "HAPPY!" I said, "Are you happy?" She said, "Yes, Happy!" Awe, melted my heart! :)