Oh memories!

Last year for Labor Day we went down to the "Redneck Riviera" (a.k.a the beach) for Labor Day. Since we live so close, this is something we do all the time, but last year, we carted our new baby down with us. She was 2 months old when she first visited the beach. This is my girl last year. We will be making the trip again this year with my family (Happy Birthday Gammy!) and I can't wait to see how different this trip will be! Walking on the beach, playing in the pool....this year is going to be so much fun! I leave you with some of my favorite pictures from her first beach trip! Ya'll have a fabulous Labor Day!
Really...my kid is so stylish! And then she must have a beach themed outfit! :)

please excuse my ginormous header. I am working on it. now I am tired and off to bed. Please forgive the cuteness on my page..tinypic and I are having some words right now.

Like a child

I was blog reading the other day and Angie Smith over at Bring the Rain was discussing prayer (and speaking of her blog, if you haven't visited her site run over there....really, don't walk or skip...get your hiney over there and read her amazing story and love for our Father!) I digress. So she was talking about how she prays and how we sometimes have crazy ideas for how we think Jesus thinks of us as we pray and it got me a'thinkin. How do I pray? Well for starters I pretty much just pray whenever I think about praying, whether it be in the grocery store line or driving down the road. When something hits me, I'll just pray. If you ask me to pray for you, by goodness, I'll just do it right then. No sense in waiting! But my real praying (as if the other is fake) is most often at night when I crawl into bed. I have always wanted to be the kind of
pray-er who gets on my knees, but by the end of the day, I don't do it. So I lay my head on my pillow and pray.

And I thought about what I think when I pray. I pray like I am a child. I envision myself just plopping down right in front of God. You know, He's on His throne, all big, with a white beard and fully robed in bright garb. I sit "criss-cross-applesauce" in front of His throne and just start talking. No bother if He's busy doing something else.

And it really reminded me of my school children. I sit in that big blue chair while they are on the carpet and they have to look up to me. I am teaching, they are listening, I am trying not to laugh at their silly stories, or their interesting questions, or the fact that I wore eyeshadow today and they are all discussing how different I look. And I have power. I can calm the class, or continue to let them talk, or I do the teaching. God is the same way. And I need to open myself up to the fact that sometimes I do need to close my mouth and just listen. I do a lot of talking. I need to listen more to Him. What is His plan for my prayer? I just have so many prayer requests and needs!

We as Catholics are never really "taught" how to pray. We have memorized prayers...which I love because they make it really easy. Our mass is one big long prayer from beginning to end. But ask a Catholic to "spontaneously" pray at a meeting and you'll get no hands for the pickin. I attribute my quick prayers to Methodist school. I was taught to pray there. I am grateful that I did.

I also do a lot of praying through song. I love to sing and praise and worship music make it wonderful. I am teaching Lucy to sing "Our God is greater" and it just makes my heart melt when she tries to sing with me.

I wish I was a devotional person. I want her to see me spending time with the Lord. I want her to know it's okay to pray whenever and that we have times spent each day reflecting on our behavior and fostering our love for our Lord. That is one of my goals this year. To find something she and I can do together and also find something I can do as a mom to quiet myself in front of Him.

Something I love this year in school is that we stand for the pledge as a whole school in our classroom and then we have a moment of silence. I tell my kids they can pray, think about the day or just be still, but that we are taking a moment to prepare ourselves for the day. I can't tell you how wonderful our day goes when I can stand before my class with my eyes closed and pray right over those kids. I do think this is one reason why I am having such a good year. I start the day off with Jesus.

Oh, I have rambled on this post. I want one day when Lucy reads her blog that she knows that I am a lover of Jesus, a full-on Christian. That when I leave this world that I am going to meet the One who loves us, created us, thought of us long before we were born, who Abraham saw stars for long ago.

How do you pray?

"I always thank my God for you as I remember you in my prayers"

-Philemon 1:4

I was blog reading the other day and Angie Smith over at

Toddler Time.

So.... my sweet little baby is now ONE. One. as is a whole year gone by. And in this year, I have grown as a person, as a mommy. Grown in my attitude, grown in my love, and grown in my faith. I have worried, cried, laughed, and worried more, but overall... this has been the best year of my life. How in the world did I live my boring life without Lucy?

We celebrated her first birthday with a cupcake themed party here at our house. She got way to many presents and is already so blessed in the friendship department. I love all my mommy friends and I love all my regular friends. They each bring something so great to Lucy's life... and mine!

Lucy and I on her birthday. We celebrated at a local mexican restaurant. Yum! They came and sang to her... which she hated! She loves to hug her babies. She says "aww" and pats them on the back. I love this! I so wanted her to have babies and love them! Libby is the new baby she got from her daddy and I with a new baby stroller.
Lucy's birthday party. So, the kid freaked out when we all started singing and then would not eat her smash cake her Nana made her. She finally got to enjoy it when the party was over! All of Lucy's friends. We are so lucky to have these children in our lives! I used to babysit the two oldest children on the left back. I kept them since they were babies. Makes me sad to see them so grown up!
My table decorations. Lucy's Nana (my MIL) made all the cupcakes. She used to own a bakery and all her cakes are amazing. So glad she could make them for us!

As for Lucy being one year now, here are some of her highlights!

• You weigh 21 pounds.
• You are 31 inches long.
• You are almost completely off the bottle. She takes a night bottle, but lately, she doesn't want it so it's really almost a waste!
• You love stuffed animals and babies!
• Gammy and Papa (my parents) bought you a kitchen center that you love. You play and cook all day!
• They also bought you a picnic table. You eat breakfast and lunch there. You look sooooo cute when you sit there!
• You can say mama, dada, bye, yeah, no, star, what's that, and you know four animal sounds. My personal favorite is the lion. You roar so loud! You know a cat, dog, lion and a cow. We are working on a pig and a duck!
• You run. No walking. Full on go. You strut. You swing one arm out when you walk. so funny! You also do a beauty pageant wave when you walk by people.
• You are wearing a 12 month clothing.
• You dance. Omg, it is so funny. You get to going and I can't stop laughing!
• You push anything when you walk. Chairs, tables, anything that can move does.
• You love to swim and take a bath.
• You give the best kisses.
• When I dress you in the morning I hold you up to the mirror and tell you how pretty you are. You pat your chest and say "awww." So cute!
• You will hold my hand when we walk. love it.
• You sleep from 8:30 till 8. Now that school started you are getting up earlier.
• You take 2 naps a day, morning and afternoon.
• You can put away some food!
• You love your daddy. When he comes home, you like to "show off" and instead of running to him, you take things to show him, like you are so proud of your stuff.
• I made a great decision to not send you to daycare. I just couldn't do it. Gammy Camp is back in full swing! You love going to my parents house. You act like you own the place (and you pretty much do!) You love Maize. You love Sisterbeth. Gosh, you love her. You hugged her for the longest time tonight.
  She is such a special aunt and she loves you so much. You adore Papa, and you LOVE spending time farming with Gammy. She takes such good care of you and teaches you so much while Mommy is at work. It makes my day so much easier knowing you are taken care of by my mom!
• Your godmomma b and auntie c bought you a little blue box for your birthday. It was the sweetest "L" charm. Made me mad because I want a Tiffany box!
• You are growing much too fast. Slow down little one!
• I LOVE YOU!
  

Lord,

You

have abundant love.

are mighty. everlasting. true.

created my child and know each part of her. inside and out.

made her in Your image.

know her thoughts.

know the plans before her.

created her with a purpose.

created her with a love for You.

show your workmanship. Your handiwork.

will use her life to Your glory.

have covered her in Your precious blood.

I

will praise you daily, moment by moment.

will be forever eternal to You.

can imagine how Your mother felt about You.

look at her life as a testament to Your love and grace.

know what You give is a joy to others.

will thank you constantly.

look at human life differently.

love you.

Emotional me, writing my prayer to the Lord, knowing I don't have to write this for Him to know my thoughts and feelings, but knowing that He is all deserving of just a small token of His love. I have been blessed beyond to have Lucy in my life for this past year. I can only imagine the next many years to come.

Glory be to God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth!

11 months and Father's Day!

Lucy Clare--- You are now eleven months old. This brings a tear to my eye because this time next month, you will be known as "years" and not months! What happened to my little bitty baby?

What are you into these days? You are so funny, and have a shining personality! You are truly your mother's child!

• You are walking! Yes, you are walking. You took your first steps last week while we were on our cruise! You got your walking legs at sea! When you fall down, we all clap and yell "yeah!" and you clap and get so excited! I am so proud of you!


• You are eating "grown" people food exclusively. You have a variety of things you like to eat, particularly mac-n-cheese, grilled cheese (you love cheese like your momma!) chicken, all vegetables, pears, mandarin oranges, strawberries and bananas. When you are done, you will either push the plate away, or start throwing the food down on the floor.


• You are still in a size 3 diaper.

• You wear 12 month clothing and a size 3 shoe.
  
  
• You are down to 2 bottles (maybe 3 a day)



• You sleep from 8:30 to 8:30... wonderful!
  
  
• You hug and kiss your babies!



• You will carry your stuffed animals in your mouth when you crawl. I think you got this from Maize, mom's chihuahua! It is so funny!



• You say "momma" "da-da" "yeah" and "oh" sometimes I swear I hear you say "mon" as in "c'mon" because I know I say that to you all the time when you follow me all over the house.



• You definitely know what NO means and shake your head no when you are not supposed to do something!



• You hand me things you know you cannot have, or when we ask you to give us something you will hand it over.



• You don't watch a lot of tv, but when it is on you and you see something you like, you will say "oh" over and over.



• You smile and laugh all the time.



• You wave good-bye and hello.
  
  
• You point at things constantly.



• You went on your first 7 day cruise! and did WONDERFUL!



• You are starting to get stranger anxiety and away from mommy anxiety.



• No body can make you smile like your Aunt Heather!



• You tried an Icee the other day and about let the entire Wal-mart know when I took it away!



• You cry on command. Like when I tell you no, you will wait a few seconds, bring some tears up and then fake cry.



• You love to swim!


• You are so independent. You free play by yourself all the time, and are just so content playing with all your toys.


• You love to read!
  

You are growing so fast before my eyes! Mommy and Daddy love you very much! You are so blessed to have so many people in your life that love you so much!

I want to also take this time to say happy Father's day to my two favorite men in my life. Scott is an amazing father and husband and takes such good care of Lucy and me. My dad is an amazing dad, but I have seen things in him with Lucy that are so wonderful as a grandfather.It makes me so proud.She is his little girl, and will always get what she wants from him! He is so overprotective of her and truly loves her so much.

For Scott's first father's day, Lucy bought him a tree so they could plant it together and watch it grow. Scott calls LC "sugar plum" and has since the day she came into this world, so we bought him a plum tree to plant in our yard. We had to give it to him on Saturday because he will be working and gone for Father's day. He loved it! I was so glad to give him something that they both can cherish for years to come!

Someone was trying to walk off the porch, so hence why she is so blurry! I had to hurry and take the picture!
My next post will be all about a fabulous cruise we all took.... cruising with a then-10 month old was the most interesting cruise we have taken! Fun, fun, fun, but way different that the old days of cruising!