superfriends...

fighting the bad guys

in flight

wonder girl

we almost wet our pants watching this...

you have got to see this hilarious video of the kids...well actually anna. after dinner we were watching the kids dance to some music and anna had to join in. it is so funny!




anna turns two in just 14 days. i can't believe how fast it has gone by and yet it seems like she has always been with us. she is definitely our comedian and life of the party... as you can see in the video.

here's our girl wearing the mane to henry's lion costume...i still think of tina turner.she loves this hat even if it is 97 degrees outside. curls!! i can't bring myself to get her first haircut because she is our only one with curls. they are too precious!anna and emmie, her best friend.

happy almost 2nd birthday, little bit. we love you!!

pity party & some pictures...

so bear with me for just a minute...

i was just looking at some pictures of some friend's new baby born yesterday. he is beautiful and their family looks so excited to have a new little guy in the mix.

for some reason all of a sudden i felt so sad that we would not be having any more kids. i think the reality of how everything happened when ramey was born hit me. i missed out on having the sweet moments after she was born to hold her and stare at her and then to introduce her to her siblings. i know that seems silly in the big picture- don't miss understand me- i am forever thankful that i can hold her in my arms and look at her everyday. too many mommies out there cannot hold their precious ones in their arms today and there is nothing more difficult than that- i know this!

my ideal of how her birth and first days were to happen were blown out of the water and i will never do it again. i think i am grieving that a little today. i don't know that we would have had any more kids even if we could but today the idea of how my birthing experiences should go is no longer and i am a little sad about it.

my baby's are each so precious to me and i am so very grateful to have them. i have been richly blessed by God who has given them to us. so i will now stop my pity party and have a thankful heart!

now for some pictures from the last few days...anna's nap. can that be all that comfortable?
henry and ramey enjoying some time together. she is starting to coo these days.
the kids are enjoying their rocking horse that grandad alan made for them. in fact they all love it so much that sometimes the horse has to go into timeout. for a rare moment though the girls are having fun together on it!

have a great evening...we're going to watch superman with henry. i'll let you know how he likes it!

grumpus...

i love this girl!!! anna is so independent and has attitude to go with it. hmmm...unfortunately that sounds a bit like me..i mean- like ross.

here she is not wanting her picture taken. she's even cute with her furrowed brow!

"we are wonder woman and that guy"...

our kids made us laugh this week! they love to dress up and recently a friend dropped off a ton of boy costumes which made henry very excited. the costumes include superman, a teenage mutant ninja turtle, a race care driver, a doctor, flash and green lantern.

daph and henry were playing the other day and when they came down all dressed up daphne said, "we're wonder woman and that guy". "that guy", aka green lantern, even wanted his purple ring in the picture so take note.

henry started first grade this week. i can't believe how fast he is growing up. he is so excited because his best friend, malachi, is in his class. the two of them have a great friendship and i am thankful for malachi's sweet heart.

here is our movie star! lauren, one of our awesome babysitters, came over a couple of days last week to hang out with us and the kids. while she was over daphne asked her to paint her fingers and toes. they look beautiful but it encouraged daphne to ask if she could paint my toes. i let her even though it took all the strength i had not to try to do it for her. needless to say there is not a picture to post of the mess that is my pink toes.
ramey is now two months old and is finally 9 lbs. that may still seem huge to many of you but this kiddo has only gained 19 ounces since she came home.

daphne also started school. she and her best friend ellie were going to be in the same class but ellie's family took a great job in texas and so they moved yesterday. it was very sad to watch the girls say goodbye and i know they don't fully understand that they won't see each other again. daphne has a couple of buddies in her class so i am sure she will be just fine but life won't be the same around here without ellie belle!and here is our silly anna. this was snack time today...she likes the faux cheese in these handi snacks. anna is finally saying more and more. my favorites are- "tay too" for thank you and daddia which is russian for daddy.

when i was in houston a couple of weeks ago my niece, lily was saying the funniest thing. she likes the book fancy nancy but with her two almost three year old language abilities she calls the book fancy nasty.

with the olympics going on i thought that combining anna's "daddia" and lily's "fancy nasty"
we could have them rooting for nastia.

oh- here is daphne with her latest goofiness. we have no idea where she got this but it cracks me up!!



that is about all that is happening around here these days. ross is still applying for new jobs and has a phone interview with a different company this afternoon. the only problem is it would mean relocating. we would prefer not to relocate so we are still hopeful about one of the positions here in town. pray that our hearts would align with God's will and that God would make the rough places smooth in all areas of our lives right now.

Lord, you know our hearts and you know our desire but we recognize that your word says that you work all things for the good of those who are called according to your purpose. Lord, your will be done and we ask for peace as we wait on you. thank you for your hand that is always upon us.

the latest...

for those of you who thought our summer had been eventful enough...

one week after ramey came home from the NICU we moved and then ross was laid off . just typing that makes my head hurt again. then a week ago this past sunday my grandfather passed away which had me and ramey on a plane headed to texas for his funeral. then for the cherry on top...i volunteered myself to be henry's room mom!

this has definitely been a season of pruning and so i am clinging to what i know about God. i am not here on earth to only please Him but rather to trust Him. i am having to choose in every moment to trust Him who has never let me down.

while ramey and i were in texas anna was learning to sleep in her big girl bed. here are a couple of pics...the first was during nap and the second is where she was around midnight. too funny!!




school starts tomorrow for henry. i can't believe it!! things should be slightly quieter now. daph will miss him i am sure but she starts school next week. what will i do with myself...oh yes- unpack!

ramey is doing well. she had a follow up with the hospital and everything looks good except her weight gain was not enough. babies are suppose to gain 1/2 to 1 ounce a day and she wasn't doing that when the nurse was out to see her. tomorrow the nurse comes and so we should see if she has picked up some pounds. i'll let you know.

i need to go make a lunch for my boy so till next time- please pray for the Lord to bring ross a job quickly!!!

tomorrow...

i will post tomorrow with all the latest. a lot has been going on around here.