Lookin more like her Daddy everyday

We hear all the time how much Sadie is looking like her Daddy. I just thought I would share some recent pictures! I love them both so much!

A Night Under The Big Top

Last week we took Sadie to the circus. We all had a great time. We were able to go a little early and look around at the everything which was fun. I wasn't sure how Sadie would do since it started after her bedtime, but she did great. We didn't make it through the whole thing, but we saw enough for all of us. I think Sadie's favorite part was anything that had audience participation in it. She liked the GIANT animals and acrobats, but she LOVED when half the audience would clap and then the other half. That was just great! Go figure! Anyway, it was a great family outing.

Sadie and Daddy on the stage before the show started.

This was pretty much what she looked like the whole time.

Lots of acrobats...

and elephants too!

This is reality...

Just wanted to share with Sadie that sometimes I get lazy and even though I try to give you a bath every other day, tonight it didn't happen. We went to dinner then the mall and got home a little after bedtime. We put on your P.J.'s and went to bed. That would be after Daddy gave you a chocolate cookie! Baby wipes are so great! Just wanted you to know I do keep you clean, but not perfectly.

The Garden is Planted

It was great to have Nana and Big Daddy here last weekend. It was especially helpful to get the garden going. Big Daddy is a garden "expert" so he was able to help Gabe pick out plants and get it started. Sunday afternoon we got everything planted and are now trying to keep it going. Sadie loved being outside and loved helping. She had to be into whatever was going on. We think everything survived the hail storm we had last week and we have baby bell peppers already growing. We'll keep you updated!

Our first garden.

Daddy and Big Daddy planting the tomatoes. Sadie climbing on EVERYTHING!


She loved riding on shoulders in the backyard. Especially when Daddy and Big Daddy would let her look over the fence at all the dogs.

Here is Sadie helping Big Daddy get the garden ready.

She loved sitting in the dirt and helping Big Daddy.

Easter morning

Here are a few pictures from Easter morning. Nana brought her dress from Savannah and gave her the cell phone for Easter.

We had a great Easter service at church and enjoyed lunch with some friends. Gabe made a yummy brisket and Nana made a great strawberry dessert.

Easter Egg Hunt #2

It has taken me all week to get our second Easter Egg Hunt posted and might take a few more days to get Easter morning up, but we had a great weekend. We went to a local church and met up with Lincoln and his parents for Easter Egg Hunt #2. They had eggs all over the gym floor and let Kindergarten and under "hunt" them. Sadie was not very patient and got quite upset when she couldn't start as soon as we got there. Once she got going she was ok. Lincoln was a great hunter. Neither one really wanted much to do with the Easter Bunny, but loved the candy that came in the eggs. Sadie is definitely a fan of jelly beans.

This is my favorite picture! Sadie eating lots of chocolate. She thought it was great!

Sadie and Lincoln, ready to go!


And they're off...

Sadie's got the hang of it.

Once again, enjoying her candy with Daddy. I think this is her favorite holiday so far.

Easter Egg Hunt #1

Sadie started out her Easter celebrations on Thursday with an Easter Egg Hunt at her daycare. Les was able to go with her so I was happy she had someone there. It was one of those, "feeling guilty for working" days that Les really helped me feel better. He said she did great and had fun. Thanks Les for being there. Definitely a blessing to you not working out of town this week.

Les and Sadie

The wind was terrible on Thursday. 60mph gusts made for some lovely hair-dos.

This is Sadie's cute Easter basket that they made at the daycare.

Keepin it Real- or at least trying to

So I've decided I am going to try to be more real. What does that mean? I think for me it means really sharing who I am (especially with Sadie) and not trying to live up to some unreal expectations I have placed on myself. Yes, I watched Oprah yesterday and it really made me think about why I do some of the things I do and whether it is for me or to try to keep up with what I think I am supposed to be doing. I just think that if I want Sadie to be comfortable with who she is then I probably need to be an example of that for her. So I'm trying...again...Let me start with dinner tonight.

We went out to dinner with Jose since he is going back to Iraq tomorrow. Sadie was doing fine until she decided she wanted out of the highchair. This is something we have been dealing with recently. She starts SCREAMING and throwing a very nice tantrum. Gabe and I are looking at each other and trying to see what our options are. We decide we could-

A: Get her out of the highchair and let her sit with us. We have tried this before and whoever has her can't eat because we are trying to keep her hands out of everything and not let her down which is really what she wants. However, this does keep everyone from staring at us and wonder why we won't do something with our child. or...

B: Let her throw her fit and ignore her. or...

C:Take her outside until she calms down and do it all over again when we try to put her back in the high chair.

So we decide we are going to wait out the tantrum. It seemed like an eternity, but looking back I think it was only about 5 minutes. When she was finished she drank some juice and continued eating. She was blowing kisses and waving at people when as we were leaving. Was that the best decision to make as we probably annoyed quite a few people? I really don't know, but I am hoping it was the best decision for Sadie. My hope is that the next trantum will only last 4 minutes instead of 5 and maybe eventually they will stop. It was interesting to me as I look back on it at how many people I thought were thinking, "That child needs a good spanking" or "If that were my child..." and I have to be honest that I have thought similar things many times before when it wasn't my child, but each child and situation is so different as I am learning everyday. God continue to give me strength and wisdom as this mom thing is not easy!

A Good Start

We have had quite a busy week. It is amazing to me how fast the weeks go. It went so fast this week, I didn't even get any pictures. Sadie started at her new and hopefully final daycare this week. She has done very well and really seems to like it. She cried for about 10 seconds the first day and has gone to her teacher without problems ever since. She even got excited when we pulled into the parking lot on Friday morning. I am so thankful that the transition has gone well and that she likes going. It is so fun to see her playing with other kids, learning new things, and becoming her own person. I'll just keep praying for God to take care of her, protect her, and guide us and we try lead her to Him.