Oatmeal Cookies

Mackenzie and I made cookies together for the first time... and even though I did my best to clean up the mess, I think the Lockhart's will be cleaning up sugar and oatmeal for the next 5 years! It was so much fun! The best was when she realized that the sugar on her hands was sweet... it was non-stop stickiness from there on out!

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Memorial Day Picnic

We had a last minute Memorial Day picnic at "our" house yesterday! We had a great time playing volleyball and grilling out for the first time of the season! However, my highlight of the day was watching my friend Connie play volleyball! She is a volleyball fanatic and she said she'd play if there was no spiking. She was awesome... and she's nine months pregnant! She couldn't jump or move that fast, but she still hit more balls over the net than I did! Her team was crushing my team at one point, but then I had to leave to take care of Mackenzie and my team made a major comeback. I don' t know what's worse... the fact that the team with the nine-months-pregnant-chic was up by so much or the fact that my team won after I left!? Connie made this day so much fun for all of us!

Sam and Mackenzie had a delightful time playing house together... much to his father's chargrin!

I think Sam's daddy was telling her that Sam couldn't play with dolls anymore...

Mackenzie said, "Baby eat!" Then she picked up her shirt and tried to stuff her baby under it... it was so cute... we were all cracking up!

I don't know why she looks so worried... but she's still so pretty!

It's great having grandparents at parties! Jake and I both got to play volleyball and I only had to stop because they had to leave...

We have thoroughly enjoyed our month in the "party house!" It was fun to end with one last bash! We moved all of our bedroom furniture over to my mom's house and set it up. Mackenzie will be sleeping in the washroom and we'll be in my brother's old room downstairs. We're going to stay here this week and then next week we'll move all of our clothes and food and stuff over. It's going to be a GREAT summer!

An Update with Pictures Again...

Life has been wonderfully full this past week and a half! I had a surprise shower for my friend Shana, playgroup, and a caregroup party all out "our" house... it is so much fun to be able to do things like this! I think I'm going to go through serious party withdraw when we move... luckily, my mom's house is a party house too! I love this look on Shana's face... she was totally confused because I was standing under the "Baby Shower" banner and I was the only one saying surprise cuz all the girls where talking in the other room and they missed my cue! It was really funny! I'm sure this is a tad inappropriete... but how cute is she "pumping" for her babies? I love when she "nurses" her babies too... she puts them in her arm pit! She is very into baby dolls right now and can be found pushing them around the house in a stroller for a "alk" or giving them something to eat with her "poon" or carrying them around in their "seat" (carseat). I was able to get tons of baby doll stuff at the FAC clothing and toy exchange and our friends the Kack's also blessed us with tons of baby doll stuff! I love watching her playing mommy...
Here she is "helping" daddy with his brakes. She took out all the sockets and lined them all up! It was really cute, just not that helpful when she went off to play and left daddy to do the cleaning up!

Here's our little princess the morning of her dedication! She wore the same dress that my mom wore in her Uncle Dave's wedding! She was adorable!
However, the dress was a tad uncomfortable so I had to bring a change of clothes with me!

It's far away, but here we are dedicating her!

And this is ALMOST everyone that was there to dedicate their children on Sunday... Alan and Jamie and Liv were at the end and they didn't make it into the picture! The best part is that Lori and Ken Bond were up there dedicating Nathan and Kenny and Naomi Bond were up there with Ava... how often do uncles and neices get dedicated on the same day?

Mackenzie is at such a great age right now! Everything she does is so much fun! We went for a walk this morning and she pointed to every bird and said, "Tweet, tweet" and then said, "Bye-bye, Tweet-tweet" when the bird flew away. But the best was the planes! Every time she heard a "ane" she would look up in the sky to find it, point to it, and then wave and said "Bye-bye ane" until the plane was out of sight... it was so cute!

Aubrey is at a great stage too! She's seven weeks old already, the time has just flown! She is sleeping "thru the night" (about a 7 hr. stretch, but I'm still so grateful!) so I don't need naps anymore and that in itself is a wonderful thing! I can finally accomplish something during the day again! Anyway, I feel like this week Aubrey has really started getting into predictable sleeping patterns and she's going to sleep without being rocked or carried around in the Sleepy Wrap. I still rock her to sleep at least once a day because I love doing it and I know this time is going by fast, but it's nice to know why she's crying now and have the freedom to just go lay her down and watch her fall asleep on her own!

I did want to update on the house, but Aubrey is crying right now so I'll have to save that for another time!

Our Life From the Past Two Weeks... Finally in PICTURES!!!

Here's our life over the past two weeks... it seems like it's been longer than that, but just two weeks ago we still had a home to call our own =) Here's our little helper putting the finishing touches into the trailer to move it to the Lockhart's... notice the bracelets on her wrist. Everyone knows you need at least two bracelets to wear for a serious move!

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me..." and with my Sleepy Wrap. My Mommom got this for me as a gift and it has made my life so much easier! Aubrey loves being in it and I have my hands free to pack, unpack, change diapers, clean up, grocery shop, do laundry, make dinner... yea, she could pretty much be in there all day if I'm not careful! She always goes to sleep when she's in there and I love having her that close to me but still being able to be productive!

Every helper needs a cowboy hat!

We had a "Going Away/Baby Shower" for our friends the Williams. They showed up and Jason made the announcement that it was just a baby shower... they are staying for another year!! I burst into tears when I heard this news! I can't believe we get to keep our good friends for another year! They were supposed to go to Edwards AFB in California at the end of June, but God heard all of our cries and Jason ended up getting to go to school here so we get to keep them for another year! That means we'll get to know this little one, little Eli, who still hasn't appeared, but should be here any day! This is a great picture of Madison and Aubrey and their friend Eli... when are you coming out, little buddy??

I love Mackenzie's face in this picture... she's like "Mommy look... Aubrey has a purple tongue!" And yes, Aubrey did have a purple tongue. We were trying to treat her naturally for thrush so my friend Shana gave me violet to put on her tongue (she used it for her daughter and it worked for her)... man that stuff makes a mess! Oh well... at least it worked!

Mackenzie was trying to clap for Aubrey in this picture... I can't wait until they grow up and laugh at all of these absurd pictures their mother took of them... Aubrey's going to be like, "Mom, why'd you let her do that to me??"
Mackenzie was growing quite the baby mullet as my sister so kindly pointed out (I'm glad she did too... I was kinda oblivious!) So she and I had a special day together and went to visit Sarah for haircuts. Mackenzie sat so bravely and so still in Sarah's chair. Her little bob is so precious!
Aubrey had her first bottle and took it very well!
The rest are just from random photo shoots I've been doing of the two of them... I'm trying to get a good picture, but they just don't sit still long enough!

Unexpected News...

Wow... I'm glad I wrote what I wrote earlier today about God knowing and providing for our needs because... we just found out that the house we thought we were moving into on June 15th just received a higher offer. Even though we signed contracts, the sellers were still allowed to accept a higher offer since it was a short sale. So again... we are homeless!

Jake and I are doing really well. We both feel that God is at work and we are trusting that He has a place for us. We don't know what His plan is, but we know He only has our best in mind. This process is growing our faith tremedously and even if it only for us to learn how to approach things more as a team, we are grateful for our loving God who is at work in our hearts and in this process with us AND for us!

My Second Mother's Day

My second Mother's Day was wonderful! Last Mother's Day I was nursing and whoever would have thought I'd be nursing a new baby this Mother's Day? God is so good!

This weekend was great with the Women's Weekend at church! My dad gave a wonderful message on "Why the Church Needs Women" on Friday night followed by a great girlie game that Amy made... it was just like "Scene-It", but it was a total girlie edition! Then Aubrey and I slept over at Sherie's house with a few of our friends that night... we stayed up late talking and Aubrey did a great job sleeping through the night until 6 a.m. the next morning! We had a delicious breakfast at the Westin the next morning before hearing my mom share on "The High Calling of the Valiant Woman"... I was so encouraged by her message and also by the testimonies of the three ladies that shared after she did. I was reminded throughout my mom's message and through their testimonies that everything we go through is for a reason... this crazy season I'm in (not taht it compared at all to Maira, Jenna, or Lisa's testimonies) is bigger than just me. God is at work, not only in my own heart and in the hearts of my husband and children, but He is going to use this experience to allow me to encourage others when they experience times of transition as well. I'll be able to encourage them, as I've been encouraged by so many who have gone before me, that God is faithful! He has a plan and everything we need, He will be faithful to give. If I needed a house of my own right now (or a minivan or a husband with normal work hours) I would have it, but God knows what He is doing and it is for my good! I can't believe how far God has brought us... Jake and I experienced a lot of conflict after Mackenzie was born as we made that transition, but here we are a year and a half later with another new baby and way more transition in our lives and we are doing really well together! We're approaching everything as a team and not taking our frustration out on each other! God is so good and He is at work!

This week at church Aubrey will be dedicated... Jake is working hard to get our computer to work so hopefully I'll be able to post pictures of it! She is doing so many new things... smiling and "talking." Mackenzie continues to be a wonderful big sister! She is so kind to Aubrey... she is always giving Aubrey her "Paci" and piling books on top of her for her to "bead" (as she calls "reading"). Her favorite book right now is her big sister book, we must read that 20 times a day! Mackenzie is also very into Hannah's tea set and we have tea at least 3 times everyday... she is so kind, she always makes sure Aubrey gets some too! We just switched over all her clothes yesterday... she has so many pretty dresses, I love that I have two girls! Aubrey officially outgrew her newborn stuff and has moved into her 0-3 month clothes... it really feels like it's going so fast and I just want her to be my baby forever!

Without a Glitch!

We sold our home without a glitch on Thursday!! The only glitches fell in our favor and we ended up getting a little extra money at the end! It is so hard to believe that we're never going to be "going home" to Oakview Village again and we definitely got teary-eyed walking down the driveway one last time. God has been so kind to us, providing us with a home to live in for four years... there are so many memories there, it was hard to say goodbye! Not only did Jake transform it into a beautiful home for us with his wonderful handyman skills, but we brought home two babies to that house! We are so grateful to the Lockhart's for letting us live in their house and so grateful for my parents for letting us live in their basement (my mom has been rearranging everything ever since she heard we definitely would be there June 1st) and grateful to Jake's parents who offered us their rental property to live in while we looked (Jake just thought 1000 miles might be a long commute to work!)... through this whole transition, God has blessed us abundantly and there are so many tangible examples of that!

Aubrey is changing so much, but until Jake hooks up our computer I can't upload any pictures!! She is doing a great job sleeping... a good night is 11:30 to 5, but this morning she stretched that to 5:30!! Mackenzie is really doing a great job with all of these adjustments. She loves it when I hold her and Aubrey and sing to them before she goes to bed, she puts her arm around her sister and everytime I get teary-eyed!