Aubrey's First Gifts

I am reminded each day of how much people that surround our family love us unconditionally and take delight in us, even if we hardly know them. It compels me to want to be more Christlike in many ways; but in these instances, I want to show and take the time to communicate what someone means to me or our family.

A lady at our church whom I've become very fond of for her volunteerism, her can-do attitude, and her desire to just serve regardless of how it may inconvenience her, gave me Aubrey's first presents today. I don't think she can be inconvenienced. (Now, this is an attitude I struggle with immensely and which my husband does a great job reflecting for me. Sometimes I wonder how someone could not feel inconvenienced - that shows the extent to which I struggle with it!) Anyways, and she's not one of those meek people who you wish would stand up for themselves. Oh no, she's got a voice and the height to match! But she enjoys serving. So, she helped me a bunch with our church directory a couple of months ago and she and Ellie became 'tight'! It didn't hurt that Ellie always got a lollipop from her! Well, she surprised me with her generosity and immense talent with this beautiful basket of custom, handmade items for Aubrey and Ellie.
In this basket are: 2 bunnies with each girls initials on them, the burp cloth you see with Aubrey's initials - which I love, in part because they are very familiar: they remind my of my sister's maiden initials which were AED and Aubrey's are AEW, 2 white pillows with white trim with each of the girls initials, 2 pairs of matching socks: one for Ellie and one for Aubrey with lace sewn on, 2 dresses for Ellie: one with her initials and the other with 'Big Sister', and the most beautiful crocheted dress and booties for Aubrey - that Rhonda made!!!! She told me she used to sell this stuff and let me tell you, she does amazing work! Here they are (pics don't do justice):What a blessing to have this new, precious friend in our lives! Thank you, Rhonda!!

Faith Challenge

Since doing a study this summer called "Give Me 40 Days" by Freeda Bowers, I've really been challenged on a few things. I've been challenged to get up and spend at least 40 minutes praying every day. If that's not hard enough, I am supposed to just pray for other people's needs, or other people, not my own needs. It's so hard to not focus on yourself; but it's so rewarding to focus on others. I've really enjoyed not getting quite so wrapped up in my own stuff! I've been challenged to pray truly believing that God will answer and he will provide. Not just that he can; but he will. He promises that to us. Hebrews 11:6, Philippians 4:19, etc. I guess it's hard for us to believe that all the time because our minds can't comprehend it. When we as humans let each other down so much or aren't able to meet our own needs or the needs of others, it's hard to believe that someone can and will! He has all the power to provide for us - we just have to have faith to call on that power, believing that he will - he truly will.

I subsribed to the Proverbs 31 Ministries devotionals a couple of years ago and get one in my inbox each day. There have only been a handful that didn't really apply to my current situation; but they all have been awesome. If you're not already subscribed, I would encourage you to do so Here. I like to print the more applicable ones and do extensive devotions on them. Today's was entitled "Running by Faith" and it was incredible. When I linked to the author's blog (Tracie Miles), she had an article about her devotional and is doing a 5-day Faith Challenge starting TODAY! You can sign up to be a part of the challenge and list your blog, or just list your name. I kind of took this as a sign from God that he is ushering me into a deeper faith and dependence on Him, since I was already on the subject in my current devotion! If Faith is something you struggle with, then sign up to take this challenge with me. I can't wait to see what God does!

My Friend Maddie

Apparently we've entered the world of imaginary friends - at almost three! I guess I thought this came later; but it's happened. Ellie's friend is Maddie. She knows a girl named Maddie and had been talking about going to her house A LOT. Well, we hadn't been to Maddie's house in quite some time, so that got us thinking that there was another Maddie that we didn't know about! We started asking questions like where does Maddie live and what's Maddie doing right now. Does Maddie have any brothers and sisters, etc. Her answers, and the fact the she would start talking about her like she was right there playing with her led us to believe that Maddie is an imaginary friend. Fortunately, they just like to have fun together and Maddie is not telling her to do anything bad or even disobedient. They go swimming together and play with Ellie's toys. They've even been to Hollywood! (I think Ellie learned of Hollywood through the VBS theme at church this summer!) I don't know if I had an imaginary friend - mom will have to tell me; but I can see where the time just before baby sister arrives might be a ripe time to develop a friend. It's really cute and we try to embrace it and not be afraid of it. I haven't read up on it yet; but I think that's what you're supposed to do. Here's an article about it if anyone else is going through this right now.

Summer Projects

I've been busy lately doing a few projects around the house. There's a whole other list that I'll begin working on soon that's all centered on Baby Aubrey's arrival; but these are not part of that mile-long list! My mom will be happy to see that I've finally done something with that fabric I bought while shopping with her back in November! I made valances for the kitchen and dining room and plan to make some pillows as well. The curtains hanging in the dining room were ones we already had and complimented the fabric very well. If you haven't seen my dining room, it's definitely been a work in progress over the time that we've lived here. It's finally come together this year with a hutch, beautiful black chairs from Wood-U that my brother painted and a black iron chandelier with champagne shades. We just need to add a chair rail and paint the bottom tan and we'll be done!


I've been growing herbs in my kitchen window sill since Brian got me these cute little chalkboard painted planters from Pottery Barn for Christmas last year. You can kind of see them in the kitchen picture above, although they're empty because I need to plant more. And this is why:

The little planters are only good for starting seed and then you need to move them to bigger planters to mature. So, Ellie and I did some painting - I did the letters and tried my best to just let her do the rest! I got the idea to let Ellie paint pots from her friend, Mary Kate's, mom and thought it would be perfect for my hopefully flourishing herb garden! So far I've got Basil, Lavender and Oregano. Next to seed: Thyme, Rosemary, Dill, Cilantro, Chives and Fennel.

Finally, we've got quite a few birthday parties in one week, which means we've got to keep the cost low; but the present thoughtful. So, I thought I'd make (or decorate) canvas bags for all four girls - thank goodness there's no boys or that would throw a kink in the plan! Ellie got one for her birthday last year and we've used it to carry her books, toys, etc. whenever she comes to my office, we go to the doctor or wherever. I love passing down good gift ideas, so here's what I did. Hope they like them and get as much use out of them as we have!

Happy 4th!

We had a great 4th of July this year. After a relaxing day, we ventured over to our great friend's - The McKee's - new house for a cookout and swimming. Then, we walked down the street to watch their neighborhood fireworks. It was a pretty good show and Ellie had been looking forward to it all day. She loves the fireworks. Apparently, she loved the moment so much that she was not shy to give Ryan plenty of hugs and back scratches during the show! I didn't take pictures this year; but Stephanie did and you can see them here. The little shirt Ellie has on was a dress last year:

Wow - she's grown! Look at the short hair!

What's in a Name?

Until about a week ago, we thought we had the name of our next baby girl all set. Macie Elizabeth sounded like a great, cute name and it went with Ellie pretty well too. I'd had that name picked out for a couple of years and was so thrilled to be able to use it. That was until we re-evaluated what it would sound like as an adult - it's plenty cute for a girl; but as a woman? Everyone has their own set of criteria by which they pick out baby names. For some, you start with family names and determine whether to use any of those. If not, you may decide to let the husband choose the name if it's a boy and the wife if it's a girl or switch it the other way. Some people lean toward Biblical names while others pick names of modern-day famous people whom they admire. Some lean heavily on the meaning while others don't worry too much about it as long as the name is perfect. Do we like romantic or cutesie, Southern or ethnic such as Spanish or French. Should all of our children's names start with the same initial? Ugh!!! It really is quite a chore and many faithful couples end up dropping the conversation until they feel ready to talk about it again. After all - this is serious. This is how people will perceive our child. Will they be teased or given obvious nicknames? Will they be taken seriously as an adult? With so many things to consider, we have actually changed our new baby's name. And this is it! I am not one to be able to wait until the baby arrives - there's monogramming to be done! The new name is...

Aubrey Elizabeth Wolfe
We can't wait to meet her - and neither can Ellie!