Crazy May

May is BY FAR the busiest month of life we've had around here in a while.  It's was all fun and exciting stuff, but EVERYTHING happens in May!  Did anyone else feel this way?

We had Liam's 4th birthday and birthday party, Mother's Day, Nora's ballet recital, Liam's last week of preschool for this school year, and Nora's last days and her Kindergarten Graduation.  Two days later we left town to head down to New Orleans (WOOHOO!) for a visit with my family and some friends.  Add in here and there graduation rehearsals, doctors appointments, friends with babies being born, occasional sickness, playdates with friends, Care Group, and visiting with family.....and we were some BUSY PEOPLE!

(Have I taken pictures of nearly HALF of this stuff????  NO!)

As I think about our month and all that this past (school) year has entailed, I cannot help but be thankful for so much.  This has been a wonderful experience:  our co-op, homeschooling, preschool for Liam, lots of individual time with Stella.  Our children have changed so much since August, and I am so thankful for the tools the Lord has used in our lives to being bring these changes about.

Let me update more about a few recent things and goings-on of the family:

I am currently 19 weeks pregnant with baby #4!  This pregnancy is going by so incredibly fast, but we are really anticipating the arrival of our little one.  The pregnancy has been really smooth, and I just this past week began to definitively feel the baby move (which is by FAR my most favorite part of pregnancy).  In fact, Jonathan was able to feel a few kicks for the first time.  What a miracle life is!


Stella B just turned 2 on Sunday! I am kind of in denial about this, and I will insist on snuggling her and cuddling her and rocking her and treating her like a 12 month old instead of a two-year-old for a little while longer.  Stella is definitely starting to come into her own opinion, as most little two-year-olds do, but she is still the sweetest and cuddliest and funniest little booger we know.

Liam turned four in May (as I mentioned above) and had a fabulous birthday and party.  We celebrated with a few friends at a bounce house with some Transformer cupcakes and a few gifts.  He is SUPER into Rescue Bots these days so with the help of my parents, we were able to get him his favorite six Transformers: Blades, Boulder, Heatwave, Chase, Bumblebee, and Optimus Prime.  He is one proud boy!  (By the way, he often calls them "France-chormers" instead of "Transformers" which is the cutest thing ever.  I will not ever correct him and most often I say it incorrectly because I so love how he says it).  He finished up preschool a few weeks ago, and so far it doesn't seem that he is one bit upset to leave behind his friends and teachers.  He does occasionally talk about Pre-K next year, but I think he is just ready to play and enjoy the summer.

Nora, on the other hand, is super sad that school is ending.  She absolutely LOVES school and her friends and teachers.  It's been hard for the her the past few weeks because she realizes that she is not going back to Cedar Springs next year and won't be going on with her group of friends.  I hate this for her, but we are also super-pumped about Paideia and all that the Lord has in plan for her (and our family as a whole) next year.  We will still have lots of opportunities to see and hang out with her friends from CSWS, but I definitely understand her sadness. We have been so blessed by Nora's two teachers this year who have invested so deeply into her!

Last month was also Nora's ballet recital and she was a beauty!  I took lots of pictures and Jonathan recorded it, so I need to try to upload those soon.  All I'll say is that while she looked so beautiful and graceful, Nora has not quite FULLY grasped the concept of gracefulness.  She was so passionate about her dance, but it wasn't what I'd say graceful, slow, smooth, dainty.  If she had a turn, she would whirl and whip around with all of her might, and she'd do it very quickly.  It was so precious watching her because she was having so much fun and enjoyed every minute of being on stage.  It was so fun to watch her!

Jonathan and I celebrate our anniversary on the 22nd....9 years!  (Confession:  I just typed eight.  Eight years.  Then I had to stop and do the math).  It's been NINE YEARS!  Cuh-razy that we are almost to ten years of marriage. Our anniversary fell in the midst of Graduation, so we didn't really get to celebrate as it occurred, but we definitely made up for it by going out to dinner at Commander's Palace in New Orleans during our trip there last week.  I'll update more on that delicious meal another time.

Well, truth be told, I started this post in late May but never got it posted because my computer is soooooo uncooperative when it comes to uploading pics lately.  I decided to just edit the post as in the past since it is now JUNE, and forget the pics.  I'll try again another day!  Till then.