a fun update!

I have done a really poor job of updating our blog...I've been extra tired and a little sick to my stomach...but I am feeling much better now...because I'm almost at the end of my first trimester of pregnancy!!! We are expecting Baby Lee #2 in January 2009 :) We are so excited and thankful to the Lord for giving us this sweet gift of another child! He/She is the product of our prayers and our friends and family's prayers....so praise the Lord!

In other news...Jada (the big sis) is talking up a storm and is really becoming her own little person. A funny story, we were at "The Farm Patch" yesterday, a local fruit and veggie store. The sweet old man that runs it brought Jada a banana to eat while we were shopping. She took it gladly, said "Tay Too" (translated Thank you) then blew him a kiss....all without any prompting from mom. The sweet man loved it too:) I have attached some recent photos I took of Jada.

Our good friends, the Cavins, are moving to Tennessee on Saturday. They are truly like family to us and we are really mad at them for moving...just kidding, but we will miss them like crazy. Jada and Sam, their son, are great friends and Jada will miss Sam a lot too. We really are excited about what the Lord has in store for the Cavin family in Tennessee...Drew earned his PHD at A&M and is going to be a professor at a school there. So, we love you Cavins...you'll be missed! I have attached a couple of fun photos of Sam from our photo shoot the other day...the last one is a bit too symbolic to not be staged!

our fun weekend!

Brian and I celebrated our 6th anniversary, the Hollands visited and Jada loves her princess towel...How is that for a summary?

For our anniversary, My mom and Mike surprised us with a beautiful new grill! I had actually planned to get Brian a grill but Mike decided to bless us with the grill that he would choose for himself..which happens to be a much nicer grill than the one we would be able to buy! So...THANKS again and check out how much meat this grills at once!

Our friends, the Hollands stayed with us this weekend and Jada LOVES Faith, Jacob, and Carissa! I think Jacob wins the best entertainer award for the weekend...almost everything Jacob did would make Jada giggle, laugh and then belly-laugh! They had so much fun.

And the final pic is a precious pic with a fun story...our wonderful friends, the Phinney's, really love Jada in fun ways. Their youngest daughter Becca decided that Jada would really like her princess towel...so she was so generous and gave Jada her princess towel! This weekend we put the towel to use and we think the gift is a hit! Jada loved it...seriously, she just wanted to keep it on (unlike her normal towels). So, THANKS Becca! We love you.

Jada's first hair cut...

Today was Jada's very first hair cut...really it was a hair trim, but it was a success! Mary, our hair stylist was wonderful. Jada sat on my lap, ate M&M's and got her hair beautifully cut! Here are some photos of our time today. I will post some "after" shots soon so that you can see her new do!

seriously...

I just had to post these funny pics...Jada was "helping" with the laundry all while enjoying her paci and wearing her sunglasses inside :)

So...30, new camera, and Jada is pretty cool...

So this past week I officially entered my 30's! I was overwhelmed with love and really thankful for the ways God has totally given me more than I could ever imagine. Brian threw a surprise party for me which was a total surprise and then I was able to go on a "personal retreat" with one of my friends, Sarah Brown. It was refreshing in the Lord and in rest! So, 30 is not so bad :) Last week I got a new camera as well! For any of you photo friends, it is a Nikon d300 so there is quite a lot for me to learn! I finally took it out of the box and got to play a little today and oh how fun!!! Jada was the subject of my experiments and she did wonderfully! She is sporting her new look with a low pony-tail which I think makes her look so much older! This month is kinda crazy for all of us around here...Brian's birthday is next week so it is a fun birthday month! Anyway...love you guys and enjoy the pics...and by the way, my arms are not that strangely long :) but I thought it was kinda fun!

Jada these days...

Thought I'd update the blog with some new pics of Jada playing in the kitchen...she is definitely a little girl...loves to "help" in the kitchen!

Grammy and Grumpy's Birthday Weekend!

We just returned from a great weekend visiting Brian's family. Brian/aka: Grampa Grumpy's birthday was Saturday and Sue/aka: Grammy's birthday was Sunday! It was a full weekend of birthday celebrations, playing and catching up. Jada had a great time with her 4 year old cousin Madyson. They sat at their own table, rode in a fun wagon, played on the swing and of course, played fetch with Samson! These are a few pics from the weekend!

a little catch up...

Wow, this year has really been great...just crazy busy! Jada girl has grown so much and is doing so many fun things!!! She is repeating a lot of words, she has said "Hi" to all of her toys and just about everyone at any store...when she wakes up I walk into her room to get her and she just smiles and says "Hi." It's pretty darn cute! She also got a new wagon b/c she is obviously too mature for her baby stroller :) and she has LOVES it.

These pics are from two weekends ago. It was Mike's birthday and he wanted to take Jada to the park to feed the ducks...it was truly a lot of fun, the ducks were certainly not shy about their love for the bread and they especially liked Jada b/c she would throw whole pieces of bread at them!! After she finished successfully feeding the ducks the whole loaf, we walked through the park and read a sign that says "Please don't feed the ducks"...oops!

We're cookin'

My mom and Mike totally shocked us with a wonderful Christmas gift of a new stove...our good friend Terry came and helped finish the gas installation stuff...isn't it beautiful!!!!?????!!!! We are so thankful...I will be even more thanful when I cook my first meal and the burner doesn't turn off in the middle of the meal or when it doesn't decide on it's own to cook on high even when the knob says low :) Thanks Again!!!

what a month!!

So the month of December has been a wonderful and tiring month! Lots of photo shoots, basketball season beginning for Brian and our Jada bug on the go! Through the craziness, we have been blessed with a new family in out lives, the Stanleys. Emily (the Stanley's youngest daughter) is one of Jada's all time favorite people...I thought I would post a pic of them and of course please notice their sweet matching outfits :) Their family has really encouraged us and brought about sweet "community" in our lives.

Also, The Smithers were able to come visit us! We have missed them so much and we were SO happy to spend sweet time together. They always show us more of Christ and when they leave we have so much to "chew on". We really feel loved by them! Cherish (the Smither's youngest daughter) is precious and she quickly won many smiles and excited squeels from our Jada! We gave Cherish a dance costume and she and Jada played and danced...well, Cherish danced while Jada watched and played the music :).

While the Smither's were in town, we were able to connect the Stanley's and the Smithers which was a lot of fun for Evan and Cherish too...they got to play paintball and climb on hay along with lots of other fun things out at the Stanley's property. I thought I would include some cute pics of them :)

We are off to MiMi & Papa's house and then we'll return Christmas eve to celebrate Christmas here...then off to Grammy & Grumpy's after Christmas. It should be a fun week of Jada being spoiled, catching up with family and some much needed rest!

Merry Christmas! -