Sometimes there are no words...

Only Silly Pictures!

A last Hoorah in North West Arkansas

Hope and I went to visit John this week in NWA. He was there working on a project, and Hope has been dying to go on a trip to go swimming in Daddy's "Holytel." We swam and swam and swam. I didn't take any pictures...I just decided to enjoy the moments instead of worrying about taking pictures. She had a blast and we enjoyed swimming with daddy in the evenings, but it was a really special time for Hope and I during our morning swim when it was just the two of us. Between her being 3 and my current moods, I feel like I just fuss at her all of the time. It was nice to just have fun with her with out fussing at her all the time. It was a great last trip before our world changes in the next few weeks!

We also got to spend time with one of my best friends, Kelly and her husband Brandon. Hope took to Kelly really quickly and had LOTS to tell her. Come see us soon Kelly and Brandon (and Chloe!)

We all met up with one of John's good friends Adam and his wife Cyndi for dinner one night. Cyndi has been feeding John home cooked meals when he has been in town for work. I know he is grateful for the good food, I just hope he doesn't start expecting it at home! ha! Thanks for feeding him Cyndi! And for letting him build his ego by showing you all his skills on Guitar Hero!

Noah Red

The secret is out! Noah's middle name is Red. It is in honor of John's dad Roy, whose initials are RED. It was really important to John that the boy be named after his dad in some way because his dad is such a great man. We had the chance to tell Roy last weekend, so we can now share with all of you. We pray that Noah has Roy's kind spirit.

Easter Afternoon

We have some fun Easter traditions in our family. We have an annual get together at my sister's house. We always have good food, fun stuff for the kids, and some fun competitions for everyone.

We have an annual Easter Egg decorating contest. This is the most serious of competetitions. We have a kids division and an adult division. Everyone decorates a blown out egg, names it, and enters it. John takes this competition very seriously! He was up all night perfecting his egg. My egg this year was by far the easiest I have ever done, so I was not "egg-specting" it to win.

John's egg this year was "Eggbert Einstein" complete with a chalkboard that said "e=mc2."

Mine was Egg-specting a Miracle" in honor of the baby boy. Not my best work, but I was thinking surely I would get some "Awwww votes" Not so. this is way to serious for that!

Sadly, I only have pictures of our eggs. John came in second, and I came in 3rd. Betty was the big winner with her "John Deere Treggtor" that was pulling jelly beans. Some honorable mentions were Egg-stentions, Pegglegg Pete, Egg Head, Deviled Egg, Eggstreme sports...(sorry if I left out your egg) Riley and Julia tied in the children's catergory for Egg Salad and Egguana!

We also have a money Easter Egg Hunt that adults can participate in too. We all bring our change and fill up eggs. This year, we decided to leave it to the kiddos and let them get all the money eggs. Hope was so busy hunting eggs, she couldn't take time to pull her pants up!

Easter Morning

Hope was excited to see that the Easter Bunny had left treats in her basket Easter Morning. We really hadn't talked much about the Easter Bunny, so we had to give her the run down right before she went to bed the night before. John's parents came and stayed the night Saturday, but somehow we didn't get any pictures of them. I was not feeling well, so I will blame it on that. They did get to see her get her Easter treats and Hope loved having them here when she woke up.

The Easter Bunny brought hope her first ever box of Peeps. Mommy is completely disgusted by them, but Hope really enjoyed the special treat. She also got a green swimsuit she has had her eye on at Target. She says it has a tutu.

And, just so that no one says the belly has not been documented fairly, consider it done. I actually consented to a picture after church.

Professional Spring Pics

We were very lucky that our favorite professional photographer was at Hope's school this year taking Spring Pics. Picture This has taken Hope's picture since she was a little bitty newborn baby. Here are a few from the session.

More Pictures at the Old Mill

The many faces of Hope

John brought up a very good point while we were looking through the pictures. He said she makes a different face in every picture. Here are some of our favorite silly faces of Hope.

Easter Pics with the cousins

They were very in to "Striking a pose" for the camera!

Every year we

have the girls pictures taken together in their Easter dresses. There are some good ones, and some goofy ones. Here are just a few of the many that were taken today!

It's beginning to look like a baby is coming!

My mom finished the bedding this week, so here's a peek at it! I had a little um, break down this weekend, and my sweet sister and mother came to the rescue to help me put the baby's room together. Now I just like to walk in there and look around. It calms me down! We just have some finishing touches left to do now!

This week my doctor said that he would deliver the baby a little early. He says 5 more weeks! That is the week of April 21st! About a month away! Hope was a 37 weeker, too, although I expect him to be bigger because of my gestational diabetes (or livebetes or sugarbetes as John says.) Hope was 6 lbs 11 oz. I guess we shall see!

Hope and Wrangler

We had a fun visit from April, Susan and Wrangler this week. (Ok, well I am not sure if they had fun...I am just not very fun right now!) But, it was really really good to see them and spend time with them. Wrangler was a tiny puppy when we left Texas, and now he is huge! (April commented that he was probably thinking the same thing about me!) Here are some pictures of Hope and Wrangler before the move, and this week. April and her mom have some more pics from the trip, so I will put some of those up if they will be kind enough to send me some!

Uncle Ross

We recieved these pictures of Hope's Uncle Ross today. It was good to see him being his odd self! We love you, Rossaroo!

Easter Egg Hunt 2008

Hope was very excited about our church Easter Egg Hunt. She ran off 3 times before it actually began, putting eggs in her basket as fast as she could before her mommy or daddy could catch her. (Where does she get her lack of patience from?)

Then, after you get 10 eggs, you are supposed to stop, wait for everyone to get 10, then go find more. Hope quickly found her 10 eggs, her daddy told her we had to stop, and she started crying saying, "But my basket is not full!" She has some issues! We were able to find a few more when everyone else had found 10, and then she was way excited about seeing what was in them, so there were no more tears!

And, just for you, another giant belly shot. That will be the last you see of that!

A Shower for Noah

Andrea, Betty and Jennifer gave a shower for Noah on Saturday. I can now say I feel like I am ready for Noah. We really got everything that we needed. We are very blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Hope wanted cupcakes oh so badly. We kept telling her she had to wait for everyone to get there. As soon as the first guest arrived she said "can we have them now?!" She grabbed her cupcake, grabbed a seat, said "Happy Birthday Noah" and took a bite!

Somehow, someone caught me on camera, so if you are looking for a belly shot, this is as close as it will get.

Hot Chocolate

Hope enjoyed her very first cup of hot chocolate after coming in from the snow.

Adventures in Snowman Building

Hope and Daddy had big plans for a snowman. It was really funny to watch. Just when they would almost complete him, he would crash down. (See picture #2!) They were finally successful and we managed to get inside before he fell (he fell shortly after, though!)

This Girl Loves the Snow!

She was throwing snow at her daddy and her mitten flew off!