When I let a lot of time pass between my entries it’s hard to get excited about writing again. I have so many pictures to share, but feel a little unmotivated to write, so hopefully this won’t be too long =) or it may become a novel and you’ll just have to excuse my ramblings.
March came and went just like the rest I feel like. It’s hard to believe how quickly time flies and I know that it will continue to be this way. I am still blown away that we have a two year old. When people ask how old she is I still have to stop and think. We’re out of the “month” stage and just saying “she’s 2” now. She is such a big girl and acts the part so well. She loves wearing tights and her purple high heeled dress up shoes. She calls them her “heels” and wants to wear them all the time. She’s the same way with her tights. I am constantly telling her that it is too warm outside to wear her tights, but she attempts to put them on anyway. It’s not anything worth fighting over, so I just let her play in them. And I’m sure it’s some kind of good fine motor skill to be able to put on tights, right?
She has a mouth full of teeth and tonight I noticed her first 2-year molar is coming in. For those of you who don’t know, Gracie didn’t get her first tooth until she was 15 months old, so I was thinking these molars might be late as well, but it seems she’s doing just fine. The new tooth doesn’t seem to be bothering her and we are thankful for that. Gracie is talking and singing all the time. She is speaking more clearly now and I am pretty good at understanding most of what she says. She loves to sing and is getting pretty good at singing “Jesus Loves Me” and will sing “A, B, C” of the “ABC” song. She’s a funny girl. She laughs all the time and it is a very contagious laugh. She is also very social and likes to talk about her friends often. When I tell her we are going somewhere, like the park, she’ll tell me that she’s going to see her friends. We are still enjoying our Friday playgroup. A lot of the pictures below are from our playgroup.
We had a really good Easter week. Julie and Noah were here all week and then Ryan came to AL on Saturday in time for the Egg Hunt at church. We had a great time hanging out with them. Gracie has become a bit of a bossy older cousin and had a blast ordering Noah around. Gracie did really well playing with Noah (much better than she did when we were out in TX for his birthday) and was very gentle with him. My Mom came to the Egg Hunt with us and it was nice to have her with the whole Cook/Bratcher group. Jason’s Grandmom was also in town and came to the Egg Hunt. I only have a couple of pictures from the Egg Hunt, but I’ll try to get Suzanne’s card this week to get the rest of the pictures. Suzanne also has great pictures from Easter Sunday that I need to post.
This Easter was very different for me. Easter has always been special remembering the sacrifice that Christ made, but I feel like that’s all it’s been, just something to remember. During the weeks before Easter I felt so much conviction about the cross and the hope that it brings. The hope that I have is now a reality for my Dad. I am so thankful that God sent his only Son to die for my sins. I am so comforted in knowing that my Dad is in that perfect place with Christ. I don’t know that I will ever know or understand why my Dad died, but I do know that Christ was and is glorified in his death. Christ died so that we could be saved and have life in Him. We get to experience part of that new life here on earth, but my Dad is experiencing it to the fullest I am sure in Heaven.
I have been reading a Beth Moore devotional journal, "Believing God" and one entry I read at the beginning of this year has really stood out in my mind and heart. The scripture is 1 Peter 1:6-7 You greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Moore writes “We may as well accept faith challenges as a fact of life and not be shocked or feel picked on when they come. God brings them to build our faith, prove us genuine, and afford Himself endless excuses to reward us. He delights in nothing more than our choice to believe Him over what we see and feel. Our ultimate purpose for existence is to please God; therefore, if we don’t exercise faith, we will never fulfill our reason for being.” Please don’t get me wrong, I have been angry with God and wrestled with God over the idea that I no longer have a Father here on Earth, but I come back to the same thing every time-God is good and He is in control. This doesn’t make the pain go away, but it makes me very thankful that God is in control and that God is bigger than me and bigger than what my mind can hold. I have learned that it’s wasted energy on my part to play the “what if” game. At the end I do find comfort in knowing that God is in control and God is with us every step of the way. I have faith in God and know that he will be with us and take care of us. I have to have faith in knowing that God knows what He’s doing, and even if I don’t understand, that’s ok. God has proven Himself faithful so many times in the past and I don’t doubt for one second that He will remain faithful now. In my life I want to remain faithful to God. I want to honor Him and glorify Him in all that I say and do. My prayer continues to be that I would honor God in this situation. This is by far the most difficult thing I have ever been through, but I know that God is at work in me and I am so thankful that He is not done with me yet. Ok, one more verse I want to share that I really feel just sums up what I am thinking. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
I’m sure there is more to update about, but it’s going to have to wait. I’ll try to do better about not letting so much time go by before my next post. I have a lot of pictures and I’ll try to write a little blurb about what’s going on with them. Thanks again for keeping up with us and reading my long ramblings…maybe I should get Jason to write the blogs from now on =)
March came and went just like the rest I feel like. It’s hard to believe how quickly time flies and I know that it will continue to be this way. I am still blown away that we have a two year old. When people ask how old she is I still have to stop and think. We’re out of the “month” stage and just saying “she’s 2” now. She is such a big girl and acts the part so well. She loves wearing tights and her purple high heeled dress up shoes. She calls them her “heels” and wants to wear them all the time. She’s the same way with her tights. I am constantly telling her that it is too warm outside to wear her tights, but she attempts to put them on anyway. It’s not anything worth fighting over, so I just let her play in them. And I’m sure it’s some kind of good fine motor skill to be able to put on tights, right?
She has a mouth full of teeth and tonight I noticed her first 2-year molar is coming in. For those of you who don’t know, Gracie didn’t get her first tooth until she was 15 months old, so I was thinking these molars might be late as well, but it seems she’s doing just fine. The new tooth doesn’t seem to be bothering her and we are thankful for that. Gracie is talking and singing all the time. She is speaking more clearly now and I am pretty good at understanding most of what she says. She loves to sing and is getting pretty good at singing “Jesus Loves Me” and will sing “A, B, C” of the “ABC” song. She’s a funny girl. She laughs all the time and it is a very contagious laugh. She is also very social and likes to talk about her friends often. When I tell her we are going somewhere, like the park, she’ll tell me that she’s going to see her friends. We are still enjoying our Friday playgroup. A lot of the pictures below are from our playgroup.
We had a really good Easter week. Julie and Noah were here all week and then Ryan came to AL on Saturday in time for the Egg Hunt at church. We had a great time hanging out with them. Gracie has become a bit of a bossy older cousin and had a blast ordering Noah around. Gracie did really well playing with Noah (much better than she did when we were out in TX for his birthday) and was very gentle with him. My Mom came to the Egg Hunt with us and it was nice to have her with the whole Cook/Bratcher group. Jason’s Grandmom was also in town and came to the Egg Hunt. I only have a couple of pictures from the Egg Hunt, but I’ll try to get Suzanne’s card this week to get the rest of the pictures. Suzanne also has great pictures from Easter Sunday that I need to post.
This Easter was very different for me. Easter has always been special remembering the sacrifice that Christ made, but I feel like that’s all it’s been, just something to remember. During the weeks before Easter I felt so much conviction about the cross and the hope that it brings. The hope that I have is now a reality for my Dad. I am so thankful that God sent his only Son to die for my sins. I am so comforted in knowing that my Dad is in that perfect place with Christ. I don’t know that I will ever know or understand why my Dad died, but I do know that Christ was and is glorified in his death. Christ died so that we could be saved and have life in Him. We get to experience part of that new life here on earth, but my Dad is experiencing it to the fullest I am sure in Heaven.
I have been reading a Beth Moore devotional journal, "Believing God" and one entry I read at the beginning of this year has really stood out in my mind and heart. The scripture is 1 Peter 1:6-7 You greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Moore writes “We may as well accept faith challenges as a fact of life and not be shocked or feel picked on when they come. God brings them to build our faith, prove us genuine, and afford Himself endless excuses to reward us. He delights in nothing more than our choice to believe Him over what we see and feel. Our ultimate purpose for existence is to please God; therefore, if we don’t exercise faith, we will never fulfill our reason for being.” Please don’t get me wrong, I have been angry with God and wrestled with God over the idea that I no longer have a Father here on Earth, but I come back to the same thing every time-God is good and He is in control. This doesn’t make the pain go away, but it makes me very thankful that God is in control and that God is bigger than me and bigger than what my mind can hold. I have learned that it’s wasted energy on my part to play the “what if” game. At the end I do find comfort in knowing that God is in control and God is with us every step of the way. I have faith in God and know that he will be with us and take care of us. I have to have faith in knowing that God knows what He’s doing, and even if I don’t understand, that’s ok. God has proven Himself faithful so many times in the past and I don’t doubt for one second that He will remain faithful now. In my life I want to remain faithful to God. I want to honor Him and glorify Him in all that I say and do. My prayer continues to be that I would honor God in this situation. This is by far the most difficult thing I have ever been through, but I know that God is at work in me and I am so thankful that He is not done with me yet. Ok, one more verse I want to share that I really feel just sums up what I am thinking. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
I’m sure there is more to update about, but it’s going to have to wait. I’ll try to do better about not letting so much time go by before my next post. I have a lot of pictures and I’ll try to write a little blurb about what’s going on with them. Thanks again for keeping up with us and reading my long ramblings…maybe I should get Jason to write the blogs from now on =)
Spring is here! I love our backyard. We have beautiful blooming dogwoods everywhere!
Gracie really likes stickers. This day she decided to put them all over herself...and me =)
3-22-08
Gracie LOVES being outside and loves being at the park. This trip was with Kim and Claire Ellen. We went the Monday of Spring Break to the park in front of Spain Park High School *great park!!* 3-17-08
Beth and the kids spent the night with us at the beginning of their visit to B'ham. We had a great time and Gracie loved playing with Anna Kate, Lee and Paige. We've planned our trip to NC and are looking forward to staying with the Peterson's while we're there! These two pictures were taken at Moe's. 3-18-08
Gracie showing us her eggs from the egg hunt at Dawson. 3-22-08
Gracie hunting for eggs. She did a great job!
Gracie LOVES being outside and loves being at the park. This trip was with Kim and Claire Ellen. We went the Monday of Spring Break to the park in front of Spain Park High School *great park!!* 3-17-08
Beth and the kids spent the night with us at the beginning of their visit to B'ham. We had a great time and Gracie loved playing with Anna Kate, Lee and Paige. We've planned our trip to NC and are looking forward to staying with the Peterson's while we're there! These two pictures were taken at Moe's. 3-18-08Gracie showing us her eggs from the egg hunt at Dawson. 3-22-08
Gracie hunting for eggs. She did a great job!We went to Aldridge Gardens on Friday with our playgroup. Gracie, Logan and Claire Ellen had fun with the one duck that was brave enough to waddle up to them. They also really seemed to enjoy the pretty flowers and all the water. I promise Gracie had a good time...she just doesn't like to stop for anything! 4-4-08
My Mom and I hosted a Baby Shower for Hannah yesterday here at my house. We had a great time and Hannah and Kai (and Michael, of course) got some great baby stuff! 4-5-08
I took this today after Gracie woke up from her nap. I think "Brown Bear" is her new favorite book. She loves to read and has started reading out loud...very cute.
4-6-08
4-6-08
I painted Gracie's toenails a few days ago. I was so impressed that she sat in my lap and then sat there to let them dry. I think she thought she was so big having her nails painted like Mommy's!
Gracie reading a scratch and sniff Dora book Aunt Julie bought her.
Gracie sniffing the Dora book =)
Gracie reading a scratch and sniff Dora book Aunt Julie bought her.
Gracie sniffing the Dora book =)
Gracie reading "Brown Bear". She says "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? A Yellow Duck" I think she was looking for the yellow duck, but the pages are just so hard to turn =)
2 comments:
Oh.My.Gosh!! She is so big and so cute. I LOVE Gracie Cook's little personality!!
comforted and encouraged this am by your heartfelt msg- the pix are great
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