To Our Dear Friends From Our Bay Minette Church...

who have started following our blog and/or sent us e-mails:

We promise we love and miss you, too!!! :)

Things have been crazy at the Lane house, but we PROMISE to start keeping in touch!

We feel like meanies for not being better about keeping in touch and getting back to you!

Thanks for not forgetting about us--- because we haven't forgotten about you and think/talk about you often!

Warning--- This Is a Complete Bragging Post! :)

Okay, so I just had to take a minute and brag about Emily's incredible vocabulary. Since she began really talking at about 18 months old, it's been amazing! She says the most awesome things, all the time!

Just yesterday, we were in The Dollar Tree, and she wanted to see a toy. Looking at it, she realized it wasn't what she thought it was and said, "Oh. It looked familiar."

When I was in my OB's office after my D & C in March, Dr. Nelson was so impressed because Emily said, "Mama, you're not pregnant anymore?"

Her vocabulary is just so wonderful! And I know I am biased, but others (including her doctors) are always commenting on it, and it makes me so proud! :)

Okay, so I'll stop bragging for today... I just couldn't help but do a little! :)

What We Face

There are so many things a couple considers when choosing a home. For Josh and I, when we were looking at homes in Meridian in late April/early May last year, one of the primary things we considered was, "What does our backyard face?" What does the place where our child(ren) will play and we as a family will live life, face?

So, for those who haven't seen it, here's what our backyard looks like--- and what it faces:

God's majestic creation... his beautiful, serene nature... complete with a lake beyond the trees and deer running through our back (and front!) yard. :)

A Wonderful Anniversary Present!

For our wedding anniversary in March, one of our favorite couples at church, Ted and JoAnn, told us they wanted to do our flowerbeds for us. As soon as the weather cooperated, they were out in my yard, making it beautiful!!

When Josh and I bought the house almost a year ago, JoAnn, Ted, and some others at the church cleaned up our yard for us, and ripped out ALL the bushes in the front (except the two tall ones on either side of the windows) at my request (they were ugly, prickly holly bushes).

So, our front yard has been "bare" ever since, until JoAnn and Ted blessed us with beautiful landscaping! It was a few days of hard work, not to mention all the plants/flowers/mulch they bought. They even filled my planter by the front door with a new flowering plant!

We love our yard!!! By the way, I forget the names of all the plants, but I do know the ones in front of the rocking chairs are twice-blooming Azaleas. :)

Pizza with Some Fine Folks

After Emily and I got our haircut this morning, I went to the library and registered Emily for the Summer library program ("Be Creative @ Your Library") and then picked up pizza for everyone and met Josh and Emily at the church, where a few of our members were hard at work preparing for our Walk for Renewal event this Saturday.

We have such a great group of people at Trinity!

Emily and Ms. Nancy.

JoAnn and Ted with Shirley.

Mr. Ted! :)

My Baby Girl.

Emily's Haircut

I dropped the ball as a Mama when it came to documenting Emily's first haircut three years ago--- I don't think I have a single picture of the event, nor the exact date it happened!

So... enter today, when I took some very cute pictures of her getting her haircut this morning. Ms. Mavis, a hairdresser in our church, cuts our hair and does such a nice job. Emily begs every time we go to get hers cut, but she really only needs it every six weeks or so.

The last picture is her new 'do, looking almost straight, because it is still wet... but, don't worry, Grammy, it's curlier than ever! :)

Luxury Vehicle, Anyone?

Here is Emily cleaning/riding a couple of the riding toys Grammy and Grampy have gotten her.

Wonder if she'd detail my Bravada for me? :)

P.S.--- Yes, the two ugly babies are the ones that were mine when I was little; the ones my husband calls "butt-ugly". :) Emily loves them, though, as you can see!

Mother's Day 2009--- I Am So Grateful to Be Her Mama!!

Thank you, God, for making me Emily's Mama.

Thank you, God, for trusting me with her life.

Thank you, God, for reminding me to enjoy each day with her.

Thank you, God, for this privilege!

Emily on May 10th, 2009 (Mother's Day).

The First Time We've Seen Emily Draw People!

On Friday, Emily was sitting in her bed, drawing. I went in to give her kisses, and she proudly showed me her picture--- of her and Daddy! This is the first time we have seen her draw people! It was such a neat moment! Daddy is the one with the spiky hair, by the way. :)

Back in the Swing of Things...

After our week-long hiatus, Emily and I did school today.

Homeschooling, while exhausting, is just so much fun! :)

Today one of the things we did was "Marshmallow Math" and "Chocolate Bar Fractions" (math activities I made up--- Grammy, be proud!). Need I explain why this was fun??

And something Emily said this afternoon that melted my heart:

I was asking her Daddy if I should grow out my bangs. I pulled back my bangs to show him what I'd look like, and Emily immediately put her hands on my face and said, "No, don't do that! Then you won't look like Mama!" So, of course, the bangs are here to stay!!! :)

She also told me today as she danced/skipped in my bedroom how "you have to walk before you can do these cool moves!" :) Could she be any cuter???

Where We've Been...

Hi!

Just wanted to let ya'll know we haven't dropped off the face of the Earth! :)

Josh and I have been at the 2009 Mississippi District Council of the Assemblies of God this past week. It was held here in Meridian, but we were gone from morning 'till night, so obviously no blogging or homeschooling was happening! :)

Emily had a great week (Tuesday-Thursday) with Ms. Shirley, one of our favorite ladies from church. She is the one who babysits most often for us, and she really worked her tail off this week for us! How grateful we are for church members who step in and fill the gap since we don't have any family nearby! She is truly a special lady.

I am planning on homeschooling Emily this coming week, and we will be doing the book Madeline, another story set in France... Grampy would be smiling from ear-to-ear! :)

A big thank you to Aunt D.D., who sent Emily the incredibly neat book B is for Buckeye! How fun!! Emily will learn so much from it, too!

Have a happy day, everyone!