Disney Day 1

On our first day at Disney we headed to the Magic Kingdom. I have been to Disney a few times in my life and this by far was my favorite trip! I have never been big into the whole Disney gear and pin trading....don't quite understand that...but I would have to say that I am now a huge fan. We are back on a big time budget but Kev said that whatever is left in my envelopes at the end of each month can go into our vacation fund. That is good motivation for me right now!!

Day 1 in front of the castle

The Epps on Ryan's favorite ride..."It's a Small World!"

Eliza thought it was pretty cool!


Life's good when you get carted and carried around the park!

This picture made my whole trip worthwhile...this is when ella first saw the real

Mickey and Minnie. I think she thought the statue in the lobby of our hotel was who we'd came to see...until this moment!

Of course she wasn't a bit shy....why in the world would I have even thought she might be....She grabbed Minnie's hands and began to dance a jig.! Perhaps she was doing the hotdog dance!!

Ella and Mickey!

Say Cheese!

We arrived at the front of the castle a little late for the show. We caught the end of it. A lady ran over my foot with a wheelchair...that had a person riding in it! Ouch!!!

We had 3 nappers who missed the show!

Mommy and ella waiting for the 3:00 Parade! It was hot!! We left after the parade and headed back to the room for a bit!

There is a story behind this one...eliza threw up at dinner. I think she got choked on her baby food! It was a mess....a huge mess. Kev being the super dad that he is agreed to walk back to the room and clean her, her car seat, and meet us back at the restaurant. When he got back I began to laugh so hard...he dressed our little bitty eliza in ella's 3T outfit. It was fine.....it worked...he tried! It was so funny!

Ella was a little more shy with the princesses! I think she was star struck!

I never knew Sleeping Beauty was named Aurora! Did you??

Princess Belle!

We ended the night by watching the fireworks. We were at the back of the park and it was loud and not the best viewing position. It also was super crowded trying to get out of the park and on the monorail. We learned our lesson for the rest of the week. Ella liked the fireworks but was also scared. She kept getting confused on what they were called and kept calling them...firemen and fireplace. It was so funny!

Tune in tom..Day 2 Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom!!

eliza's baby dedication

One of the blessings of having my dad as a pastor has been that he has been the one to dedicate each of our children to the Lord. We dedicated little eliza to the Lord from the first day we saw those two faint pink lines glaring back at us. We knew that it is the Lord who is the giver of life and we trusted Him with her little life. We dedicated her publicly in church on Sunday as a public commitment to teach and train her to know and learn about Jesus. We definitely need the Lord's help to be the kind of parents she needs and to help us as we seek to raise her for Jesus. We pray that she will come to know Christ on her own in a real and personal way and that she will grow to be a strong and pure Godly woman. Oh how I love her!

Eliza at 7 months

Seeing that Eliza is almost 8 months I figured I better get this posted.

Dear Eliza,

You are almost growing so fast. I think I forget how fast you are growing and still think of you as my little newborn. You are growing and changing! You are beginning to crawl by doing an army crawl and can maneuver yourself all over the room. You can say mama and dada....i just might add that you did say mama first! You LOVE your sissy. She makes you laugh and smile more than anyone else. You are most content when mommy is holding you or your tummy is full. You light up when daddy talk to you on the phone! You are such a good baby. You were such a trooper on our vacation to Disney World...you did so good...despite nursing around the park...diaper changes in the stroller and eating on the go.

You have learned how to sign all done...which totally amazed mommy! You picked it up so much faster than I expected. You also waved bye-bye to daddy this morning. I saw it with my own eyes...I have got to see it again before we document it in the baby book! I am always so surprised by you!

I am so thankful that I have been able to nurse you, but mommy is so ready for a break. Not a long break, but maybe just a night away with daddy kind of break. Or a middle of the day kind of break when you'd rather watch and listen to you sissy than eat! Dear little E please learn to drink from your bottle or even your cool new cups. Mommy would be so proud!

I love you little peanut!

MOMMY

Happy Mother's Day!

We just returned home last night from a wonderful vacation to Disney World. I am generally a home body and by the time a vacation is over I am ready to come home and get back to our normal life. Not this time....I'd give anything to do it all over again...even the few stressful, hot and unpleasant moments. It was a much needed getaway. The week prior to going I had been in such a "funk"...for the lack of a better word. I just felt so stressed, grouchy, and blah. It was wonderful to have some time away to enjoy each other. We went with my sister Jess, her hubby and son. It was great to get to spend some good quality time with them....we may not let them return home!! We are surely going to miss them! More...lots more on our vacation...later!! Get ready for picture overload later this week!

I have had a great mother's day today. This morning ella ran into the bathroom and said, " Happy Mother's" and that was it! I guess she forgot the rest of what Kevin prompted her to say. She also took an extra long nap as we are all trying to recover from our vacation late nights...and this mommy was thankful for my long nap today too.

I know for a fact that today is a hard day for some women out there. Four years ago, Mother's Day was especially hard for me. I debated on if I could even make it to church that day. I was a mother...I had carried a baby, delivered a baby, held my baby, and loved my baby...yet my arms and heart were so very empty. We were in the middle of our season of trying desperately to get pregnant. I remember wishing so much that we would have been that day! I deliberated if I should stand when they recognized the mother's in our congregation that morning. Instead I opted to go to the restroom to avoid that portion of the service. I will never forget that a friend followed me knowing the difficulty and sadness I was feeling. I decided that year to always try to write a card for one mother I knew might be having a difficult time that day. Each year the Lord always lays someone different on my heart.

This year we dedicated Eliza at church today. In our hearts, we dedicated her little life back to the Lord the day she was born just as we have each of our children, but we wanted to publicly dedicate her as we feel that is honoring to the Lord. I love that little peanut so much. She is such a sweetheart. Ella calls her our little sweetheart and she is. My heart is so full and so blessed!

Sisters

It's great to have a sissy! Someone to "sit" beside you in life!

Someone to make sure your nose is always clean!

Someone to offer support when the world feels a bit unbalanced.

Someone to share your germs with!

beach day!

neediness

We have had a rough morning around the old house today! I am not sure but, I think ella and I both woke up on the wrong side of the bed. To be honest our day started out with disobedience and then took a nose dive. I hate mornings like that. I say up and she says down. I say yes and she says no. I think it is time to reread the strong willed child for the third time...and keep praying that this is still the terrible two's. The worst part of it all is that I lost my Patience and cool. It was not pretty. Instead of reacting in patience and love I reacted in anger and frustration. We missed my morning bible study because we were running so late. I decided both girls needed good naps and mommy needed to re-group!

I struggle with guilt sometimes over complaining about motherhood. I remember the frustration I felt when I used to hear others complaining about their kids, when I was so desperate to have one. I used to think...why can't they just be thankful. The truth is that being a mother is hard no matter how much you have longed, prayed and yearned to be one. Some days I feel that I lack what it takes to do the job well and if there is one thing in my life I want to do well it is being a mother.

In my frustration and tears this morning, I read this in my quiet time book.
"Come to me with empty hands and an open heart ready to receive abundant blessings. I know the depth and breadth of your neediness. Your life path has been difficult, draining you of strength. Come to Me for nurture. Let me fill you up with My presence. I in you and you in Me.

My power flows most freely into weak ones aware of their need for me. Faltering steps of dependence are not lack of faith; they are links to My Presence. " (Taken from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young pg. 122)

I now feel refreshed, known, and cared for. I feel like we might make it past lunch!