Theme Thursday-GROW

I'm teaming up with Cari from Clan Donaldson for her Theme Thursday "link up" (sorry it's a little late... couldn't get this posted till everyone was finally in bed and I'd finished the "necessities" of the day).  This week's theme is "Grow" and this will be in three parts.

1st:  It's finally starting to look like Spring is sneaking in. 

I love Spring.  I love flowers.  I love how they sneak up on you after the winter's dead has lingered too long.  I love how it happens right around Ressurection time.. as if on cue.  It's as if the Father sends his gardening angels around to remind us that life is full of seasons and death cannot grip our world forever.  It's a great reminder when we're in these seasons in our lives that "Springtime" will be a coming.  Right around Easter those little angels sneak out into our gardens and it's as if they whisper ..."Ok, cue flower trumpets!" 

Flowers are amazing.  They seem so fragile and breakable, and in some ways they are, but they still have to power to survive frigid winters and blistering heat and push their way through rocky soil to the Sun above and come out more beautiful than can be imagined after all their toil. 

I'm reminded in all of this how our greatest and most difficult efforts often bring forth the greatest rewards and also how we are all called to "push on" towards the light of the "Son". Ahhh... Spring. New Birth. My FAVORITE time of year.

 

Which brings me to part 2! 

This "birth" of flowers reminds me of a fairly recent event of the birth of Miss Clara Rose. 

Today is her TWO month birthday!  How the HECK did that happen!?  Just two months ago (though it seems no more than 2 days) she toiled to come pushing her way through my body and into the world shining her beautiful face like a flower pokes it's head towards the light. 

She has blossomed more beautifully every day and her mega smile brings us such joy! 

What a little sweetheart she is.   She really is just such a sweet baby with a gentle disposition.  She cries only to be held or when she's hungry, but overall is just good good good.

Yesterday I brought her to the doctor because she had her first cold (we all have colds) that had made it's way into her eye and I thought a perscription might be in order to help those baby blues come back to their normal brightness.

She weighed in at 13lbs on the dot and when I measured her she was just shy of 26".  She doesn't look like a two month old, that's for sure.  With her "wig" of dark hair that springs into curls at a few drops of water, her rosy cheeks, smiling blue eyes and contagious grin that she's all to happy to offer she's a winner. 

She's even been sleeping much better at night and letting me get some proper rest.

A lady walked by me the other day when I was holding her in the store and upon getting closer gasped, "Oh my goodness! She's a REAL baby! I thought she was her (points to Ava) dolly! I can't believe she's a real baby!" She IS a doll!

I can't stop kissing her... I think we'll keep her ;)

#3 Then there's the proud big sistah!  Miss Ava Marie!

When oh when did you get so big??? 

I feel like you were just the size of Clara (and the fact that she's your twin doesn't make it any harder for me to picture myself holding you) ...

yet you get to be more of a "big girl" everyday! 

Daddy came downstairs last night after putting her to bed and said "She's getting to be such a big girl"  The little baby who we loved to rock and sing to sleep will take the bottle out of her mouth when she's finished with her milk, give a big kiss goodnight and ask to crawl into her crib on her own.  She turns to wave one last goodbye then cuddles in her with her blanket and falls asleep on her own.  What a good "big" girl.

Unfortunately... with all this "big girl-ness" comes the famous assertion of independance and the word "Nooooo" has made it's way from her sweet lips quite often lately.  She says it so angelicly, but about almost everything.  What could I have expected?  She's been "ahead" in every way... only makes sense that the terrible twos are hitting at 1 1/2.  Oh well. 

Overall, Ava's still the sweet, good girl she's always been and though she's mastered the art of trashing the house, she also tries so hard to help "clean it up" afterwards with her dustpan and broom.  She can win us over with one kiss.

She's strong willed and has NEVER been a "performer", but she's also super good most of the time, friendly, confident, helpful, loving, kind, patient, entertaining (to both us and herself), bright, funny (oh so funny!), strong, beautiful, curious, independant, cuddly, mischevious, good, a wonderful big sister ...and so so much more.  We love her and cannot imagine how the world existed without her just a couple of years ago.  It's amazing how one little life can bring so much joy and meaning to the world around them.  Ava, you've grown so much and are growing everyday.

How did it go so fast from this...

 

 

 

 

...to this???

Ahh... Growing.  Everything's growing around me.  How can I not smile at the abundance of life I'm surrounded by?  I am truly truly blessed!

 

WIWS-Divine Mercy Sunday

I'm finally linking up with the women at "Fine Linen & Purple" to post What I wore Sunday.  This Sunday is "Divine Mercy Sunday" and we tried to get all prettied up today.  I wore this:

Pants-Dress Barn
Top-CW Wright
Black Sweater-Kohls
Shoes-who knows?

Daddy wore this (he showed his love for me by sporting this tie which he NEVER would have worn for anyone else)

I tried to take a photo of us all cute together...

Even tried to use our camera's self timer... but got a great shot of the underside of Shaun's shoes...

Then Shaun's Mum came for dinner (with Dillon, Shaun's nephew)...

And took a shot of us looking all cute together ...

We wanted to match Ava's cute outfit

And I had this cute little velvet outfit for Clara (Peachy velour with a little white peter pan collar)

BUuuuuuutttt....

Our morning was more like...

"Oh, my gosh the girls both need a bath (less than an hour before Mass) because they're covered in snot!" (both have colds, that they got from me).

 *into the bath Ava goes*

While she's in the tub, Clara falls asleep, so no bath for her... I'd be stupid to wake a sleeping/sick baby... right?  No cute outfit for her... she is put into the carseat right in her pj's

While Ava's in the bath, I'm scrambling to get dressed, find pantyhose (haven't used those while pregnant) help Shaun with his tie and shirt because his poor fingers are so chopped up from heavy construction out in the cold weather that he can't even do the buttons.  After he's dressed he has to take the shirt off because I realize looking at him that it SOooo needs to be ironed, how did THAT happen!? and we left his suit jacket at his Mum's for Easter, so he can't even throw it over to cover the wrinkles.  Break out the ironing board (less than 30 min before Mass... Ava's STILL in the bathtub splashing away with snot running down her pretty face) 

The morning continues, "Where are my shoes, honey?  (the one pair that fits)  "Found one under the couch!"  Ok, can you find Ava's white shoes???  Can you fill her cup with juice while you're down there?  Do I have diapers in my bag?  Can you put Clara in her carseat?  Did you ever find my shoe?  Did you find Ava's shoes?"  (I have a patient husband to listen to all these commands...)  We never found Ava's white shoes before Mass, so she had to wear brown.  Then we couldn't find her white sweater, so we had to put one on that didn't match, but she HAD to wear a sweater because it's cold outside and I only have an undershirt with SHORT sleeves to wear under her dress and she has a cold, remember?

Ugh, we scramble to get ourselves out the door, and I finally  find my other shoe deep under the couch (thanks Ava)... arrive to Mass late in style with a toddler who definitely knows how to make her prescence known loudly proclaiming "Je-ji!  Je-ji! Mi-mi! Mi-mi!"  We ended up spending most of the Mass in the back of the church anyway because Ava (who SOOoo needed a nap) was in rare form today. 

Essentially it didn't matter what we looked like or how much we "matched" because Clara slept the whole thing away in her carseat and Ava spent the whole time in the vestibule with Mommy. 

But Daddy looked great in his tie!

What did YOU wear???