Well, I have not been doing well at keeping my blog up to date.  I hate that.  Things are going well here.  We are busy with school and church and keeping up with Ella!  Ha!    Her 18 month update will be coming soon.  Can’t believe she is almost a year and a half already!  Wow, how the time flies.

Big family news -

About a week and a half ago, Alec started reading in school!  He is only three letter words, but he is getting it!  It is so exciting!  He is so happy!    I hope he develops a love for reading, like Caleb has!

Just a couple of days ago, Chad and Cindy had their second child – first baby girl – Taylor Grace Barr.  She was 5 lbs, 8 oz and 19.5 inches long.  She is such a little peanut.  (Ella was that same length, only 9 lbs, 2 oz!  Ha!  Big difference!)  Here is a photo of her:

That is all for this post…time for bed!

Today, I celebrate the birthday of a very special friend…Ceci!  Ours is one of my very longest friendships!  I was privileged to be her first American friend, after her American parents adopted her from Korea!  She was 9, I was 8…it was a LONG time ago!  But through the years, we have been part of each others lives.  She lives in New York, so we get up there as often as we can to visit her.  There is NEVER a dull moment when we are together.  She has been such a good friend for me – always pushing me out of my comfort zone (I need that!) and getting me to try new things.  We love to reminisce and tell funny stories, look at photos of all our crazy hairstyles over the years and we love to SING together!    I have so many special memories that have her at the center of them…

Ceci, I love you so much and I cherish the times that we have together.  I am so glad that God brought you into my life.  I hope this is a very special day and very special year for you!

Happy Birthday, my friend! 

These photos are from our trip to NY in June!

Wow…hard to believe the summer is over.  I have had the hardest time updating my blog.  I will start with updating on Ella, then add more posts, soon!

Let’s see…lots to update -  this will probably be a longer post – I apologize in advance!

Ella – Well, where do I begin?  I haven’t been doing my monthly updates.    I can’t believe she is 16 1/2 months!  Since I last updated, she began walking (about 13 1/2 months), she says lots of words (mama, dada, HOT, dayde (Caleb), alla (Alec), outs (outside), baba (bottle – her favorite thing right now), l-l-lunch and several others.  She definitely understands a lot more than she can communicate.  She nods her head yes and no – oh yeah, she knows how to say “no.”  Recently she heard us talking about brushing our teeth, so she went and got a tooth brush!  If she sees food on TV, she says, “MMMmmmm!” or “Nummy, Nummy!”

It amazes me how things appeal to her!  We walked by some fresh cut flowers at the store and she said, “ooohhh!”  She is also attracted to anything pink or girlie!  It is fun to see how at such an early age she is wired differently than the boys!

She also has her own attitudes!  She can be so manipulative!  She gives ugly looks and will even throw an all-out temper tantrum!  Wow…she is going to keep us on our toes!  But at the same time, she can be SO sweet and cuddly!  She LOVES her daddy so much!  And she is definitely Mama’s girl!

Today she pointed at the CD player and said “Na Na” (“Every Move I Make.” ) All of our kids have loved that song.  She also pointed and said “Dada” – she wanted to hear the kids’ CD that Chris sang on recently – To Be Like Jesus.  As soon as she heard his voice, she got excited and started dancing!  So precious!

Another big thing that we experienced in the last month or so is that she was biting kids!  Aghh!  She left her mark on a few little kids.  I felt so bad.  But unfortunately, it happens.  She seems to be over that and has been doing great around other kids.  Hopefully that won’t happen anymore!

Here are some photos from the past couple of months…

JUNE:

She’s walking…

and getting into EVERYTHING – she can even open doors!

She loves to climb up to the center of the table!

But she’s so cute!

JULY:

Well, I am currently tagging my items to sell at Boutique for a Week – an upscale children’s consignment sale!  It is so exciting to be able to move these great clothes out of my house in order to make room, well, for more clothes – bigger ones for the kids!  It is amazing how at times it can even be a little bit emotional (not crying emotional) but kind of sad to realize my cute little boys are so little anymore!  I am only getting rid of a few of Ella’s things – mostly the boys’ stuff.  Hopefully I will be able to sell a lot! 

If you are in the Orlando area, be sure to check out the info at www.boutiqueforaweek.net  The sale is next week, if you are interested in shopping!  It is really great!  I always look forward to it!

Our summer has flown by…can’t believe it is August and almost time to start school!   I have hardly had time to do updates this summer – I hate that.  I have some catchin’ up to do.  Hope to do that soon. 

The kids and I just returned from a week-long trip with my parents to Evansville, IN to see my grandparents and then to Nashville, TN to see Tall Tree in concert at Belmont University.  We had a great time away, but it is good to be home.  On the way home, I had a major allergic reaction to something (no idea what) and my whole face, lips & tongue were swollen & huge!  It was awful – very much a “Hitch”-like experience – so embarrasing!  It required a trip to a walk-in clinic just outside of Nashville, a steroid shot, a round of oral steroids, ointment for the itching (oh yes, I had terrible hives!) and lots of Benedryl.  I was jumpy and sleepy all at the same time!  Ughhh…It has been several days and the swelling is pretty much gone (just a tad left in my cheeks) and I still have itchy hives.  I have  a follow-up appt. with my doctor tomorrow – sounds like they are going to run lots of tests to try to figure out what happened!  Oh joy! 

Well that is a quick update.  Hopefully I will be able to stay on top of this once we get into our school routine!

Have a great August day!

I have a lot to post, but thought I would post this picture from July 4th for now!  What a great day!

I am grateful…

-for this amazing country that the Lord chose to be my home
- for the faithful founding fathers that weren’t afraid to fight for what was right
- for the men and women who have given their lives to secure our freedom
- for the many troops who are risking their lives at this very moment to preserve our liberty
- for the fact that ultimately God is in control of our country
- that the freedom we celebrate today is a reminder of the true FREEDOM we have in Christ

Lord, please bless our country – protect us, help us to turn back to You.  Thank You that our trust isn’t in our government, but in You – the One who is in control!  Help us to be faithful to do our part to bring You glory in this country. In Your name I pray, Amen.

So…this morning I wake up to Alec in my room saying that he did something…Chris saying something else (all of this was a blur) before I knew it, I was in a smokey, STINKY kitchen trying to figure out what Alec had done. 

 **What a great way to start a Monday, huh?!**

Alec is usually the first one to get up.  He doesn’t like having to wait for his breakfast, so this morning he decided to fix it himself.  He got out a frozen breakfast croissant sandwich (thankfully he took it out of the plastic wrapper), put it in the microwave for who knows how long (when I got in there, there were 73+ minutes left on the timer!!!)  The whole living room/kitchen areas were smokey and it hurt to breathe…ughhh.  I turned off the microwave, started opening the doors and got fans going to try to pull the smoke out. 

It has been about 3 hours or so, and the house still stinks.  Thankfully that is the only ‘problem’ we have.  There were no actual flames in the microwave that I saw, just a nasty-burnt-to-a-crisp sandwich (see below).  We are so grateful that the Lord protected all of us.  It could have been much worse.  Now we ARE planning on redoing the kitchen, but that wasn’t the route we were planning to take. 

So, all is well in our house.  We now have a good story to tell! 

FYI – you can hear clips from the upcoming SGM Music release ‘To Be Like Jesus’ here.

My sister-in-law (Allison Gilland), several others including a few kids from our church as well as myself sing on this upcoming project coming out later in the month of June.

Hope you enjoy it!

-Chris

Well, I am a couple weeks late for Ella’s 13 month update (surprise, surprise!). 

After Ella turned one, it was as if she just started growing up!  So much of her personality started to blossom – she doesn’t seem like a little baby anymore.

At 13 months, she was still crawling really fast, cruising a lot and just starting to let go.  She would reach and take one step as she fell, but that was about it. 

She loved being on vacation – swimming in the pool was very exciting to her.  She also loved the Disney rides and the Princesses (of course).  (When she saw Cinderella, one of her sandals fell off.  Cinderella quickly said, “Are you trying to be like me – losing a slipper?”  It was so cute!)

She loves to be outside.  She got a cute (pink) swing that we put on the swing set in the back yard.  Every day (multiple times a day) she wants to go out there! 

She isn’t actually changing a lot in size.  I think she may be a little heavier, but her clothes are still the 12-18 month size.  There are some 12 month outfits that she has been wearing since 5 months!  Crazy!  Her size 3 diapers are finally starting to get a little small, so we will move to 4’s for the next box.

Her hair is still growing at a snail’s pace.  It lightened up from the sun on vacation.

That’s a little update on our sweet girl!

On this day, 32 years ago, in Orlando, FL, a little baby boy came into this world.  His dad would name him Christopher Adam Jessee.  He would grow up and come to know the Lord…his family would become members of Metro Life Church where he and I would meet at the ripe old age of 12.  He and I would become friends, then best friends, then husband and wife.  Over the next ten years we would grow as a couple and as a family – adding 3 precious children to our home.  He would grow as a man, a husband, a father…a servant and a leader…he would grow in humility and self-control, in knowledge and wisdom. 

I am so grateful that Chris was born…that the Lord chose to give him life, even when his mom was told she couldn’t have children.  God had a bigger plan – a plan to raise up a man that would serve Him with every fiber of his being – who would love his family, his friends and his church.  A man who will quickly admit his failures, yet one who leaves an example that is worth following.

I am honored to have this man as my husband – the one I get to spend my life with. 

Chris, I love you more than words can express.  I pray that the Lord will help me to show you each day what a treasure you are to me.

Happy Birthday, babe…I love you!