3.5 Years for Lizzie Grace!

Yesterday officially marked my big girl's 3.5 year birthday. We don't celebrate those around here, but we did acknowledge it, and I figure it is time for a little update on her life!

This girl is beyond smart, and if I could just wrap my mind around the way her mind works... that would be impressive! I do know this, she is much like her daddy in that her brain has a very hard time resting; she is always analyzing something. If you say something once just in passing, don't be shocked when she brings it back up days or even weeks later! Reading books remains a favorite things to do along with puzzles, coloring, playing doll house, helping me bake, teaching Elaine new things, and overall being helpful! It is absolutely precious to see Elizabeth and her little girl friends at church! They run to hug and greet one another and genuinely look forward to their times together; there are about 8 or so little ladies around the same age that I can just picture growing up together! It is a blessing that Justin and I not only enjoy the community of CityView, but our girls do too.

Beginning in September, Elizabeth will start preschool 2 days a week, and I think she is really ready for it. Lizzie School has been great, but I think she is looking forward to more interaction with kids. Lately I have seen a great improvement in her control when coloring and in her penmanship, but which hand she will choose as her dominant still remains a mystery! Most of the time she can count up into the 50s with very little correction, and she loves to practice her addition. Lizzie's awareness of environmental print is phenomenal and I think we are on the verge of her wanting to do some reading on her own.

Elizabeth continues to be at the top of the growth charts (around the 90th percentile in height and weight) and has pretty much outgrown the toddler clothes! I'm not sure if I am quite ready for the big girl clothing section, but thankfully, she isn't too picky and seems to be fairly agreeable when it comes to her wardrobe.

Oh, how we love this girl! To hear her sing O Glorious Day at the top of her lungs and to long to know more about Jesus is precious. We pray that we would be able to continue to grow her in the ways of Truth and that she may be used mightily by God for His Kingdom.

Yummy Cookies with Addie!

Top photo compliments of our friend Cassie.

What's In A Vow? Happy 5 Years!

Our Family 5 Years Later!

Yesterday, Justin and I celebrated 5 years of marriage! We enjoyed a fantastic dinner at Cheesecake Factory over which we recounted all God has done in the past 5 years... WHOA! It has been plenty of fun, lots of tears, moments we would rather forget, and a multitude of celebrations to rejoice over, all of which has impacted the growing depth of our love for each other as well as our love for our Jesus!

Upon such a celebration, it is fun to look back at what we promised to one another on our wedding day and to see how those commitments have impacted the way we "do marriage." In the days leading up to our wedding, Justin and I were very intentional as we wrote our vows and are still pleased with the way they came together to reflect our hearts, so I thought I would share.

Justin's:

I Justin take you Angela to be my Wife,

Before God who brought us together

And before the Church,

The pure and radiant bride of Christ.

Having kept myself pure for you,

The one He has chosen for me,

I promise to be faithful to you,

To love and to cherish you

As Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her,

To lead you as I am lead by the Holy Spirit,

And to run together the race marked out for us

By our Lord Jesus Christ

Who has redeemed us by grace for His namesake,

So that we may grow in the likeness of Christ

And our home may bring Him the glory and honor

He deserves.

Angela's:

I Angela take you Justin to be my Husband,

Before God who brought us together

And before the Church,

The pure and radiant bride of Christ.

Having kept myself pure for you,

The one He has chosen for me,

I promise to be faithful to you,

To love, to cherish and to submit to you

In all things as you are lead by the Holy Spirit,

And to run together the race marked out for us

By our Lord Jesus Christ

Who has redeemed us by grace for His namesake,

So that we may grow in the likeness of Christ

And our home may bring Him the glory and honor

He deserves.

Through the ups and downs of our marriage, I am confident that the centrality of Christ is what has kept us grounded and able to walk through it all. I Praise our Faithful God for his absolute goodness toward us over the past 5 years!

I love you Justin Bassett and it is an honor to be you wife!

After 1 month

Incredibly, it has been a month since sweet Charlotte was born and forever changed our lives! I just wanted to share a few thoughts about where we are and what God has been doing over the past few weeks.

We continue to grieve our loss, as we are reminded throughout each day of our baby who is no longer here. Sometimes the trigger is the toddler bed in Lizzie's room that Lainie doesn't have to sleep in, others it is the babycenter emails that keep appearing in my inbox, or the boxes of sweet little girl clothes that Charlotte will never wear, or the brand new nursing mom's room at CityView that I won't get to use to feed my precious girl. The waves of emotions have definitely caught us off guard at times, unexpectedly capturing our thoughts and reminding us of what we are missing. However, I am learning much more deeply the truth of Ecclesiastes 3:4- there is "a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;" I am realizing that sometimes weeping and laughter and mourning and dancing are far more intricately woven together than I had originally understood. God lovingly allows our emotions to vary greatly even in a short amount of time which is good. There is such a tension between grieving that I cannot hold and snuggle with Charlotte to rejoicing that she is pain free and in the presence of our King! I miss Charlotte but am so thankful for Lizzie and Lainie who I have gotten to hold and watch grow. In the midst of tears, Lainie has made me laugh uncontrollably many times. This mixture of emotions is God-ordained and to His glory!

Healing is a process, and even after "recovering," scars will still remain as reminders of where we have been and the journey we have traveled. Again, thank you for joining us on this journey. The texts, cards, emails, hugs, and sweet words have all been incredible tools of our good God to encourage us along the way and to point us back to Him. It is nice to know that even a month later, you have not forgotten. While grieving publicly is not always easy, we are thankful for the incredible support so many have shown and pray that God is somehow using our trials to sharpen your walk with Him.

A HUGE thanks to those of you who made donations to CityView in memory of Charlotte! Currently, over $4,000 has been given in her honor, and we are excited to see how God uses this generosity to impact the lives of children!

We will likely continue to post a monthly update on our grieving process and what God is doing in us. Other than that, there will probably be sporadic posts on Truths He is teaching us through Charlotte's life and death as well as the normal updates on life moving forward for our family.

With each monthly post, I will post one of the precious pictures our friend Cassie took at Charlotte's memorial service. Cassie blessed us greatly by volunteering to take pics for us!

21 Months

Elaine Karis is now 21 months old and the precious comic relief in our family! While she is strong willed and will likely cause me to go crazy one of these days, she is the perfect fit in our family and we could not be more thankful for her!

A typical day for Elaine begins after 12-13 hours of sleep around 9:00. (yes, I know this makes some of you jealous!) Upon waking, she insists on putting all of her bedtime things (paci, lamb chop and lovie blanket) in her bag attached to her bed. Then, the battle begins as we "discus" what she will wear for the day; the girl is PICKY! I am learning to pick my battles, but some days I fight a little harder than others. Once she has put on her clothes it is time for breakfast, and Elaine loves her breakfast! It is not abnormal for this little lady to put down 2 adult servings of oatmeal ("mo-mo") on a normal morning, but she insists that it be doctored up with butter and milk ("budda" & "muhl"). Although Elaine still is developing a lot of her consonant sounds, she can communicate what she wants or doesn't want very clearly!! After breakfast and getting her hair fixed, Elaine will likely be found playing with her babies, farm animals, or little kitchen, or bugging Kyleigh, or trying to do whatever Lizzie is doing. She will almost always request a snack midmorning to keep that crazy metabolism going; cheese, clementine oranges, and graham crackers remain faves. If it is nice out, we spend as much time as possible outside- thankfully this time is becoming more frequent as spring approaches! Lunch for Elaine almost always includes peanut butter- not on bread or crackers, but on a spoon! If I am eating soup or a wrap, she will often request several bites, but doesn't take much interest if I give her her own. After lunch Elaine goes down for a good at least 2 hour nap and wakes up to happily "help" me with dinner, the dishes, and other cleaning around the house. She loves to mop, sweep, empty the dishwasher, throw away trash, move laundry from the washer to the dryer, and tidy up by taking things to their appropriate "homes". Elaine doesn't typically eat much dinner unless lasagna or black beans are served, but she enjoys the conversation and "amening" after we pray. After dinner bath time with Lizzie is lots of fun! Following another battle on which jammers she will wear, dance party with Lizzie begins. Once the dancing has calmed down and her teeth have been thoroughly brushed (still a fave), we usually read a book or two before we head to her room and sing as a family. Lainie goes down without a fight by this point because of the exhaustion of a busy day! I too am ready for bed by this time! We love our silly girl!

The tongue is a Lainie trademark, especially when she is concentrating!

Yes, she know she is cute!!

Jammer Pics

I was just scrolling through pics and noticed I have a good sum of jammer pics, so I thought I would post a few of my pretty girls!

Dancing before bed has become the new cool thing in our casa!

Swing your partner!

Sissy kisses:)

You've heard of "Deuces" but have you heard of "Treses" ?

Crazy hair, thank you daddy!