FIRSTS

We have been doing several "Firsts" with Julie Ann.

First Bath. She likes bath time.

First Text. It says, "Hey dad, I will be home late." Can you imagine who did this? A youth. OF COURSE.

First Bottle. She was a pro. No hesitation at all. SWEET!

First month of Julie Ann's life. 2 beautiful girls.

Learning Julie Ann has been a challenge. BUT every day we grow more and more in love with each other. She is such a blessing to our family. AND one day, she will let us sleep. :)

Mother's Day

Steve and Laura Beth made mother's day so special for me. Steve took Laura Beth shopping for me. She bought me red roses. Laura Beth picked out yellow roses from Julie Ann. Then, they got to decorate a cake for me. (Excuse her pajama attire and beautiful hair do. ha!) Laura Beth was pretty proud of the sprinkles she added. It actually tasted very good too.

Altogether, this mother's day is even more special, as now I am the mother of 2! Hardest JOB I will ever have...but most rewarding as well. May God continue to help Steve and I raise and disciple these girls according to His will.

Easter 2011

I am typing this while waiting for Julie Ann to rest, so I can grab a nap too. ha! We had a wonderful Easter with family. I had lots of pictures, and a movie is a little easier for me to make (believe it or not)... so here you go.

Julie Ann Mears

We are so excited to tell you about our newest addition to the family! Julie Ann Mears was born April 19, 2011 at 11:26 a.m. She was 20 1/2 inches long. Her weight is a story we will have to tell for the rest of her life. She weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces on the scale after she was born. However, later that night she weight 7 pounds 13 ounces. Hmmmm... babies don't gain weight their first day. ha! So, we assume the first scale was not calibrated. We think she weighed closer to 7 pounds 15 ounces... or Steve's guess 8 pounds 2 ounces. She was definitely big.

I was 40 weeks pregnant and not progressing very much. I was pretty anxious about the whole delivery since I wasn't progressed very well. However, God had perfect timing for this little girl to be born. I was able to have more time with Laura Beth. Laura Beth was able to have strep without the scare that Julie Ann would get it. Steve had a little more time to focus on ministry as he is still new at the church with LOTS of events coming up. Julie Ann was born on Passover and Easter week for this year. It made for a wonderful week of celebrating new life.

I am recovering well. In fact, they let us go home after 24 hours as I was doing so well and Julie Ann was doing well. My mother came and stayed with us for the entire week. She played with Laura Beth while we were in the hospital. She was also the videographer and photographer several times that week. I am sooo appreciative of her time, PATIENCE, and help. We miss her.

Now for the fun stuff... Here is a video I made to summarize the days in the hospital and first day home. I have MANY more pictures to post, but those are from Easter, etc. I'll get to them soon.

For me, as emotional as I am right now, this video makes me tear up. I am so thankful to God for the precious children He has blessed us with. How He love us.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Laura Beth was home sick (Strep and Scarlet Fever). So we decided to dye Easter Eggs. Laura Beth has never done this before. I tried to explain that it was "coloring" the eggs. NOT COOKING them. ha! We had a great time. Enjoy the video.

Azalea Lane

We live on Azalea Lane here in Pineville, LA. They call it that for a reason. :)

We love having pictures of Laura Beth of Laura Beth at each year of her life. HOWEVER, photos are NOT Laura Beth's favorite thing to do. Actually, she pretty much hates having her picture taken. These turned out pretty good though.

I didn't edit these pictures too much. Just cropped them in a little.

I had to post these last 2 pictures. Laura Beth is SOOO literal. She was tilting her head side to side during pictures, so I said, "Laura Beth, can you please hold your head up?"

This is what we got...

It was fun taking pictures of her for all of 10 minutes while she was napped and in the mood. PLUS we bribed her with popsicles. ha!

Playing in Pineville.

A while ago, we went to a HUGE church in Alexandria (Calvary Baptist) that had an indoor playground (Noah's Ark). It was 3 stories tall. Incredible. Laura Beth had fun in it, but got a little lost a couple of times. This picture below is of Laura Beth, her friend Hannah and Steve looking at "nemo" in the aquarium at the church and also watching "Nemo" the movie on steve's phone. ha!

Eating popsicles with our neighbors. That's Laura Beth's new wagon.

On Saturday's, we usually go to the Upward Soccer Field's at our church and watch everyone play. The youth run the concession stands, so we like to go buy popsicles from them. Laura Beth LOVES to yell "kick it" at all of the players and clap when they score. I can't wait for next year when Laura Beth can play.

Staying cool under the umbrella.

Yesterday, we dyed Easter Eggs here at the house with some Kingsville Baptist Church girls. SO fun! (Maybe a video or something to come soon.)

Do you know what this next thing is?

Laura Beth calls it a tractor. I call it a riding lawn mower. Steve calls it is new favorite "man" toy. He is so happy to have this lawn mower. A member of the church GAVE it to us. We are so blessed by it. Steve has driven it everyday since it got here. INCLUDING after dark the first night it arrived. (The neighbors probably love us for that). Laura Beth rides on it and thinks it is so fun. She wouldn't look at the camera because she was looking at the flowers she was about to water, note the watering can. ha!

Today we went to the local library and then to Kees Park. The park has slides and all kinds of other things, but these are Laura Beth's favorite things to do...

(side note: she is getting so big. She only swings in "big girl" swings now and she wants to go SOOOO high!)

I took this next picture quickly. Laura Beth has been doing this "rubbing" on the sides of her hair for about a week now. She got it from...can you guess? RAPUNZEL! The other day she told me and Steve she would let her hair down off of a balcony we were standing on. Too much "Tangled" I guess.

All of the ABOVE "park fun" happened just before we found out Laura Beth had Strep with Scarlet Fever. UGH. She is napping now and has antibiotics. She never ran a FEVER, but she did have the crazy rash around her neck, face, and started to her arms. Poor thing. Her first "louisiana illness." Let's pray Steve or I don't get it. :)

Last Friday was our 5 year Anniversary. :)

What a WONDERFUL 5 years we have had together. God has really worked in our hearts and our marriage in such a short time. I cannot imagine what He will do in our lives with the rest of our time together.

And again, if you made it this far, you can see the 9 MONTH (39 weeks) tummy picture. UGH.