Laundry Room Update

Before.

After.

Steve built  me a shelf. Thanks babe. I love it. The idea came from Pinterest (of course, who thinks of things on their own anymore?). The round box is for coins and other "pocket treasures). The shelf helps the room look nicer, and socks and stuff don't fall behind the washer /dryer :). It also reminds me who I am doing the Laundry for and why...my family of course, from whom God has given me. So ultimately, He is the reason I do Laundry. ha. 

Father's Day

We at the Mear's Household know Steve in a TOTALLY different way then other people know him. For most people, he is a counselor/friend or a food buddy (HE LOVES TO EAT!).

 For us, he is all of that AND SO MUCH MORE!

For me, he is everything God knows that I need. :) BUT we'll save this description of his "husband abilities" for anniversary day (when I remember it, sorry babe).

Today's post is for Father's Day.

So, if my four year old and my 14 month old could put into words what Steve is for them, then I think it would sound a little like this at this point in their lives. From Laura Beth, she may say something like this, "Our daddy is a 'fixer'"(note how Steve is putting in a thermostat that we could adjust from China. Yes, that's right. A thermostat with wi-fi. WOW.)

Moreover, Laura Beth would say, "Just this week, he built an INCREDIBLE loft bed of my room and I truly adore it." (She even asks if it is rest time)

 From Julie Ann, you might hear something like this, "My daddy loves to give me kisses. When he sees me he smiles so big, gets down on the floor and plays. Then, he hugs, kisses, and loves me like I am the ONLY one year old on the planet."

 All together, Steve is one-of-a-kind. We love him so much and ALL that he does for us. Especially when he morphs his body into a human pillow. ha!

 Steve is such a wonderful father. His mind is set on the Lord's will, which in turn means he is constantly thinking about our family and our family's needs. We are so blessed to have Steve in our lives. He rocks! 

Molars

So, Julie Ann has had 2 teeth until this week (she is 13 months old). A couple of days ago, I was cracking her up (because I am the funniest person ever to her) and I saw something! Something WHITE was in her mouth. I thought, "It's probably bread that got stuck" (the child LOVES bread). Upon closer inspection, I discovered a MOLAR....wait....2 MOLARS! That's right, Julie Ann now has 4 teeth. The most unexpected ones at that. First, Julie Ann had her 2 lower central incisors (my "speechie" friends know this means the bottoms 2 front teeth) . I thought, "That's normal and expected." Then, I would expect the upper central incisors or the lateral incisors to emerge....but not with this child who does NOTHING expected. She went straight for the molars. Upon closer inspection of Julie Ann's mouth, I discovered the top central incisors (top front teeth) not coming through, but just about to break the gums. WOW! TEETH! I am so thankful for this and NERVOUS at the same time. 4 teeth coming in at one time can make for a VERY fussy, not sleeping, over dramatic, little girl. ha! But isn't she CUTE!

En Pointe.

That's what Laura Beth's Alphabet Ballet book calls Tippy Toes.

Laura Beth loved her "tippy toes" dance class. She learned so much this year. Shuffle step, heel together, boogie boogie, and we can't forget the difference in her RIGHT AND LEFT foot! Yep, she learned that at dance class. :)

All in all, each week a sweet lady (who has lots of patience to deal with Laura Beth and 10 other girls) taught Laura Beth the sweetest Shirley Temple dance to "On Accounta I love You"

She was so excited to get that trophy in her left hand :)

Waiting for the trophy.

It's her party....

...and she cried when she wanted to. :) Julie Ann didn't actually cry the whole party, but let's just say she wasn't a fan of taking birthday pictures and having a party during her morning nap time.

She did enjoy the cake :)

It's hard for me to believe she is 13 months old yesterday.

I am sure I started singing "happy and you know it" at this point just trying to get her to smile.

 "If you're happy and you know it...clap yours hands."She clapped, even though she wasn't very happy. ha!

She loved that balloon, thats for sure. However, we couldn't get it out of in front of her face for a picture. ha!

See...no smiles. :( But she's still cute :)

Ann Thomas on the other hand was ready to smile at ANYTHING and ANYONE. :) Isn't she cute.

Julie Ann had a little practice on the smash cake. She knew exactly what to do.

Licking her lips. :)

Time to clean up.

My sweet friends Jennifer Collins and Lisa Nothstine came to the party. It was so nice to see them.

Wabee came to the party too, all the way from Texas. (Ignore the cheetos in Laura Beth's teeth. ha!)

In the mean time, we bought a house and moved to a new neighborhood (same town, just not renting anymore). Hence my absence from the blogging world. I have been packing, organizing, decorating, etc. The girls love the new house and we kinda like it too. ha! We are so thankful for the Lord's provision in this move. Surely, we won't moved again for a long long time. :)

Our Little Cupcake Turns ONE!

Julie Ann is 1 year old! Well, 1 year and  4 days old (it's harder to keep up with everything when you have multiple kids. I thought it was tough with one, but two children increases the madness joy.) These pictures are my attempt to get a one-year photo of Julie Ann for her birthday invitation. She was hilarious.

We love this little ball of energy so much. Her personality cracks us up every day. I was challenged by her at first, but she quickly taught me how blessed I am. She is absolutely wonderful!

 In case you missed it on Facebook, I am posting a movie of her walking last week. That's right, this girl loves to walk.

If you are wondering where the birthday party pictures are, then you'll have to wait. We are having her birthday party in MS in a couple of weeks with her 12 month old cousin, Ann Thomas. They have birthdays so close together that we decided to do their party together (helps with family travel too) I can't wait to show you guys her birthday outfit!

On Account of I love you!

So, Let me preface this post. Laura Beth LOVES to sing, dance, etc when in the car and at home. BUT when it comes to being IN FRONT of other people, she kinda "freezes up" a little. Ha! 

 I will tell you that she has thoroughly enjoyed dance this year. She looks forward to dance class every Tuesday. So let's analyze the following photo:

Besides the very confused looking face, she is doing GREAT. Pretty hands, feet together, facing forward...I mean she's a natural. ha! The girl to Laura Beth's right (our left) is Laura Beth's Best friend Kathryn (KK to us). She really is a natural dancer even if the photo I chose to analyze doesn't show her skill. ha!

Now this video is the beginning of the dance and the second video is the end of the dance. Steve took Laura Beth to this show at the zoo. It's a PRE performance for their recital... ya know, to get the kids used to dancing in front of lots of people. The card on the camera was full half way through the dance (because mom is a momma-razzi with the camera). Steve is quick on his feet though and whips out the iPhone to catch Laura Beth performing her FAVORITE part of the dance, the end move. Watch for it....you'll see that Andrews Technique she inherited from her mom when she holds that last move. :) That's right she has my moves and daddy's stage presence. ha. Nah. It's probably my stage presence too. However, he would claim her good looks if he were to write a post about this performance. :)

Enjoy...or just bear through it. ha! Sorry for the poor quality. One is an iPhone video. The other I must not have uploaded it at a good quality.

Believe it or not, Laura Beth came home and told me she was the best superstar on the stage. he he.