Lovely Worship Song

Bellie's 2nd Birthday

Friday marked the second birthday of our baby sweetie, Isabelle. We had a lot of fun celebrating her life and thanking God for her.

Not very lady-like in her princess outfit.

She is a huge Elmo fan thanks to her Uncle Jim and Aunt Lisa and the Elmo videos they've given to her! Not to mention, Aunt Hezzie, who introduced her to her favorite song, "Elmo's World". So, I decided to have a couple family members over for cake and ice cream and decorated the place with lots of Elmo items. Pinterest gave me the food ideas.

Her birthday present from her dad and me was 2 goldfish. Elmo's BFF is a goldfish named Dorothy, so I thought it would be perfect and cheap. I'm guessing they'll last only another day or two. Good thing they're only 19 cents. 

Playing with her new toys. She is potty training her dolly. She told it to "Go potty" and then grunted! HA!

We had such a fun time with our girl. I rocked her to sleep on Friday night and couldn't help but think about how great the last two years have been with this little treasure in my life.

Picture Post

Bellie "borrowed" Emery's pacifier. She said Num-Num.

Love this boy's sweet face

Birthday eve. Clearly, we still have work to do on the table manners.

Hot chocolate face

They've been holding hands alot lately. So adorable!

Carpenters FIVE!

Christmas 2012

We had a great Christmas celebration this year. We started our parties with the Christmas Eve service at our church.

Riding the cart that carried the food to the chapel

My MIL and her fellow pastor-wives put on a delicious spread!

Delicious cinnamon rolls. (get the recipe here!)

Bobby and his cousin, S.

After the service finished, we went to Bob's parents house and exchanged gifts. Bobby slept for some of the party since it was after bedtime. Bellie was a bit fussy, but soon got over that.

She may have cried for the first few minutes of gift opening. It was after bedtime!

Sleepy girl

Bobby and Emery's first Christmas

Christmas morning my mom and Frank came over for breakfast. I made pancakes, eggs, and sausage. (The eggs were too dry, so that was a bust. Oh, well.)

Christmas morning. Presents from Grandma K.

After that we headed to Charlotte to my dad's family's Christmas party. Dad was the life of the party, as usual. He and his brothers are wild and crazy! You never know what's going to happen. I love watching my dad and his siblings interact. They are all really good friends and are very close! Bob and I brought some friends with us to this party, and I was so thankful for the ways that my dad's family made them feel welcome. I had fun watching Isabelle play with my niece, nephew and my cousins and their children. It was really cool.

Dad and his siblings opening their stockings of coal from Santa

My great-grandma at age 3. Drawn around 1905.

All four of us were spoiled rotten by our family this year! We were given so many wonderful gifts this year and it was just a reminder of how kind everyone is to us all your round.

Their new hats from my Aunt Diana

Sick

Christmas morning Isabelle woke up not feeling too well. Her eyes were puffy and she had a bad cough. By the end of the night she had a fever.

Pitiful Sweetie

I took her in to the urgent care the next morning and the doctor said she has RSV and a double ear infection. The doctor said that she should lay low and relax and not be around too many people because with a fever it is contagious.

Waiting at Urgent Care with Grandma K.

Laying in brother's seat waiting to be seen by the doctor

Poor baby has been miserable. The first night she woke up nearly every half hour and just kept saying "Ow". She didn't sleep very well the second night either. Last night she did much better. I can tell she is feeling better today because she's running and playing and acting like her normal self!

sitting on Daddy's lap to play

Both of her grandmas brought her treats within 5 minutes of each other!

Playing with finger paint and feeling a little better I think

Back to her ol' self