Thank you Lord for THY will and not "my" will

Yet, another milestone in the life of Gracie=Potty Training and drawing her first face. I love having this blog to look back at and see all the little things Gracie does along the way.

Today has been an extra easy day. Gracie woke up and wanted to start going to the potty. I wanted to wait till we moved but thought if she is ready then we will give this thing a try. Gracie has had 2 accidents, but understands that it was an accident and we keep trying. I did not want to put her in pull ups because they were too much like diapers. I'm thinking of only putting them on her at night. Right now, she is taking a nap and is wearing underwear :)

I teared up a bit with Stephen telling him how proud I was of her. She is growing up so fast and honestly, I love watching her change and grow into a little girl.

All along the way, I have not pushed Gracie into doing something she did not want to do- well except getting rid of the pacifier which was easier than I thought it would be. I think sometimes as parents we put to much stress on our kids to fit in with whatever the other kids are doing. I'm so thankful Gracie is a strong willed child because of the fact that when she does set her mind to do something- she does it and never looks back. She has never once told me she couldn't do something. She is always saying "I can do it, Mommy"... "I don't need your help"... My prayer for Gracie is that she continues to have a love for Jesus.. Her up beat attitude will do great things for the Lord one day. I know he has BIG plans for her. I'm so excited to see it!!

Here are a few pictures from today. She got to pick a prize from Dollar General and of course she picked makeup..hehehe :)

"Are you proud of me, Mama" love this baby girl

She put the lipgloss on her eyes as eyeshadow :)

In her Dora Panties!!

Little face Gracie drew for the first time :)

Until Next time,

Kim

HE is all I need

I love music. Ever since I was a little girl- Music was my escape. I remember being 12 years old and singing my heart out to Leann Rimes. It was just something I always did- had to do. Especially when I felt down. When I married Steve, singing at his church was how we met. How awesome is that :)

Today, I found an amazing song. Even when we're heartbroken, from sorrow and trials, we still have a safe place. Hold fast. He is there.




Hope this songs speaks to you as much as it did me today. The Lord knew what I needed to hear. Funny how a simple song can warm your heart that way.

High Five for Friday

Its Friday. I love Fridays, because its my one I day I get to "Sleep in" ( I get up at 9am). 

My Top 5 favorite things from this week are:

1. Picking up Gracie's new Full bed today. We bought her new Princess comforter. She is beyond excited to have a big girl bed.
2. All the awesome deals we got last weekend. The blessings were overflowing. It amazes me how when you are obedient to the Lord he blesses you beyond anything you could ever imagine.
3. The great news about selling this home. Major PRAISE in this area especially for Stephen. This has weighed heavy on his mind these past couple weeks.
4. We have closing date for our new home- Jan. 31st--- YAY!
5. Gracie telling me that I was the BEST mommy!!

What are you thankful for this week. Count your many blessings and name them one by one.

Love,

Oh, The Things You Say

Gracie is our joy. I know I'm always talking about her on here but really we are smitten by her. Each day is a new day full of funny jokes and sayings from Miss Gracie. The things she comes up with are so hilarious, that I wanted to dedicate a post about them.



Yesterday, we were playing with Play-Doh. She LOVES Play-Doh and if she could she would play with it all day long. Just this morning she asked if she could play with and threw a fit when we said she needed to eat her breakfast first.

I asked her yesterday what she was making, She said "A path-- to Mamaw".. It was the sweetest thing. I could not believe that she thought that up in her little 2 1/2 year old mind.



She is also a HUGE Daddy's girl almost to the extreme. Its been 4 months since Stephen has worked at the new church and she still CRIES everytime he leaves for work. She also ask's me ALL day long when he's gonna get home and why does Daddy have to work. It breaks my heart. These are one of the main reasons why we have to move. All her little life she saw her Daddy in the morning and then at lunch time. Not seeing him for 8 hours a day is so hard on her and me for that matter :(




When he gets home- its Daddy time. Stephen makes a point to spend as much play time with her. She wants his attention. She wants him to change her diaper, make her dinner plate, play with her- you name it and Daddy HAS to do it...LOL... One thing she does that is so funny is she calls him her  BIG Boy... I'll say let me change you- she'll say "No, I want my Big Boy to do it" it cracks me up.

• She found a pumpkin seed today. She ran up to me and said "Momma, I found a magic bean". 
• When she see's a van she'll say "Momma, that's Papa's van, I LOVE Papa's van"... We'll ask her why she loves his van and her response " Because, Papa is in it" aww
• She has this little bouncy ball thing. I caught her calling it her "Little Fella".. I have no clue where she learned that from...

Queen Gracie

We started putting Gracie in pageants when she was only 6 mths old. Her first pageant she won Miss Photogenic and 1st runner up. We were so proud. My mom her Mamaw has always taken her on stage- its almost like a good luck thing- even though we don't believe in it. Her second pageant she won 1st runner up also. As the years went on we have put her in more. She has won queen in every pageant since. The times I think she is sure to get 1st runner she surprises me and does so good. Her orange dress is a judge favorite. She has been in 4 pageants with this dress and won Queen in every one. Tiny Miss Olustee here in Lake City is a huge town pageant. I was a little nervous about putting her in it because the stage was huge. She did so good and took home the Tiny Miss Olustee crown, sash, and trophy (that was as tall as her). The moment she won it was almost like a Miss America moment LOL I almost cried. She rode on her first float later that month :)

On her first float at the Olustee parade                                                

I was in pageants when I was little, and my mom as well. We love them. Gracie loves them too. We thought we would stop pageants this year but Gracie has been asking me about them. The other day she said "Momma, I LOVE pageants." Then she acted out her smiles and walk... She is the one who chooses to do these. She loves the stage and the stage loves her. She is a natural!

I'm so thankful for her. If she ever told me she didn't want to do them anymore I would be fine with it. I'm thinking in 2013 I want to put her in dance- ballet. I think that would help with her confidence and she loves anything girly!

If she were to become Miss America someday, that would be pretty cool too!                                           

I love Valentines

My birthday is two days before V-day so when all the pink and red things start to appear on stores shelves, I get excited. I love the color scheme- my b-day parties as a child were mostly done in hearts! I especially love the meaning of Valentines Day- celebrating with my two sweethearts is what I look forward to!

I am a huge fan of Pinterest. They have the cutest ideas for handmade crafts and projects that don't cost a lot. Today, I took Gracie to the park and then while she naps I plan on doing a few cutesy things for decoration in my house. We are moving so these will be so cute in our new home!!


These balls are made from streamer paper. Cost $1



Candy Cost $1 plus Candles $1 each (already have the vases)= $3



Love this wreath, already have the paper and ribbon= FREE


LOVE for Gracie's room


These are adorable- just need the candles and little cute hearts!


Until Next Time,

"Oh My Goodness"

Today, I took Gracie to the Library. She had so much fun playing with puzzles as I picked out board books for her. She is such a joy, I could eat her up with a spoon :) They had a few Shirley Temple movies and I picked "Curly Top". I loved Shirley Temple and when I was little, my favorite movie from her was "The Blue Bird". I first saw it my granny anna's house and remember loving it soo much.

She has enjoyed this movie so much especially the song at the beginning called "Animal Crackers in my soup." She walks around singing it and then she'll say to me "Oh, my goodness." hehe it cracks me up!!

Packing has begun. I've finished most of the living room and some of the kitchen... 

Until Next Time,

Blessings...

I found this today. I love the saying. If you had asked me 4 months ago how I felt about moving, I probably would have cried. Its funny what the Lord can do to your heart, how he can change it and make everything new again. Since, Steve and I got married we have moved 3 times this will be the 4th time in 6 years. It's hard moving so much. Especially, when all you really want to do is set down roots. Its silly, I know but it seemed like every time we moved, there we went moving again. The last time we moved I was pregnant with Gracie. I was hormonal to say the least and wanted somewhere nice to live. I wanted to have her room all set for when she arrived and everything in order, so we picked this house. It was the right decision at the time. The housing market is really down and so we are having a hard time selling or even renting for that matter. This house was my dream house- remember I said "was". It had everything I had always wanted and it was new which made it even better. 

Our old house

When Steve told me we were moving again- it felt like a knife in my heart. This was the home that we brought Gracie to when she was born. This was the home she first walked in. This was the home where most of my most special memories were made in. But this is just a "HOME"... The Lord has really opened my eyes to see that it doesn't matter where you live- the memories are still there in your heart... My family is whats most important not a "HOME".

So finding this saying was what my heart has been feeling these past months... We have our health, and a great new ministry, and a new home that we will be moving into at the end of the month. Its not my dream home but as the saying goes: Home is where your heart is and my family is my heart.

Our new house

Today is brought to you by the letter -G-

G is for my sweet baby girl- GRACIE

No one..will ever know the strength of my LOVE for YOU. After all, you're THE ONLY ONE who knows what my HEART sounds like from the inside......

• G stands for GRATEFUL- I'm so grateful I get to stay home with Gracie. We have to live on much less than what we did when I was working. I don't go on shopping spree's or to the nail salon. But, what I get matters so much more than "STUFF". We get to spend most of the day in PJ's; I get to be there when she wakes up from a nap. I have seen all her firsts. I'm able to visit family whenever I want. I get to have dance parties with her daily. I get to teach her different things and watch her light up when she figures something out. I'm there for Stephen- I cook, clean, iron, and do everything I can for my family. Most importantly, I'm doing what the Lord wants to me to do at this time. In the future I may go back to work I may not, but right now home is where my heart is.

• G stands for Giggles- I love hearing Gracie laugh. She is so so funny. I told Steve the other day she could be a comedian when she grows up cause her jokes are that funny. She'll be singing a song and all of a sudden add a funny word to it. Each day is full of laughter, especially since she is talking more and more you never know what might come out next :)

My MOST favorite Holiday

Gracie had a great Christmas. 

This year her excitement and joy for Santa to come made me feel like a kid again. She still knew the true meaning of Christmas, and can tell you all about Baby Jesus. She had so much fun when my mom came to visit for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
 Both my parents and little brother Yancey came up here to Lake City.


Then, we visited the other set of grandparents-The Ahrens (Papa and Nana). We had a really great time with them also. Gracie especially LOVED all the attention her Uncle Micah and Aunt Crystal gave her. She loves them so much.


 Gracie sure was showered with gifts and by all the gifts she got her favorite was Pinkie Pie. I was so happy that our gift was the favorite- even over her White car.

Florida snow falling at Silver Springs (bubbles)

Meeting Santa again!

Riding her BMW all around Lake City- LOL

Baking Cookies

Going out to look at Stephen Foster Lights!

She got to hold Buddy- but only on Christmas Eve

 I most enjoyed Gracie waking up in her own home on Christmas morning and seeing that Santa had ate her cookies and we left 2 carrots for the reindeer.

Opening her gifts

Holding Pinkie Pie

At church on Christmas Day

Stephen and I doing the Joseph Drama

My family on Christmas

We just got home on New Years and lets just say we are exhausted from all the travel. Next year, will be more low key. I'm excited too because we will be buying a REAL tree... Stephen has never had one and neither has Gracie for that matter....

On to house stuff, we will be closing on the Starke home at the end of Jan. We are so excited to be able to move closer to our church and really be able to minister to the people there and surrounding area. The house is going to be a great investment and its across from a park which is huge for Gracie.- Thinking her "Friend" birthday party will be at the park :) Now, I have the hard task of packing this whole house up again. I'm really nervous how Gracie will do when I'm packing everything up. She loves to "help" which makes things take longer :( She's a good little helper though.

We are looking forward to 2012. We know there are great things ahead for our family. The Lord has already blessed us beyond words this past year.

Happy 2012!!

Love,