Special people gathered for a special reason...

...to celebrate Ellie Grace!!!!

I have so many GREAT women in my life.  A couple weeks ago several of us got together to celebrate sweet Ellie Grace.  We met at Mimi's Cafe and had TONS of fun eating, talking, laughing and opening gifts!  The most special part of the night was a surprise!  Christi and Laura bought tons of children's books (which I am obsessed with) at yard sales, Good Will, etc.  Each guest was asked to write something to Ellie inside the book.  Seriously y'all...it was such a special gift!  Caleb and I spent the night reading the things people wrote in the books for Ellie.  The Lord has spoken some GREAT things over this baby's life! :)  Thanks C and L for the awesome surprise!!!!

I posted this pic because people who I don't see very often are always asking me what my belly looks like.  There ya have it!  My belly at 35 weeks. :)

THANKS to all of you who came!!!!!!  It was a special night for me. :)

(Sorry we took the group pic after some of you had already left!)

Once upon a time...

...I was all about blogging.  I still LOVE to read other blogs, but as for those minutes/hours of posting my own stuff?  Yeah...this mama is out of time and energy right now.

As many of you know, the last few weeks of pregnancy are exhausting.  (Can I get an AMEN!!!???) Seriously...I always think I am tired and terribly uncomfortable during the first 36 weeks, but those last 4 weeks hit a new level of discomfort and fatigue.

Life doesn't stop though, right?  So over the last few weeks we have gone on a vacation with friends to the mountains, had Ellie's shower, I threw my back out (which caused my house to look like a tornado came through), have put together Ellie's "stuff", sold our car, been test driving others, gone on a mini anniversary trip (since Ellie is due two days before our 3rd anniversary), gone to birthday parties, hung out with awesome friends and family, had lots of fun outings, spent time with the youth, gone to support Caleb in a dodgeball tournament, done LOTS of paper work for Caleb's business, etc...etc...etc!  Let's just say Mia and Caleb are probably just as tired as I am right now. :)

It's crazy though that in just a few weeks, we will be a family of FOUR!!!!!!  woot woot!!!!!  I CAN NOT WAIT for Mia and Ellie to meet each other.  I can not WAIT to hold my sweet new baby girl!  I can not WAIT to own a minivan.  Wait.......

Did I really just say that????!!!!!!!!

Yes....yes I did.  I swore up and down that I would NEVER drive a minivan.  I was going to be one of those super cool hip SUV moms.  But guess what?  We need more space!  And I agree with those who call minivans the "sweat pants of the car world".  I mean...you can't get more practical (and comfortable)!  So yes, we will hopefully be the 'proud' owners of a minivan by the end of the week.

In the mean time, I'm still working on cleaning out the garage in hopes to park the van inside, going to OB appointments, playing with my little bundle of JOY, cleaning...cleaning...and cleaning, ORGANIZING, finishing up projects, hanging with friends and family, and hopefully napping every once in a while. :)  I have SO MUCH TO DO!!!! :) :) :)

I love y'all though!  Thanks for reading my blog.  Thanks for loving on my family.  Thanks for writing your own blogs so that I have something to read.  Thanks for simply being in our lives.  We honestly love you all!  (even those of you who we don't see that often)

So have a great day!  And I'll hopefully catch up on posting pics soon!  In the mean time, enjoy this sweet picture...

Cameron (Mia's cousin) has loved her from day 1.  She is so blessed to have the family that she does. :)

Sips N Strokes...

I LOVE to paint...and I LOVE my friends!

So what better way to combine the two than to attend a Sips-N-Strokes painting session?

For $25 (sometimes $35 depending on the painting), you get a fun girls' night out, entertainment, drink your preferred beverage, and leave with a painting to take home and hang in your house.  (You choose the painting based on the calendar on the website.)

Check out some pics from our night below:

We started out with a blank canvas, clean brushes, and basic paint colors.

While we waited for the class to begin, we ate cupcakes and hung out!

After painting our light pinkish-peach background, we had to dry it.

:)

Here is the finished background

Next we painted the bottom of the cupcake.  It's not too impressive here, but it gets better!  The instructor gives you step-by-step directions, but you can change them to make your painting "your own". :)

It's hard to pay attention to the instructor when you are talking and laughing with friends.  Thankfully she repeats directions, so one of us ended up always hearing what to do next.

Drying the bottom of our cupcake!

Next, we added the icing.  It could be any shape or color, but I stayed with pink. :)

So did Jaime and Abby!

Time to dry it again!

Then it was time to add the sprinkles.  They could be any size, shape, or color.

See...all of our sprinkles are different! :)

Our finished cupcakes!

I love how everyone's in the class turned out different!  

(You should have seen some of the paintings!  There were some serious artists in that class!)

Thanks for the fun night, ladies!  Can't wait to do it again!!!!

Below is my painting in its various stages....

The finished product!

Ready for a fun week with the fam!

My sister and nieces are in town!  They moved to Virginia last year for my brother-in-law to finish up his residency as a medical student.  Boy do we miss them. :)

This pic is from their last visit.  Can't wait to make more memories over the next few days!!!

What's in a Name?

Naming a kid is HARRRRD!  I mean H.A.R.D!!!!

Seriously...I have trouble making decisions as it is.  In fact, sometimes I buy two different scents of deodorant because I can't make up my mind.  And when I can't decide what to order off the menu at a restaurant?  I number them in my head and tell Caleb to pick a number.  That's how I make my choice!

Crazy, huh?

So when it comes to naming my children, imagine how confused my brain is!

Caleb and I love how names in the Bible were adjectives.  They described who that person was...which is why people were given new names.  So when we were pregnant with Mia Jubilee, we asked the Lord who she was.  After all...He was the only one who knew her at this point.  Long story short, He gave us the perfect name for who she is.  Mia (she belongs to Him)  Jubilee (JOY). (some people also say she is "my joy")  If you ask anyone who knows her to describe her in one word, 9 out of 10 people will say "joyful".

Fast forward to January.  We find out we are pregnant with Baby #2!  Uh oh...time to choose another name!

Over the past several months, I have spent a lot of time asking Abba who this sweet baby is, what her life is going to be like in the Kingdom, and what I should call her.  One of the first pictures I got (even before we knew the gender) was of a warrior up on a hill with all of the soldiers looking to him for direction.  They trusted their leader and were ready to follow.  I heard the word "peace" and felt like this baby was going to be a light in the darkness.  I also felt like this baby was royalty within the Kingdom...a son/daughter of the King!  From all of this, I totally thought we were having a boy, so when we found out we were having a girl, I was confused.

Over and over again we have received words from countless people about this baby and her wild personality, relationship with the Spirit, and even that she is a warrior.

A couple weeks ago we decided on the name "Lucy" for several reasons: it is cute, means light, and sounded good with Mia.  haha  Everyone LOVED it when I shared her name, but for some reason I just didn't have a total 100% peace about this name.

On Sunday though, I felt like I was supposed to ask the Lord what her name was again.  I immediately saw the name "Ellie".  So I googled the meaning and look what it said:

Noble, exalted;

Sun ray, shining light;

Other, foreign;

Famous warrior

Doesn't this make you smile? :)  I waited until Caleb woke up from his nap, shared the new name and meaning with him, and he agreed...This baby's name should be Ellie. :)

But what about a middle name?  AHHHHH!!!!  

Before I even said anything, Caleb said "I still really like 'Grace' for a middle name."  You see people...my middle name was 'Grace' before I got married, and I LOVED it!  Plus, the meaning of it is wonderful.

Caleb often talks about how sometimes when we are too familiar with something, it loses its power and umph.  I totally agree.  'Grace' is a common middle name, but full of power!

Several years ago at Engage, a bible study for 20 somethings, I heard someone speak about how the meanings of MERCY and GRACE are often misused.  To put it simply though, MERCY is where God has brought us FROM...GRACE is where He has brought/and is bringing us to.  Get it?  GRACE is the "above and beyond". :)  love it!

So there you have it...

Ellie Grace

is 'more than likely' our baby's name!

This is a long post, but this has been a LONG process.  There is even SO MUCH MORE to this story!  I can't wait to share it with Ellie when she gets older!

So what are the stories behind YOUR kids' names?  I know some of your stories, but I would LOVE to hear others!  Family name?  Sounded cool?  Named after a star?  Awesome meaning?  Share it!!!!