Sydney has been one busy little girl...and she now has two teeth (and a chapped face) to show for it! It hasn't been an easy road though. We she has had some pretty rough nights getting those little buggers through, but aren't they just darling? I think it just makes her that much cuter...if that is even possible!
Alivia is my girly-girl...she loves all things girly and is all things girly!She is always singing and dancing and fluttering around the house like a little butterfly. Oh, and she also stops to admire herself in the mirror quite often! She has been asking and asking to join a ballet class and we were finally able to sign her up for one this year. She had her first class last Friday and she LOVED it! We had to buy her her first pair of ballets slippers and they are so cute. She also had to have a black leotard and pink tights. I swear the moment she put them on she was practically floating on air! The class is every Friday until the end of March and then they will have a dance recital in April. I think it will be so neat to see what she learns in 8 weeks. I know that she is really excited about this and I am just as excited for her. In fact...I just may be living out some childhood dreams through her...that's okay, right?
Not that I really need one more project to add to my never ending list of projects, but when I saw this one I just couldn't resist. Last year I attempted the 365 project where I was supposed to take a picture every single day, but you can all guess how that ended up. Not that it was so hard to take a picture everyday, it was just seemed hard for me to find something interesting or different after so many days. Anyway...this project is something that I only have to do once a week which means I have seven days to complete it! My BFF, Hannah, who did complete the project 365, was inspired by Emily's blog and her 52Q project. Each week a new question is posted and we can interpret it any way we want to. Hannah has chosen to make tags with her questions. I decided to make mine on 4x6 index cards so I could put them in a photo album. I thought it would be fun to have them all together and be able to enjoy them for years to come. I am excited about this project because it combines two of my favorite things; scrapbooking and journaling. I have three done so far but I am going to post one at a time. I hope you enjoy them and maybe even be inspired to give it a try yourself!
Oh, and don't forget to stop by Hannah's blog and check out her 52Q each week...she does amazing work as always!
Sorry it's taken me awhile to get to this. Sydney has been feeling yucky all week and she just needed her mommy. And Lord knows, she always gets her way! Thankfully she seems to be on the mend and is almost back to her happy, silly self.
For anyone interested I will do a short recap of our holiday season. As per tradition we spent Christmas Eve day at my parents house. Mom made us a wonderful breakfast and then we opened gifts. Although the kids usually open their gifts first, my mom insisted that I go first because she was so excited about what she had gotten me. I was excited too when I opened it and saw she bought me a Wii Fit Plus! I was so hoping that's what it was! It is going to help me keep my New Year's Resolution...but I'll save that for another post.
Later, again per tradition, we spent the evening at Andy's grandma's house. The kids always have a good time playing with their cousins. Sammy got an airplane from grandma that ended up being his favorite gift this year.
Christmas morning the kids woke up at 2:00 am. Yes, you read that right...two o'clock AM! I told the kids it was way to early to get up, but they were too excited so I told them they could play quietly for awhile in their room hoping that it would give me a few more hours of rest. Around 5 am I got back up and they were just heading to bed so I told them to sleep for a bit and we could open gifts when they woke up. Thankfully they slept until 8 am. I liked to get up early when I was a kid too, but that is definitely a new record! Sydney (my good child) slept until 10 am though!
Normally after we open gifts we eat breakfast and have to rush around to get ready to go to my grandma's house. But because of the bad weather this year I decided that it would be best if we didn't travel. I felt bad at the time but it ended up being a great decision because we had the best Christmas we've ever had! There was no rushing, no arguing, no stress! We stayed in our pj's, played with toys and took naps. I have never (in my adult life) enjoyed Christmas as I did this year so I have made another decision that from here on out we will be spending our Christmas days at home. We did go over to Andy's parents later that evening, but I was in such a great mood that I was actually able to enjoy myself!
Once again the kids got spoiled by all. Sydney enjoyed her first Christmas too. She especially loved eating the wrapping paper no matter how many times I told her not to.
We also celebrated the New Year with some very special guests. Raemy, Alex and Delilah hung out with us for the evening. We pretty much just sat around and watched Delilah and Sydney play with each other. What can I say...we are easily entertained! Of course, you can tell we are parents with babies...by the time the ball dropped we could barely able to keep our eyes open! Yeah, yeah...we're party animals...I know!
So, that's about it in a nut shell. We had a wonderful Christmas and we are looking forward to wonderful new year!
Today my sweet little Annabelle turns 9 years old! When she woke up this morning she said, "I think today is a special day." And she's right, it is a very special day. I can hardly believe that nine years ago today I became a mommy for the first time and life as I knew it would never be the same...it would only be better! She completely stole my heart from the very first time she was placed into my arms and she looked up at me with her loving eyes. I had never known such an unconditional love until that very moment. I know it's cliche, but in a way it seems as if it was just yesterday, yet at the same time the memories are becoming distant and fleeting. She is growing into a beautiful young lady. She has been an amazing helper to me with her younger siblings, especially Sydney. I see so much of myself in her, which isn't always a good thing, but it makes her who she is. She is also a lot like her daddy. She loves, loves, loves the outdoors and wants to do everything that her daddy does. We love her so much and we are so thankful that God chose us to be her parents.
Happy Birthday Annabelle. We love you and hope that every day can be a special day for you!
Yes...I'm still here. As you can imagine the past few weeks have been crazy busy and every time I sit down to the computer I'm just to whooped to update my blog. It's a good tired though. We had a wonderful Christmas break, probably one of the best we've ever had actually. My plan is to fill you all in on our Christmas fun within the next few days. I have a gazillion and one pictures, but I won't fry your retinas by making you look at all of them, so I will try to just pick some of my favorite...but I'm sure there will still be quite a few since there are a gazillion (and one) to choose from!
So, that's all I've got for tonight but stay tuned. I will be sharing about our Christmas parties, New Years Eve, and Annabelle's 9th birthday (which is tomorrow FYI!) See ya soon....
Jesus.
God's perfect gift to a humanity doomed to bondage. Sin. Evil. Themselves. He came...not just to stay a baby. That was only the start. He came to be a Savior. For a creation He loved dearly and who desperately needed saving. Not just for 'a creation' but for me. I was doomed to bondage. Sin. Evil. Myself. I desperately needed saving.
And He did it. He came. Gave up heaven and shrunk Himself to fit inside human skin. To die a horrific death so I could be free from bondage. Sin. Evil. Myself. To have friendship with God. So I could be a clean, pure daughter in right-standing before her Daddy. Forever.
That is the miracle we should be celebrating. What kind of God does this??? Not on a whim but as a result of an intricately, meticulously designed plan, one invented even before light appeared on the horizon of the universe and the first bite of the apple was taken.
Because He saw me. He saw you. And to Him, we were worth it.
"Long lay the world, in sin and error pining
Til He appeared, and the soul felt its worth..."
"A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn..."
Oh, what an amazing day we are celebrating. What an amazing God. He came. "Immanuel." God with us. God with us still.
*I found this on here and thought it was very fitting for a day such as today!
May you all except this beautiful Gift and have a blessed Christmas Day!
It may have taken me a bit longer to get around to writing our Christmas letter this year, but I did write it, so that's what counts right? As I read back through my blog to help me prepare for writing this letter, I realized that much of the first of the year I definitely had baby on the brain! But Sydney is what really made this year special for all of us. So, here is our letter, short and sweet, just like little Sydne Marie!
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Season’s Greetings family and friends! Can you believe that another year has come and gone already? I guess it’s really true when they say time flies when you’re having fun…or in our case, raising four kids!
This year was pretty special for us with our newest addition to the family. It was a long nine months waiting for her but Sydney Marie finally made her big debut on April 4, 2009. After a short* stay in the NICU she finally came home 9 days later to her excited sisters and brother. It was so amazing to see how quickly they fell in love with her. And, they are still spoiling her! She had to wear an apnea monitor for about four months but now she is doing great. It didn’t seem to slow her down for one second. She’s figured out how to scoot around and she is into everything. She is so curious about the world around her, and I’m pretty sure she is trying her best to keep up with her siblings! She is an amazing little girl and has brought all of us so much joy.
* I say short because it was only 9 days compared to some who stay months, but it was thee longest 9 days of our lives.
As for the rest of the year we enjoyed a wonderful summer break. Of course we celebrated birthdays in June and Sammy and Sydney were dedicated. We were also able to sneak in some trips and vacations. Andy and I took an impromptu day trip to the St. Ignace Car show with Sydney and we also went on another family camping trip. This time we reserved a spot so we did not have to search all over like we did last year. Before school started back up Annabelle attended one week of Soccer Camp. She is our little sport star and really enjoyed herself.
In September the kids went back to school. Annabelle is in the 3rd grade and Alivia is in the 2nd, but they are both in the same class. It’s a 2nd/3rd grade split class and they really seem to be enjoying it. Their friend Kylie (who I baby-sit) is also in their class which they just love! Sammy is in his second year of preschool. He is doing so well learning his colors and numbers and writing his name. Of course his favorite time is still lunch/snack time but I don’t think that will ever change!
I am still staying home and babysitting for three kids. What a blessing it is to be able to be here for my kids and not miss out on a single second especially knowing how quickly they grow up. I love being a mommy. Andy went through a couple of job changes this year, but thankfully he is still working. We also celebrated our 10th anniversary this year! Talk about time flying!! What a life we’ve built in this short ten years. We really are blessed!
I hope this letter finds you all happy and healthy and feeling blessed as well. We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and the happiest new year!
Love Always,
Andy, Jenn, Annabelle, Alivia, Sammy and Sydney Bovee
