tea party . . . in the bathroom!

today i went into one of the bathrooms upstairs and happened to walk in on a tea party that emma had set up. it was so funny and cute . . . she had set up several of her animals and had given them all a "treat" as emma explained to me. (the treat was a stacking cup from the bath filled with some of her hair bows!) and, i'm not sure if you can tell or not, but several of the animals have some of her headbands on . . . she got them all dressed up for the tea party. it was adorable!

two steps . . .

isabella walked yesterday! she took her first steps on her own. i almost missed it as i was fixing emma's hair for school. i happened to look up and realized that isabella had let go of the coffee table and was taking a few steps on her own! i tried to get her to do it again last night so i could get a picture, but she hasn't tried again yet. i know we'll have lots of pictures soon though, so stay tuned!

dance recital

emma has been taking ballet and tap this year. and yesterday was her dance recital. the girls were so cute. here are a few pictures of her in her "princess dress" and at the recital.

Baby Dedication

we recently had isabella dedicated at our church's baby dedication, which is where we as parents share that we will raise her to know God. we had participated in baby dedication with emma as well. the church had changed the service from what it had been when we went through it with emma, including some homework and messages we had to listen to before attending the dedication. tom and i discussed five values we want to instill in isabella and two habits we would institute in order to instill those values in her. we got to share the values with our friends and family who joined us for the dedication. there was also a message, which basically reminded us to cherish these years with our little ones as it goes so fast . . . yes, fast is true. i still can't believe that isabella is one already! anyways, it was a fun and very meaningful celebration.

Feeling sad . . .

feeling a little sad today. happened upon these in my quiet time today . . . they fit my feelings and i just thought i'd share . . .

I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother. Psalm 35:14

But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Psalm 10:14