Using a fork!

Ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, Kilee has mastered the FORK!

Thinking about it . . .

The Bite . . .

The chew . . .

Yea, Kilee!

Runnin' Free!

Ah, the total freedom of being a baby!

The BIG Snow

We have been blessed this weekend with an enormous snow! We've got about 10-12 inches on the ground and Kilee doesn't know quite what to think about it. I have had a fairly leisurely day as Scott has watched Kilee for a good part of it. They played in the living room, threw birdseed out to the birds, played with the dog and took a nap in the recliner. I was able to take a nice long shower and a big nap! So nice. I made a trip out to the grocery last night and made it home just in time! By the time I was heading home, the interstates looked like our front yard -- covered in snow.
We are doing well and have had a healthy month so far. Kilee is talking all the time. Most of it is unrecognizable babble, but she does have some new words under her belt! "Here you go," "Thank you," "This," "Whatisit?" and "Mum-Mum" for (yum-yum) are some of the newest ones.

Here are some pictures of Kilee out in the snow. We had such a great time!

Craftiness

Kilee is getting to the age where she can enjoy doing small, easy crafts with me. Here are a couple that we've tried.

Since she just recently passed the 1 year milestone, I really wanted to do her handprint in plaster. She did such a great job holding her hand still!

Here lately, we've been talking about how "God is Good" and "God made Everything". We decided to try to do a lesson craft with some foam stickers. Kilee really enjoys sticking them onto the paper, but she originally thought they were cookies and tried to eat them. I hope I found all the ones we dropped!

Uh-Oh . . .Cheerios!

Okay, so I tried to do a clever spin-off of the early 90s campaign "Uh-Oh Spaghetti-O's", but it may not have been as funny as I originally thought. Anyhow, we were coming in from the grocery the other day and I laid the diaper bag by the door as I was taking the groceries to the kitchen. Not long after I started unloading groceries, I realized that Kilee was being "a little too quiet" if you know what I mean. I turned the corner from the kitchen to see my daughter had opened the diaper bag, cleverly pried the top off of the Cheerios causing a Cheerio explosion, and was eating them off the floor. I just laughed because she was too cute to punish sitting there stuffing her face. Here's what I saw . . .

It's been a long time!

Hello everybody!

We hope you and your families are doing well! Sorry it's been so long since we've been on here. it's been a long and incredibly busy January/February! We've spent the last few weeks fixing up the house in order to put it on the market. We recently decided that we could be better stewards of our money if we were to sell this house and buy an older, less expensive house where we could build some equity. So, everything is completely fixed-up and ready to go! Now I just have to keep it spic and span at all times with a one-year old in the house! Ha.

We're gearing up for camp. I can't believe that camp 2008 will be in full swing in a little over 3 months! AHH! Oh well, it's a good thing we love it! It'll be awesome.

Kilee Anne continues to grow by leaps and bounds. She is saying many words now (mama being one of them -- YES!) and constantly makes us smile and laugh. She's even saying little phrases like, "here you go" and "thank you". She absolutely LOVES dogs in any shape or form and cannot eat enough bananas. It's so much fun to stay at home with her! I am blown away by the great responsibility and privilege of being a mother daily. It's definitely the hardest job in the world, but so wonderful.

Let me brag on Scott for a minute. He is such a wonderful husband and daddy. I am so blessed to be his wife! We had a great Valentine's Day date. Our friends Clint and Ashley kept Kilee with their little girl Ellie while we went out to Ruby Tuesday. It was so nice to get some time to ourselves! Scott is really really busy at work, but he likes it that way. Things are going well at work and the ministry is constantly growing! We are both working with the youth at church, which has been a blast so far! We are small group leaders for Wednesday night iGroups with the 6th graders. They are so much fun.

Well, I am going to wrap this up. I am currently quite ill! My allergies combined with staying up all hours of the night working on the house has totally destroyed my immune system. I have a horrible cold/ear infection/sinus infection/sore throat. It's awesome. But before I head to bed, here are some pictures that you might enjoy!

Wearing the Bibs like a champ

Go Cats!

Mommy the hunter and Kilee the giraffe for the 6th grade girls' costume party.

Helping Daddy Cook

All Glory to God!

Again and again, I am just so blown away by the mercies of God. This past Friday the 28th, I took Kilee Anne to her one-year well baby appointment expecting to hear a normal report and for them to give her a couple of shots. Everything was going well until the doctor was listening to her heart said, "Hmm, she's got a little heart murmur here." She reassured me that it was probably fine, that lots of children had "innocent" heart murmurs that were of little consequence as they grow up, but she referred us to a pediatric cardiologist for a follow-up. Well, if you know me well enough, this was a huge obstacle in my constant struggle with the sin of worry!!! I anxiously made an appointment with the cardiologist for January 7th and returned home. Scott was there when I got home and I gave him the report. We talked and prayed and then, in his husbandly wisdom said, let's see if we can schedule the appointment before the end of the year. To most people this would be no big deal, but since we have a high-deductible insurance plan, this was a great idea! We only had a few dollars left before our deductible was "blown" for 2007, so her doctor's appointment/tests would be free! We called every pediatric cardiologist's office in Louisville and finally found one that could get us in on the 31st! What a financial blessing God had provided. This also turned out to be a tremendous help for me because I believe God knew that I would have a hard time waiting a week to find out about Kilee's heart murmur -- so He graciously provided "a way out" so that I could "stand up under" the temptation to go crazy worrying!

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

He certainly knows our frame. He bears in mind that we are dust.
Psalm 103:14

Not to say that I didn't worry over those 2.5 days, but He knows us better than we know ourselves, doesn't He?

So yesterday, Scott and I took our little girl to the cardiologist. I was constantly in a conversation with God that went something like this, "Lord, I know she's not mine -- she's yours and I trust you with her. But Lord, she's our baby! Pleeeease let her be okay! We love her so much. But Lord, we trust you. But pleeeeeeease . . .etc." You get the picture.

Over the course of about an hour, Kilee had her blood pressure taken, had an EKG done and then had an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart). The doctor did hear a murmur, but a soft one which is generally good news. After he examined the echocardiogram, he concluded that the murmur was an "innocent" one in that it has no bearing on the way her heart works, it's just an extra sound her heart makes while it works. We were so relieved!!! God had so specifically answered our prayers from how clearly the doctor explained everything, to the way Kilee behaved during the tests, to the diagnosis! Praise Him for his incredible mercy!

We are reminded over and over again that He is in control and that we are not. As my wise husband so reminded me, we should be glad that we have no control over this situation and that God is fully in control. It is far better for Him to be in the driver's seat in His infinite wisdom even if it means that we have limited understanding of things. After all, He created all things and He holds all things together. Thank you God for continually teaching us that You are in control!

"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. . ."
1 Corinthians 3:18-19a

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9

"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Colossians 1:17

Christmastime Pictures

Kilee kissed all of her stuffed animals as she opened them.

She looks like such a little girl here!

Grandpa looks proud!

Winner of the Cutest Santa Award 2007

Happy 1st Birthday, Kilee Anne!

Our little girl is officially 1 year old! It's really difficult to believe. Scott and I are so excited and thankful for such a wonderful, healthy and growing girl, but you'd better believe there were a few tears as we watched our "baby girl" turn one! We had such a great time visiting family. Since it's just her 1st birthday and we didn't think she'd mind, we just combined Christmas and birthday celebrations with family this year. She had such a great time playing, opening presents, destroying birthday cakes, and being adored by all. We started our Christmas/Birthday trip at Grandma and Grandpa's house (Scott's dad and stepmom) and we had a blast playing with Uncle Dylan and Aunt April!
Then, we went to M-ville to visit Nana and Papaw (Monica's parents). We celebrated Uncle Jeremy's graduation from college, too! So much fun.
Then on Kilee's birthday, the 23rd, we went to see Scott's mom (Kilee's Mamaw), Eldon, Uncle Chris, Great-Grandma and Bill and even more family and friends. They threw a birthday party for Kilee that night and then we celebrated Christmas with the family the next day. It was great! We all had such a great time. I'm afraid Kilee is really missing all of her adoring fans now that we're at home and it's just me and Scott with her! She seems to be looking for all of her "grandies" as she walks around the house.
We had a wonderful Christmas with family and we were blessed to be able to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at our house, just the three of us! We put Kilee to bed after we read the story about the birth of Jesus. Scott and I had a great time "playing" Santa last night! Once we figured out where the English instructions for Kilee's kitchen were (we have got to get our Spanish textbooks out for a refresher course!), we assembled it in no time flat! We got some great video footage of Christmas morning, too.
Well, I'm signing off for tonight. I'll post some Christmas pictures later! Merry Christmas everyone!

December News

Hello Everyone! Hope all is well. We're really having fun as Christmas and Kilee Anne's 1st birthday are approaching. Scott has been able to be home a lot more since recruiting came to a close and we've been able to enjoy some fun family time! We got to spend Thanksgiving with my cousin Mandye and her family and then we spent the rest of the break doing "Deer Camp 2007" out at C-more with the Melber family. It was too much fun! Scott got a couple of does this year. We spent a romantic Friday evening processing deer meat and now the freezer is full for the next year! Scott is really hoping to kill a turkey this week before shotgun season is over. We're country folks just livin' off the land. :o)

Kilee is now walking all by herself! WALKING! It's nuts. We're so proud of her. It's so funny to see her stepping all over the house. She's getting really good at it! I had to post these pictures of her. I was outside putting garland on the front porch rails and she was watching me through the glass storm door. She looks so hilarious!












We're going to be working on our Christmas letters and baked goods this week. I hope to get everything done a little early this year to beat the rush right before we travel home. It's going to be an exciting Christmas this year, but not nearly as exciting (or excruciatingly painful) as last year! Ha ha.

Fall Memories

Here are a few of the promised pictures from some recent memorable Fall Events.

Playing Guitar with Daddy.


Pushing chairs around the kitchen. (She's a really cute version of "The Hulk".)


Cleaning out pumpkins with Daddy.


Mommy carving the pumpkins. Not pregnant -- just a bad shirt. :o)


The finished pumpkins.


Our adorable little puppy dog -- Halloween 2007!

Lately . . .

It seems we've been busy lately. Scott's been keeping the road hot on his recruiting adventures while Kilee and I have been running around doing various things together. Not that we've kept the world's craziest schedule or anything, but I've been finding myself excessively tired. And no . . . I'm not pregnant. :o)

I am really enjoying the Mom 2 Mom group at church. It has really been an encouragement to me to meet with other moms and discuss how we can grow as wives, mothers and followers of Christ. We have a lot of fun talking about our kids, too! I'm learning a lot. We've had a few projects going on at home in addition to the usual ones. I've been trying to get all of our clothes "switched over" from summer to fall for about a week now, we've had a "no eating out" policy for over a month so I've been cooking constantly, and I've found some other home improvementish tasks to do as well. Kilee Anne is constantly on the move! Scott and I think she is really close to walking now. She "cruises" around all of our furniture and walks holding onto me with just one hand! Is it really possible that our baby is almost a year old? It can't be true!

Things with Scott's job are starting to get a little less hectic far as his schedule is concerned, although he will have to travel a bit this month, too. He keeps busy, but he's been so good about coming home and making special time to spend with us. He's been hunting a few times, but no deer yet. I'm sure it's only a matter of time -- he's pretty good with a bow.

Tonight we dressed Kilee Anne up like a puppy dog for trick or treat! She was SO cute. Like, seriously . . . she was the cutest baby EVER. I speak the truth, (and yes, I am her mother). :o) We will be posting pictures soon. Scott borrowed a video camera from work and got some great footage of the whole trick-or-treat experience. We had so much fun! God has given us such a wonderful blessing in little Kilee!

Take care everyone! More to come . . .

Fall Events

These past few weeks have been a blur! We've had a lot going on. We've enjoyed visits from family, trips to the Zoo, birthdays, and picking pumpkins! Scott's already been on the road quite a bit recruiting Summer Staff for 2008, so that's been busy for him -- and I've been busy with different activities at church, playgroup and visits with Kilee, and generally just keeping up with the little girl! Her latest feats include crawling (she's amazingly fast), walking while holding onto furniture, pulling up to anything and everything (all toilet lids MUST be in the down position at all times), and "cleaning out" all of our baskets, drawers and cabinets. It's exhausting, but VERY fun! I can't say much more, not because there's little to say but because I have GOT to go to bed! Here are some pictures you might enjoy. They're from my birthday where Scott and I had a cooking date and made a cake in the shape of a pumpkin, a trip to the Zoo, and our latest outing (today) picking pumpkins at Gallrein Farms in Shelbyville. It was a blast, we rode a hayride to the pumpkin patch, listened to live folk/bluegrass music, and picked some awesome pumpkins. Kilee Anne LOVED it!